HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's golf team will kick off the spring season by competing in the 33^rd Amer Ari Intercollegiate which runs Thursday, Feb. 8 through Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Mauna Lani Resort Golf Club.
 
The Rainbow Warriors and Hawai'i-Hilo are co-hosts of the event which is traditionally considered one of the top collegiate tournaments in the country and opens the spring season.
 
This year's field is among the best-ever featuring nine teams ranked in the Top 25, including six in the Top 12. Highlighting the field is top-ranked Auburn and No. 2 North Carolina along with No. 4 Washington and No. 7 Arizona State. Also ranked in the Top 25 are No. 11 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Florida State, No. 16 Texas, No. 18 Oregon, and No. 22 Texas Tech.
 
Four others are ranked in the Top 50 – No. 31 UCLA, No. 42 Oklahoma State, No. 46 Oregon State, and No. 49 San Jose State. Making up the rest of the field are No. 77 Pepperdine, No. 86 Stanford, UC Davis, Hawai'i, Pacific, Osaka Gakuin, and host UH Hilo.
 
In addition, five individuals are ranked in the Top 10 – No. 2 Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech), No. 3 Davis Ford (North Carolina), No. 4 Macwell Ford (North Carolina), No. 7 Luke Powell (UCLA), and No. 10 Preston Summerhays (Arizona State).
 
Two years ago, the 19-team field featured 16 teams ranked in the Top 70, including six in the Top 10. Oklahoma State came from behind to edge Texas Tech by one stroke for its ninth Amer Ari team title. Last year's tournament was cancelled due to high winds.
 
This year, the tournament moved to Mauna Lani Resort after spending the past three years at Hāpuna Golf Course in Waimea. The teams will play the 6,913-yard, par-72 North Course over 54 holes and three days with a 7:30 a.m., shotgun start each day.  
 
The tournament is the fifth event of the 2023-24 season for the Rainbow Warriors. Hawai'i enters the tournament ranked No. 140 nationally with a scoring average of 286.8 per round. UH's line-up includes Blaze Akana, Dane Watanabe, Tyler Ogawa, Josh Hayashida, and Kolbe Irei while Isaiah Kanno will be competing as an individual.
 
Among the group, only Ogawa has competed in the tournament, finishing in a tie for 77^th place at 3-over 219 in 2022. Kanno also competed as an individual that year and placed 111^th at 243.
 
Akana, who last competed in the PGA's Sony Open in Hawai'i last month, leads the team with a 70.67 scoring average.
 
Tournament #5
What: Amer Ari Intercollegiate
Dates: Thursday, Feb. 8 through Saturday, Feb. 10
Course: Mauna Lani Resort
Location: Kohala Coast, Hawai'i
Yardage (Par): 6,913 yards (72) 
Format: Three-days; 54 holes (18 each day); 5-count-4
Host: Hawai'i-Hilo, Hawai'i
Field (20 teams): Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Hawai'i, Hawai'i-Hilo, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Osaka Gakuin (Japan), Pacific, Pepperdine, San Jose State, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech, UC Davis, UCLA, Washington
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com