Categorized | Golf, Sports

UH-Hilo to host collegiate golf tournament in Waikoloa

MEDIA RELEASE

The eyes of collegiate golf will be on the Waikoloa King’s Course as the University of Hawaii at Hilo hosts the 21st Annual Amer Ari Invitational, February 1-4.

“We’ve got five of the top 10 Division I teams,” said UHH Head Coach Earl Tamiya. “We have repeat teams to our tournament every year and have a very long waiting list which makes it great.

“The competition is good, the location is great, the golf course is great … what can we say … everybody wants to come.”

So much so that GolfStat.com has tabbed the tournament for live statistics on their website after every three holes.

“They select certain tournaments that they want to feature,” said Tamiya. “Our tournament has consistently been rated as one of the top five tournaments outside of the NCAA national championship.”

In the field and ranked among the NCAA’s Top 10 Division I teams are UCLA (2), Oklahoma State University (4), Georgia Tech (5), University of Texas (7) and Stanford University (9). Texas Tech (22), USC (24) and the University of Washington (25) are also in the top 25. Rounding out the field are Arizona State University, Oregon State University, Texas Christian University, University of California Davis, University of Colorado, University of Hawaii Manoa, San Jose State University, University of Oregon, University of San Francisco and Florida State University. Also participating but belonging to the NCAA Division II are host Hawaii Hilo and Western Washington University.

Along with the potential for some great team competition, the tournament sets up for some competitive individual competition six of the Top 9 Division I golfers will be in the field. Topping the list is 2nd-ranked Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State), 3rd-ranked Andrew Yun (Stanford), 4th-ranked Kevin Tway (Oklahoma State), 5th-ranked J.T. Griffin (Georgia Tech), 6th-ranked Patrick Cantlay (UCLA) and 9th-ranked Bobby Hudson (Texas). Also in the Top 20 are 12th-ranked Gregor Main (UCLA), 13th-ranked Matt Smith (Texas Tech), 14th-ranked Mario Clemens (UCLA) and 16th-ranked Pontus Widegren (UCLA).

Festivities begin with the College-Am on Tuesday, February 1 at 12:30 p.m. followed by a banquet for all players and coaches in the King’s Grille.

Shotgun tee times are set for 7:30 a.m. for each day of the tournament with 18 holes played per day.

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