Gone with the Wind: College teams travel all the way to Hawaii, see tourney canceled
It's almost impossible to take a golf trip to Hawaii and not be blown away by the beautiful scenery, the warm weather and the jaw-dropping courses, however, the Hapuna Golf Course near Waimea on the Big Island took things a little too literally the last two days.
Winds gusting in excess of 40 miles per hour forced the cancellation of the 32nd playing of the Amer Ari Invitational on Thursday, which featured five of the top-10 teams in the nation, including No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 5 Stanford and No. 6 Texas Tech.
The tournament got underway on Wednesday but high winds forced play to be suspended. There were hopes of resuming the tournament with a 36-hole day on Thursday, but high winds forced organizers to cancel the tournament.
All teams had gotten onto the course on both Wednesday and Thursday before the winds picked up and blew them off the course, wiping out the scores.
The tournament will not be rescheduled.
ABOUT THE
The Amer Ari Intercollegiate -- hosted by the
University of Hawaii-Hilo -- has brought some of the best golfers in the nation to the west side of the Big Island annually since its inception in 1992. From Tiger Woods to Jordan Spieth to Matt Kuchar, the Amer Ari Intercollegiate has hosted a myriad of players through the years who have gone on to professional stardom.
The event was originally played at Hapuna Golf Course at Mauna Kea Resort before moving to the Waikoloa Beach Resort. The Amer Ari returned to Hapuna during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the event was moved to Mauna Lani. The Amer Ari is a 54-hole collegiate men's event with individual and team competitions.
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