For the third time in five years, the University of Hawai'i women's golf team will open its season at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic. This year's tournament runs Sept. 9-10 at the Hobble Creek Golf Course in Springville, Utah.
"I'm eager to head back to Utah and compete in a tournament that we've had success at in the past," UH head coach
Stephen Bidne said. "Four of our starting five players heading to this event, competed there last year. This previous experience and knowledge of the narrow tree-lined golf course will be very beneficial for us."
UH captured the team title in 2015 – its last tournament win – and placed seventh last season. In 2015, UH won by eight strokes while Eimi Koga took medalist honors. Last season,
Megan Ratcliffe finished in a four-way tie for fourth place, six strokes back. Ratcliffe headlines this year's Rainbow Wahine contingent which includes 2018 participants senior
Malia Ebersberger, sophomore
Haruka Shintani, and junior
Sahara Washington, along with junior
Tyra Tonkham.
Hosted by Utah Valley, this year's tournament features a 17-team field which also includes Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, California Baptist, UH, Incarnate Word, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sam Houston State, Santa Clara, Southern Utah, UT Rio Grande Valley, Weber State, and Wyoming.
Participants will play 54 holes, 36 on Monday and 18 on Tuesday at the 6,135-yard, par-71 course. This year's tournament will also feature a unique format.
"Instead of having the teams play in foursomes with three other programs each round which is typically the format for a college event, this year for the first two rounds each team will play together in the same group as a five-some," Bidne said. "The final round will then be split up like normal and pair teams together by scoring. This unique format will be new to the team, but I think will help out our course management decisions since I will be there for every shot unlike a typical round where I can only be with one player at a time."
Last season, Ratcliffe went on to lead the Rainbow Wahine with a 76.0 scoring average, competing in all 10 tournaments. Washington has missed only one tournament in her two-year career while Tonkham is coming off an injury-plagued season. Shintani competed in eight events during her rookie season last year.
"We've been working hard on honing our wedges and short game this past week in preparation for the shorter Hobble Creek Golf Course, and I'm excited about the quality of golf I have been seeing," Bidne said. "The team is in great spirits, and I'm anxious to kick off the season with a successful tournament!"
Tournament #1
What: Hobble Creek Fall Classic
When: Sept. 9-10, 2019
Time: Tee times between 7:30-9:20 a.m. MT on Monday off of holes 1 and 10; Shotgun at 8:30 a.m. MT on Tuesday
Where: Hobble Creek Golf Course; Springville, Utah
Yardage (Par): 6,135 (71)
Format: 54 holes (36 on Monday, 18 on Tuesday); 5-score-4
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Host: Utah Valley
Defending Champion: Tulsa
Field (12 teams): Boise State, CSUN, Hawai'i, Incarnate Word, North Dakota, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Sam Houston State, Southern Utah, Tulsa, UT Rio Grande Valley, Utah Valley
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