Half the 18 teams in University of Hawaii Hilo’s 24th annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate are ranked in the top 25. The three-day tournament tees off Thursday and also includes UH and Osaka Gakuin from Japan.
Previous medalists include Notah Begay (1994), Matt Kuchar (1999 and 2000), Anthony Kim (2004) and Jordan Spieth (2012). This year’s field has Washington’s Cheng-Tsung Pan, currently Golfweek’s top-ranked NCAA golfer.
Oregon, the top-ranked team, is here along with fourth-ranked UCLA and fifth-ranked Texas. The Bruins bring in ‘Iolani alum Lorens Chan, who is ranked 23rd.
Hawaii has good courses
Hawaii has eight courses in the latest edition of Golf Digest’s "100 Greatest Public Golf Courses."
Pebble Beach is again No. 1 in the 2015-16 ranking.
The list was started in 1966 and uses seven criteria to judge courses that are open to everyone: shot values, resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability, aesthetics, conditioning and ambience.
Kapalua’s Plantation Course was ranked 20th. The listing included a note about the course, which was built on former pineapple fields, being irrigated by the same system used a century ago to water the pineapples.
Princeville’s Prince, which is closed again for renovations and will become a private club, is ranked 22nd. It is followed by Mauna Kea, celebrating its 50th anniversary, at 27th and Manele on Lanai (28), Princeville Makai (65), Turtle Bay Palmer (78), Hualalai (99) and Wailea Gold (100).
