HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i women's golf team will host the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, Oct. 28-30, at the Kapolei Golf Course.
 
This year's tournament features 14 teams will run for three days compared to the traditional two-day, 36-18 format in past events. The Invitational returned to Kapolei last season after a six-year run at the Leilehua Golf Course. 
 
UH's fall tournament has been traditionally played at Kapolei under various names including the Kent Youel Invitational. The event was held at Kapolei from 1999-2008 and again in 2011. In between, UH hosted the Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational on the North Shore of O'ahu from 2009-10.
 
This year's field includes two past champions – Sacramento State (2013 & '16) and Brigham Young (2015). Also participating this year are, British Columbia, Cal Poly, College of Charleston, CSUN, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, Illinois State, Incarnate Word, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, Sam Houston State, and Weber State.
 
Among the field, College of Charleston is the highest ranked team at No. 46 while BYU is ranked No. 58. Along with UH, two other Big West Conference teams are competing, Cal Poly and CSUN.
 
Participants will play 18 holes each day at the par-72, 6,128-yard course with tee times of Nos. 1 and 10 beginning at 7:30 a.m., each day. 
 
Last season's tournament was shorted to 18 holes after the first day was washed out due to rain and ponding on the course. Florida International captured the team title with a 287, just ahead of New Mexico State (288) and Nebraska (289).
 
Kapolei Golf Club has hosted PGA and LPGA tournaments including the Pacific Links Championship of the PGA Champions Tour from 2012-14 and the LPGA's Hawaiian Ladies Open from 1996-2001. It was also rated as one of Hawai'i's Top 10 courses by GolfAdvisor.com.
 
The tournament is UH's fourth of the fall season, which concludes with the Nanea Pac-12 Preview, Nov. 4-5 on Hawai'i Island. Junior Sahara Washington leads the team with a 76.7 scoring average while senior Megan Ratcliffe has a 76.8 average. Sophomore Haruka Shintani was team leader in both the season-opening Hobble Creek Classic and Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational.
    
Tournament #4
What: Rainbow Wahine Invitational
When: Oct. 28-30, 2019
Where: Kapolei Golf Club; Kapolei, O'ahu
Yardage (Par): 6,128 (72)
Format: 54 holes (18-18-18); 5-score-4
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com
Host: Hawai'i
Defending Champion: Florida International
Field (14 teams): British Columbia, BYU, Cal Poly, College of Charleston, CSUN, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, Illinois State, Incarnate Word, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, Sacramento State, Sam Houston State, and Weber State