Forget everything you ever knew about Rainbow Wahine golf.
With the retirement of Lori Castillo and advancement of seniors Izzy Leung, Daezsa Tomas, Raquel Ek and Kelli-Anne Katsuda it will be a new course for the University of Hawaii.
It starts soon with an energetic and academically inclined former Canadian Tour player as coach, and four recruits that come with, among other attributes, NFL cred.
UH hired 28-year-old Stephen Bidne earlier this month as the 13th head coach in program history. The first was Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer Ron Castillo. Last was his Hall of Fame daughter.
Bidne comes from Greeley, home of University of Northern Colorado, where he spent four years as a student and golf team captain and four more as the women’s golf coach. In between, he won four times on the Canadian Tour.
He calls coaching Hawaii a “dream of mine.” Bidne was drawn to Manoa for many reasons, including his UNC team’s middle-of-the-pack eighth-place finish in the 2015 Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
“I have been fortunate enough to have both played and coached in tournaments hosted by the University of Hawaii,” Bidne said via email from the mainland. “The hosted events by UH have always been premier events, and I’m eager to take over the role of hosting and continuing to make them some of the best events in collegiate golf.”
Challenges of UH golf
On some of the most beautiful courses on the planet. That huge attribute has never translated to huge success for UH golf teams, which have struggled to keep the best Hawaii players home and rarely scratched their way into the NCAA’s Top 100.
Castillo made some dents in her record nine-year tenure. The Rainbow Wahine took second in the Big West Conference in 2010 and ’15. They had four top-four finishes her final season and climbed to No. 92 in the rankings. Her squad led the BWC in academic honors.
Bidne brings a similar resume from Northern Colorado. His team was No. 224 in the GolfWeek rankings when he started in 2013 and No. 80 this season, with players from Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, Trinidad and Tobago and Osaka on the roster.
He was a four-year Dean’s List selection at UNC and his teams have consistently led the school in cumulative GPA. He has coached 15 Big Sky All-Academic selections and three Academic All-Americans.
Beyond a degree in business administration and history of ambitious over-achieving, Bidne concedes to a light side. He and UH hope those disparate assets will help their program get to the next level.
“As a coach, I try to bring as much positivity and energy as I can each and every day,” Bidne says. “I’m a firm believer that with a positive growth mind-set you can accomplish any feat.
“There is a lot of negativity in golf, being typically a game of misses, but instead, I stress that it’s a game of opportunity and I try to be that breath of fresh air to the players and help create a positive, fun team atmosphere.”
Retuning Wahine
He inherits four players, including sophomore Kaci Masuda, who charged into second Sunday at the Jennie K. Invitational.
Last fall, Castillo signed recruits Megan Ratcliffe, from Canada, Tyra Tonkham, Emma Lower and Sahara Washington, all from the mainland. Washington’s uncle Gene played for the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, and retired eight years ago as NFL director of football operations.
Her new coach has basically the same title for UH golf, and is anxious to bring as many academically inclined, All-Pro-type athletes as possible into his new program.
“The No. 1 way to improve any program is through recruiting,” Bidne says simply. “As head coach, my No. 1 mission will be to share the excitement of this program and recruit some of the best players throughout the state of Hawaii, the U.S. and around the world.”
The men’s team’s recruits are Baldwin graduates Justin Ngan and Justin Arcano. “The Justins” will represent Hawaii for the second straight year at the USGA Amateur Four-Ball, starting Saturday at Pinehurst, N.C.
Bidne is hoping to keep some of Hawaii junior golf’s finest home in the future. That goal was reinforced this week when Kacie Komoto, Northwestern’s lone senior, helped her team reach the NCAA championship match and UCLA freshman Mariel Galdiano was named an honorable mention All-American by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. Both are Punahou graduates.
The NCAA men’s championship starts Friday. Last week, UNLV junior and Moanalua graduate John Oda helped the Rebels to their first regional championship in 12 years, with a fifth-place individual finish.
