Waikoloa hosts college golf’s best

For Hawaii’s golf teams — co-hosts Hilo and Manoa — the 27 Amer Ari Intercollegiate tournaments that have been played at Waikoloa have little to do with winning.

Bringing a bunch of the country’s top-ranked college teams and golfers over every February has almost everything to do with inspiring locally. And for Hawaii guys, inspiration no longer comes from playing on the stark and spectacular Kings’ Course, painted green and blue over ancient black lava fields. Been there, done that, we know we are spoiled.

“It’s the thrill to play that kind of caliber,” says Vulcans coach Earl Tamiya. “If we don’t have this tournament it would never happen for our guys. We make sure our kids play with good teams. Our kids have played with Tiger Woods, with Jordan (Spieth), with Jon Rahm.”

No one on Tamiya’s team — the sole Division II participant in the 18-team field — broke par last week. That left Hilo 90 shots back of top-ranked Oklahoma State, which claimed its seventh Amer Ari championship Saturday.

But opening day, UHH junior Jared Kinoshita played with USC junior Justin Suh, the top-ranked golfer in college. Suh would birdie four of his last six holes in the final round to win for the third time in five starts this season, thawing quickly in the Waikoloa heat after the sport’s winter break.

“The Hawaii event is such a special way to start off our spring season,” said Suh, the world’s seventh-ranked amateur. “It is definitely a tournament we all look forward to. The Hawaiian people and culture is such a positive energy that we love experiencing. This ranges from the food we eat, the people we meet on and off the course, as well as the golf courses we get to play and practice.”

There is no shortage of hospitality for and from a tournament that has already confirmed next year’s field. It will be the same as this year’s, which had seven top-20 teams and Oregon, the 2016 NCAA champion and 2017 runner-up.

“We really don’t alter the field much,” understates Tamiya, whose Vulcans are among five teams that have played Amer Ari all 27 years. Oregon, Texas Christian, USC and Hawaii are the others.

Ducks coach Casey Martin calls the tournament, whose title sponsor is the father of a former Hilo player, “iconic” and his favorite college event. Once a team comes it always wants to return. And, bottom line, the best teams usually have the biggest budgets, so they can afford to do what they want, even if there is an ocean in the way.

Oklahoma State stayed here more than a week. Coach Alan Bratton, the 1993 Amer Ari medalist when he played for the Cowboys, lets his players enjoy the beaches and other golf courses. In return, they provide him with the talent to win national championships and good grades.

“It’s one of the highlights of the year for our guys to be able to compete in Hawaii,” Bratton says. “We also use it as a motivator to keep their grades up because they have to have at least a 3.0 GPA to make the trip and miss all that school. It’s a highly effective motivator when the reward is a trip to paradise.”

The Cowboys, who host the NCAA Championship this year, were motivated enough to shred Waikoloa to the tune of 47 under par. They won by 17 over 13th-ranked defending champion Texas Tech and had four players in the top 10. OSU’s Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff shared second at 12 under, a shot back of Suh.

The best local finisher was Kyle Suppa, a Punahou graduate and Suh’s teammate at 18th-ranked USC. He shot even par and came in 47th in what was clearly a tough crowd. Hawaii freshman Justin Arcano, out of Baldwin, closed with a 67 and was a shot behind Suppa. Hilo sophomore Warren Miller was another shot back.

In this bunch — No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 9 Auburn, No. 11 Stanford and No. 16 Texas also all finished in the top 10 — that left Hawaii’s golfers far back.

If that’s not inspiration, what is?