Officially, the name will be the “First annual Hawaii State Golf Association Kauai Amateur.” If it sounds familiar, don’t think you have been out in the sun — and humidity — too much lately.

The tournament, Sept. 10-11 at Wailua Muni, is more of a revival. The Kauai Open dates back to 1962, when it was won by PGA Tour player Doug Sanders at Wailua.

Charlie Sifford, who became the first black golfer on the tour in 1961, wasn’t allowed to play at Augusta. But he beat everybody here to win the 1964 Kauai Open. Sifford died last year at 92.

A few amateurs — most prominently Dan Nishimoto and Jonathan Ota — won the Open in the ’70s. So did Hawaii Golf Hall of Famers, like John Kalinka, Lance Suzuki and Charlie Barenaba.

In 1982, Ota the amateur beat Suzuki, who would go on to win the event for the third time the next year.

Some years the tournament toured the island, playing at Kauai Surf (which changed to Kauai Lagoons and now Hokuala), Princeville and Poipu.

Somewhere along the line — and nobody seems to remember exactly when — the tournament morphed into an amateur event and then disappeared. A Kauai Amateur re-appeared at Puakea four years ago, but for the most part the Garden Island was tournament dormant.

There was $3,000 left from the last major local tournament on Kauai — whenever that was. Ota, who once won the old tournament’s low-amateur championship five consecutive times, remembers only that he still has that money sitting in an account.

He wanted to spend it on a new Kauai event and a few of his friends, like Winston Ogata, Wailua pro Darrell Rego and Hall of Famer Art Fujita, liked the idea.

At the same time, the HSGA and President Jay Hinazumi were making a conscious effort to reach out to neighbor island golfers.

The Kauai Amateur is back, and comes with Governor’s Cup points this time. A high finish helps reach the Sony Open in Hawaii amateur qualifier.

“We’re not resurrecting anything. This is a totally new tournament,” Hinazumi says. “We’ve partnered with key individuals from the island. It’s our way of trying to reach out and become a bona fide state golf association.”

There will be Championship, A, B, C, Seniors and Women’s flights. Organizers are hoping for 100 golfers the first year.

“Jonathan has a feeling there might be a lot of players from Honolulu coming here to help and earn points,” says Ogata, who figures the last major Kauai event was more than 12 years ago. “They like to play on the island of Kauai and, especially, Wailua.

“I’m not sure if there will be a lot of people … I’m not saying there won’t be, but 100 would be great for the first time. The only way to make it successful is to improve it every year.”

Ota, General Manager at Tip Top Motel and Cafe, estimates the last Kauai event was “more than 10 years” ago. He has made a three-year commitment to the Kauai Amateur. He hopes Maui — there has never been a Maui Am —and Hawaii Island, which has had the Big Island Amateur more than 90 years but limits it to residents, will follow Kauai’s lead. The popular Maui Open is taking this year off.

He believes this can work because, more than anything, golfers can’t resist Wailua.

It does have history.

The Garden Island newspaper ran a story on the course three years ago that spoke of its three-hole beginnings back in 1920. Wire fences protected the greens from grazing cows, who “kept the fairways adequately trimmed.” A golfer could lift and place their ball without penalty if it stopped in “fresh cow dung.”

During the annual sugar harvesting, sugar trains ran on the track that crossed the fairways. Workers from Lihue Plantation and Makee Sugar Co. maintained the course and graded new holes during the offseason, since two of the club’s board members were company managers.

By 1930, Hall of Famer Francis H. I’i Brown had expanded the course to nine holes, and the cows were gone. The county started operating the course soon after. By 1962, Wailua pro — and Hall of Fame fixture — Toyo Shirai had “re-shaped” the original nine holes and designed a new front nine to create an 18-hole layout.

It lies in the shadow of “Sleeping Giant” on the adjacent Nounou range and stares serenely at the ocean from a few holes, most notably the par-3 17th. Wailua has hosted three national Public Links Championships and is home to national champions Guy Yamamoto and Casey Watabu, along with David Ishii, who won 14 times on the Japan PGA Tour, and the 1990 Hawaiian Open.

It is a course that shows up in every “Best Of” Hawaii golf course list published by folks who simply like golf and appreciate its beauty and imagination. The low resident green fee is just a bonus, and Shirai once estimated 70 percent of Wailua’s play came from tourists.

The University of Hawaii plays a tournament on it and it was the site of this year’s state high school championship.

“Wailua still has its integrity,” Hinazumi says. “The greens are really good. The course is long enough and you can let the rough grow. It will provide a good venue.”

And maybe spark memories that allow the history of golf on Kauai to be rediscovered.