PRINCEVILLE — The public is invited to view some of the top collegiate golf teams Monday when the Warrior Princeville Invitational golf tournament launches with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start at the Princeville Makai Golf Club at St. Regis Princeville Resort.
The tournament runs through Wednesday and will feature teams from Arizona State, Boise State, Cal Poly, East Tennessee State, Georgia Tech, host Hawaii, Idaho, Louisville, McNeese State, Mississippi, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara and Utah.
“For a lot of these teams, this wraps up their respective fall seasons,” said John Moseley, tournament director. “We’ve got some good teams such as Georgia Tech who, last year, was in the running for the No. 1 team. Ollie Schniederjans, the top amateur in the country, plays with Georgia Tech. For many of these teams, this is the last stop in the fall season, and they’re glad to be here instead of playing in 30-degree weather.”
Georgia Tech headlines the field, ranked No. 15 nationally by Golf Week with other teams ranked in the Top 50 including ETSU (No. 29), ASU (No. 33), and Louisville (No. 49), states a Hawaii release. Cal State Fullerton is the defending champion.
Golfers will play a total of 54 holes, 18 each day, on the par-72 course which checks in at 7,223 yards with a shotgun start each day at 8:30 a.m.
For the Hawaii Warrior golfers, the Warrior Princeville Invitational is one of three tournaments squeezed in a 10-day span.
The Hawaii golfers will move on to the Kaanapali Golf Course on Maui Friday.
“Zachary Braunthal, a freshman, had a good round during his debut at the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Hawaii-Hilo, so we moved him up in the roster for this tournament,” said Ronn Miyashiro, the Hawaii team coach. “The Rose Intercollegiate is a Division 2 tournament, and it was a good time to give our freshmen and sophomores some exposure and playing time.”
Joining Braunthal on the Hawaii team are Brian Lee, Scott Yamashita, Justin Chu and Ryan Kuroiwa.
Hawaii individualists in the tournament include Justin Pono Tokioka, a Kauai High School graduate, Adrian Lee, Skye Inokoshi, and Chayutpol Kittirattanapaiboon.
Moseley said one of the new teams in this year’s tournament is McNeese State from Louisiana.
“They have a lot of European golfers on the team,” Moseley said. “This shows how golf is an international sport.”
Jeff Fry of Canada plays with McNeese, and noted this is his second trip to Kauai.
“A lot of the guys have never been to Hawaii,” Fry said. “Some, no all, of the golfers wanted to play here, so we spoke with the coach who contacted the host team and made it happen. This is a pretty course with some amazing views.”
