HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i women's golf team will host the Big West Championship next week at the Royal Kā'anapali Course, Sunday, April 19 through Tuesday, April 21 in West Maui. It marks the third time the championships will be held on the island of Maui.
 
UH is hosting the championship for the fourth and final time as members of the Big West and first since 2016 when the tournament was held at Maui's Kapalua Bay Course. Hawai'i also hosted the conference championship in 1993 at the Sheraton Mākaha Resort and Country Club on the island of O'ahu and in 1989 at the Wailea Country Club in Maui.
 
The Rainbow Wahine enter the championship as the No. 7 seed and will be paired in the first round with UC Riverside and Cal State Bakersfield. UH's tee times are scheduled for 12:10 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
 
Last year, Cal State Fullerton secured a wire-to-wire team win, for its first Big West title in program history. Kaitlyn Zermeno Smith led the Titans and took home top individual honors with a three-day tally of 3-under 213. 
 
Fullerton is the highest ranked team in the field at No. 41, followed by UC Davis (#63), UC Irvine (#83), Long Beach State (#98), Cal Poly (#100), CSUN (#120), UH (#148), UC Riverside (#164), Cal State Bakersfield (#175).
 
The winner of the Championship will receive the Big West's automatic bid into the NCAA regional field. If the individual champion is not from the winning team, they will also earn an entry into a regional.
 
Kā'anapali Golf Course was built in 1962 and is one of only two courses in Hawai'i designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. The championship course will play at 6,022 yards and par 72. Tee times begin off No. 1 at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday's final round will have split tees at No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 8:00 a.m.
 
UH was co-champion of the event in 2022, securing its first women's golf conference championship in program history. Prior to that, the program's best finish at the championship was runner-up in 2015.  
 
Hawai'i will send a contingent of six golfers – Maline Kraus, Jasmine Wong, Emiko Sverduk, Chloe Ku, Sofina Firouzi, and Kaydence Kim, the latter of whom will serve as alternate. Kraus leads the team with a 75.27 scoring average followed closely by Wong (75.48). The Düsseldorf, Germany native was the team's top finisher in each of the last two events at the PING ASU Tournament and Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational.
 
Last season, UH finished eighth in the Big West Championship with a 910 total. Firouzi was the team's top finisher, tying for 11^th place with a 7-over 223 total. Kraus and Sverduk placed 34^th and 38^th, respectively.
 
Tournament Facts
Date: April 19-21, 2026
Format: 54 Holes (18-18-18); 5-count-4
Time: Tee times beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and Monday; split tees beginning at 8:00 a.m. PT on Tuesday
Course: Royal Kā'anapali Course
Location: Kā'anapali, Maui
Yardage (Par): 6,022 yards (72)
Live Scoring: Scoreboard.Clippd.com
Field (9): Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside