HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i women's golf team's longest running tournament, the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, will be played at the Hoakalei Country Club for this year's 36^th edition which runs March 7-8.
 
After more than three decades at Kāne'ohe Klipper Golf Course, the tournament moves to west O'ahu where Hoakalei has also hosted the UH men's golf team's fall tournament, the Hoakalei Country Club Invitational. Klipper played host to the "The Donnis" 33 times over the previous 35 tournaments.
 
The Thompson Invitational, which is named in honor of UH's first women's athletics director, returns after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic. This year's field features one of the smallest in tournament history with only 10 teams highlighted by four Top 100 squads among them the 90^th-ranked host Rainbow Wahine.
  
"We are looking forward to hosting the prestigious Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational at Hoakalei Country Club this year," head coach Stephen Bidne said. "We have a great field of teams coming to play, and the weather looks like it will be perfect as usual. The course is in fantastic shape, and the team has been practicing there often in preparation for our event there."
 
Participants will play at total of 54 holes, 36 on Monday and 18 on Tuesday on the par 72, 6,123-yard course with a 7:45 a.m., shotgun start each day. The field includes Top 100 teams Sacramento State (#72), Nevada (#83), Hawai'i (#90), and Grand Canyon (#91) along with Cal Baptist, Gonzaga, Long Beach State, Louisiana-Monroe, UC Riverside, and Wyoming.
 
UH, which posted its lone Donnis Thompson title in the inaugural year in 1986, will feature a line-up of Momo Sugiyama, Mayumi Umezu, Hyeonji Kang, Hana Mirnik, and Ting-Yu Liu. Also competing as individuals are Monica Johnson and Kralyn Salazar.
 
Among UH's line-up, only Salazar has competed in the Thompson Invitational with an 86^th place finish in 2020, the same year the Rainbow Wahine took fifth among a field of 16 teams. That finish was the team's best in the tournament since 2008, when UH placed fourth.
 
The Rainbow Wahine are coming off a third place finish at The Gold Rush last week in which the team finished behind Top 15 teams USC and UCLA. Individually, Sugiyama took third place among the 73-golfer field, beating five nationally ranked golfers and posting her fourth Top 5 finish of the season.

"The key will be to keep the ball in play and avoid the lurking fairway bunkers and water on this course," Bidne said. "The wind is another one of the biggest defenses of Hoakalei, so that will be a factor depending on the strength of the winds each day. The team keeps getting better and better, and I'm excited to keep up our momentum and impressive play heading into our home event! Go 'Bows!"
 
In 1999, previously named the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, was re-named as the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, who was an avid supporter of women's equality. Dr. Thompson was inducted into the school's Sports Circle of Honor in 1988 for her tremendous achievements and many contributions to the UH Athletics programs. She passed away in 2009 at the age of 75.
   
Tournament Facts
Date: March 7-8, 2022
Format: 54 Holes (36-18); 5-count-4
Time: 7:45 a.m. shot gun start both days
Course: Hoakalei Country Club
Location: 'Ewa Beach, O'ahu
Yardage (Par): 6,123 yards (72)
Media Relations Contact: Derek Inouchi
Cell Phone: (808) 954-0234
E-mail: inouchi@hawaii.edu
Defending Team Champion: Arizona State (2020)
Defending Individual Champion: Linn Grant, Arizona State (2020)
Live Scoring: golfstat.com
Field (10): Hawai'i, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, Gonzaga, Long Beach State, Louisiana-Monroe, Nevada, Sacramento State, UC Riverside, Wyoming