Disappointed in its morning round, the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine golf team roared back to shoot a 3-over-par 291 in yesterday's second round and grabbed the lead at their Kent Youel Invitational.

The tournament finishes today at Kapolei Golf Course at 7:30 a.m. The Rainbows go into the final round with a two-shot advantage over first-round leader San Francisco and UC-Irvine — coached by former UH assistant Julie Brooks.

The Rainbow Wahine have not won a team title in the recorded history of the program.

Hawai'i was in ninth after a poor start and strong wind led to a 314 in the morning. The wind kept up, but the 'Bows improved dramatically in the afternoon, shooting their best round in Ashley Biffle's three years as coach.

"I think they finally got to a point where they believe in themselves and each other and realized they can win this golf tournament." Biffle said. "I don't think they knew that before."

The Anteaters are 46th in the latest Golfweek rankings, with USF 50th and Hawai'i 58th.

UH sophomore Carolina Perez shot 77-71—148 and is third individually, four shots behind leader Lacey Jones of SMU. UH junior Xyra Suyetsugu (77-72—149) is fifth and senior Dale Gammie (79-71—150) seventh.

The UH men finished 16th at the Barona Collegiate Cup in San Diego. Hawai'i shot a final-round 305 for an 888 total, 48 behind winner Alabama-Birmingham. Cody Wolfenbarger (76—217) was the 'Bows' top finisher in 31st.

ELSEWHERE

Aloha Section PGA: Andrew Feldmann and Larry Stubblefield needed 24 holes to subdue David Chin and Rick Ambrose, 1-up, yesterday in the second round of the 2006 Golf Concepts/E-Z-GO 4-Ball Match Play Championship.

The last major tournament of the 2006 Aloha Section PGA season ends today at Oahu Country Club. Stubblefield and Feldmann, the OCC head pro, have won this event the last four years.

Two other quarterfinals also were decided by a 1-up score. Matt Pakkala and Ron Castillo Jr. needed 22 holes to defeat Beau Yokomoto and Tommy Hines, while Jay Taise and Scott Bridges upset medalists Kevin Hayashi and Lance Taketa.

In the last quarterfinal, seniors Mike Iyoki and Ron Kia'aina won by a 2-up score over Shane Abe and Champions Tour player Dave Eichelberger, who is a member at OCC.