Imagine a college basketball tournament that featured the two defending national championship teams, and then for good measure offered four of the current top 10 teams in the country.
Imagine a college basketball tournament that featured the two defending national championship teams, and then for good measure offered four of the current top 10 teams in the country.
If that was not enough, add the promise that five of the top ten players in the country would be playing, all five certain to be NBA lottery picks. Outside of March Madness, you would be hard pressed to identify such a gathering.
The university of Hawaii-Hilo will host such an event next week, but it won’t be contested on a basketball court. The 26th annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate Golf Tournament will be played at the Waikoloa Beach Resort from Thursday to Saturday.
There will be 21 teams competing, including the two teams that battled it out in the NCAA Championship last spring in Oregon and Texas. Four squads currently ranked in the Division I top 10 will be there, along with five of the top ten players in the NCAA rankings.
That’s just par for the course, as they say, at the Amer Ari. UH-Hilo head coach Earl Tamiya has been hosting this outstanding event for more than a quarter-century, and it is now one of the elite collegiate golf tournaments in the country.
“The Amer Ari is one of the iconic events in collegiate golf,” said University of Oregon head coach Casey Martin, who also played in the tournament as a student-athlete at Stanford. “It was my favorite tournament as a player and it is now our team’s favorite tournament each year.”
Martin, who played on the PGA tour and competed at Stanford with Tiger Woods when the Cardinal won a NCAA title (1994), likes the stability of the tournament.
“This event hasn’t changed much, and that is a good thing,” he said. “It’s on the same golf course and always has one of the best fields in college golf. Our players can compare themselves to former great players that played here. Plus, the weather is great and you’re in Hawaii. The Amer Ari is one of the highlights of our year.”
Some of those past greats that have played in the Amer Ari include Woods, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kutcher, Notah Begay and Anthony Kim. Oregon’s Aaron Wise, who won the Amer Ari last year, is now on the PGA tour.
Teams coming to the Big Island next week that are currently ranked in the GCAA NCAA Division I Top 10 include Oklahoma State (4), Stanford (6), USC (7), and Auburn (8). Texas, ranked 11th, is also in the field. There are 21 total teams—18 Division I squads, one college team from Japan, Division II power Chico State and UH-Hilo.
“My standard line regarding our team and this tournament every year is good luck, we are going to need it,” laughed Tamiya. “But we are not in this to win it. We enjoy putting on one of the best tournaments in the country. I think this is an event that for those who play in it, they will never forget it. And for the Big Island, it provides an economic impact that is immediate and residual.”
Depending on which list you work from, the top two amateur golfers in the country will be on the Big Island next week. Wyndham Clark (Oregon) is ranked No. 1 by the NCAA heading into the spring season, while Stanford’s Maverick McNealy is the recipient of the McCormack Medal, given to the world’s top amateur golfer.
McNealy is ranked No. 5 in the NCAA list, with Auburn’s Will Long at No. 4, USC’s Sean Crocker (6th) and Doug Ghim of Texas (10) all scheduled to compete for medalist honors at the Amer Ari.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host this great event,” said UH-Hilo athletic director Patrick Guillen. “Earl does an amazing job every year and has quietly put together one of the top collegiate golf tournaments in the country. It has become a highlight of the season for those teams that are able to come here, and it is a great opportunity for our own players to play alongside the best in the country.