If you build collegiate golf tournaments in Hawaii, the best teams in the country will come. As the UH men and women get down to the nitty gritty of hosting eight tournaments on four islands starting next week, they find themselves looking for a way to be competitive against a barrage of incoming ranked teams.

The Rainbow Wahine have finished seventh, eighth and 11th so far this fall, with sophomore Izzy Leung’s championship at Oregon State the highlight, by far.

Junior Nichole Cruz, the team’s only upperclassman, and Kelli-Anne Katsuda, a 2013 Mid-Pacific Institute graduate, led UH individually at last week’s Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, earning a share of 33rd.

That’s 22 spots ahead of Hawaii’s best finish two years ago, but far off the pace set by top-ranked Washington, which finished 51 shots ahead of UH — with Hawaii’s Eimi Koga and Cyd Okino in the lineup. The Huskies, who have two of the four collegiate players in December’s LPGA Q-School final stage, won again this week, with Koga and Okino sharing fifth at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invite.

"There is a big difference between the top 50 teams, which is where we want to be, and the other (200-plus) D-I schools," says sixth-year coach Lori Castillo, whose father Ron guided the Wahine in the late 1970s. "When my dad was coaching, there were only 50 teams. Then Title IX came along and it’s great now, a big difference.

"For us, it all boils down to mental toughness and strokes around the green, not ball-striking. My teams are always pretty good at ball-striking, so my goal is for them to have their short game match their long game."

Hawaii hosts the Rainbow Wahine Invitational next Tuesday-Thursday at Leilehua. The 30th Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational (Kaneohe Klipper) and Anuenue Spring Break Classic (Kapalua) return in March, sandwiched between a dual match with Texas that will feature the match-play format of the NCAA championship.

UH-Hilo has its ninth annual Dennis Rose Intercollegiate the end of this month at Waikoloa, then Manoa’s men host the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational (Nov. 3-4) and Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational (Nov. 7-9). The Amer Ari Invitational, with Hilo, and John A. Burns Intercollegiate are in February.

The Warriors opened their season this week with a last-place finish at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. They return to California for the Bill Cullum Invitational Monday and Tuesday, then won’t play outside Hawaii again until the end of March.

"Part of the reason is money," says Ronn Miyashiro, starting his 17th year as coach. "I can take the whole team, all nine guys, to the neighbor island trips and spend $10,000. For one tournament on the mainland it costs $8,000. It helps us financially and competition-wise. That tournament on Maui is going to be pretty good in its first year. We had nine teams on the waiting list for Kauai and Ka’anapali said yes, we can do a tournament. It will be hard on me, nonstop for eight days, but we can save money and have a quality tournament."

Most of the teams that can afford to travel here can afford to finance a ranked team. Castillo and Miyashiro say it is not fair to compare mid-major programs with the elite anymore, so what they ask of their golfers is basic: get better, graduate and gain the confidence to go out and make the world better.

Golf is in the future for some, but not most.

Miyashiro lost two valuable seniors from last season — Manoa Cup champ Nainoa Calip and 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii qualifier David Saka. He has two more this year, in Aiea alum Ryan Kuroiwa and Punahou’s Brian Lee, who was honored as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar this summer.

The coach is hoping for more scores like Scotty Yamashita’s season-opening 62 Monday — thought to be a UH record — and fewer in the 80s. Sophomore Skye Inakoshi was Hawaii’s top finisher Tuesday, in 55th place.

"We have a roster with players who have the ability to score, it’s just a matter of being more consistent about it," the coach says. "We don’t have to shoot 62 every round, but 3 or 4 under is good. We can’t be successful going 62-84 and all five guys have got to score."

Miyashiro has recruited almost all locally the past few years. With Hawaii’s juniors becoming more competitive, and leaving the islands, he brought in players from Thailand and Australia this season. Katsuda and Kauai’s Daezsa Tomas are the only Hawaii golfers on Castillo’s roster.

Either way, both coaches are looking for the same results.

"I want them to grow through the program, through the things we do and the competition we have," Castillo says. "Raise the bar for others."

For the next few months, that growth can come at home.