WAIKOLOA — The UH-Hilo men’s golf team begins 2019 at a tournament that they have little chance of winning.
And there is no shame in that.
Play begins today at the 28th annual Amer Ari Invitational at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course, co-hosted by the Vulcans and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Many of the top NCAA Division I teams will be in attendance, including 2018 Amer Ari winner and NCAA champion Oklahoma State.
UH-Hilo, which won the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate on the same course back in October, is good and will challenge for the Pacific West Conference title and a NCAA Division II regional berth.
But this is another level.
“Our goal is always to be a good host and play some good golf along the way,” said Vulcan head coach Earl Tamiya, who is in his 28th season.
Last year, the Cowboys dominated the field on the final day notching a final round 18-under 270 to finish 47-under par for the tournament, 17 strokes better than last year’s champion and runner-up Texas Tech.
In addition to UHH, UH-Manoa and Oklahoma State, other teams in the field are: Auburn, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Oregon State, Osaka Gakuin (Japan), University of Pacific, San Jose State, Stanford, Texas Christian, Texas, UC Davis, USC and Utah. Defending individual champion Justin Suh of USC returns to defend his title.
In the NCAA Division I Golf Coaches Association preseason rankings, Oklahoma State is No. 1 and Georgia Tech is No. 2, USC is No. 6, and Auburn No. 13. That puts the Vulcans in pretty royal company.
The Vulcans certainly ended 2018 on a high note. They defeated several nationally ranked D-II teams in cruising to the Dennis Rose title. They won by seven shots over then-No. 2 Western Washington, and Vulcans Jared Kinoshita shot a school-record 11-under to win medalist honors. UHH’s Taylor Patrick was second at 7-under.
The teams played a practice round and attended an evening luau on Wednesday. The tournament is three rounds, running through Saturday. The public is welcome to attend.
In addition to Kinoshita and Patrick, the Vulcan starting line-up will include Warren Miller, Andrew Otani and Evan Merrier. Playing as individuals will be Adam Chiya, Noah Lau and Colton Servis.
Follow all three rounds at: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=15752