HONOLULU – For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Hawai'i men's golf team will host the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course at Hōkūala in Līhu'e, Kaua'i. In all, Hawai'i will host the Burns on the island of Kaua'i for the 13^th time in its 49-year history.
 
This year's tournament runs Thursday, Feb. 12 through Saturday, Feb. 14. The seventh-longest running collegiate men's golf tournament has been held on the island of Kaua'i for the past 11 years and moved to Hōkūala in 2022 after seven years down the road at Wailua Golf Course.
 
"The Burns" will feature a 19-team field headlined by 21^st-ranked San Diego State. A total of 15 of the 19 teams are ranked among the nation's Top 100.
 
Along with host Hawai'i, making up the field are BYU (#30), California (#79), Fresno State, Grand Canyon (#96), Long Beach State (#42), Loyola Marymount (#70), Miami-Ohio, Missouri (#75), New Mexico (#19), Saint Mary's (#64), San Diego State (#21), San Francisco, Santa Clara (#84), Texas A&M (#34), UNLV (#38), Utah (#23), UTEP (#82), and Washington State (#73).
 
This year's field includes six past champions who have won a combined 22 titles, including five-time champions California (2011, '12, '13, '14, '15) and UNLV (1991, '98, '99, 2010, '25), four-time winners BYU (1977, 2000, '07, '23) and three-time champions New Mexico (2001, '05, & '22) and Texas A&M (2009, '18, & '20).  San Diego State won the 2002 title and Utah captured its first title last year, whom it shared with UNLV.
 
Among the individuals expecting to competed are reigning co-medalists Gabriel Palacios of Utah and Zach Little of UNLV. Palacios, a 2025 PING NCAA Division I All-American honorable mention, is former No. 1 junior golfer from Guatemala and currently the tournament's top-ranked player at No. 5. Little broke the Ocean Course at Hōkūala's par-70 scoring record last year with a 7-under 63 during his second round.
 
New Mexico leads all programs with seven Burns' individual medalists, ahead of Cal (six), Texas A&M (five), BYU (four) and UNLV (four).
 
Participants will play a total of 54 holes over the three-day tournament at the 7,156-yard, par-72 course with an 9:00 a.m., shotgun start each day. Hōkūala has been rated as a Top 10 top golf courses in the state by Golf Digest and Golfweek and was picked as one of the "World's Most Beautiful Golf Courses" by MSN Travel.


The John A. Burns Intercollegiate is named after the former Governor of the state of Hawai'i and was created by former UH head coach Robert Takano in 1977. Takano, who coached UH from 1976-82, passed away in 2022 at the age of 89.


UH opened the spring season last week on the Big Island with the Amer Ari Intercollegiate where they finished in 20^th place. James Whitworth was Hawai'i's top finisher with a even par 144 total and a tie for 76^th place. The Rainbow Warriors played without top golfer Anson Cabello, who is nursing an injury.
 
The Burns is the fifth tournament on the schedule for the Rainbow Warriors.
 
Tournament #5
Dates: February 12-14, 2026
Format: Three-days; 54 holes (18 holes each day); 5-count-4
Time: 9:00 a.m. shotgun start each day
Course: Ocean Course at Hōkūala
Location: Lihu'e, Kaua'i
Yardage (Par): 7,156 (72)
Live Scoring: Scoreboard.Clippd.com

Participating Teams (19):
Hawai'i, BYU, California, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Miami-Ohio, Missouri, New Mexico, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Texas A&M, UNLV, Utah, UTEP, Washington State
 
Tournament History
For nearly half a century, the John A. Burns Intercollegiate is considered the University of Hawai'i's premiere golf tournament, providing some of the nation's top-ranked programs with the opportunity to compete against one another in the 50th state.
 
The annual spring tournament has seen tremendous growth since its first year in 1977. The tournament was held primarily at Kāne'ohe Klipper Golf Course before moving to Leilehua Golf Course in 2000 for an 11-year run. The tournament then moved to Turtle Bay Resort from 2011-13 and then to Wailua Golf Course on Kaua'i in 2014 for the next seven years. The tournament remained on Kaua'i, relocating to Ocean Course at Hōkūala in 2022.
 
Among the who's-who of Burns champions include Bob Clampett, who won at Wailua in 1978, Steve Pate (UCLA, 1983), Notah Begay (Stanford, 1995), Tiger Woods (Stanford, 1996), and Bo Van Pelt (Oklahoma State, 1997). Oklahoma State has a won record six Burns titles while California captured five straight titles from 2011-15.
 
As governor of the state of Hawai'i, Burns longed to see the growth of UH's athletes at a competitive level with the rest of the nation. He took part in initiating statehood in 1959 and also started the planning and construction for Aloha Stadium – home of UH football and the NFL's Pro Bowl, as well as other island sporting events and music concerts.
 
Before he passed away on April 15, 1975 at the age of 66, Burns had a hand in upgrading UH's athletics program. Shortly after his death, his namesake tournament was founded. This tournament reflects back to Burns, the political power who was really a "sportsman at heart."