Nation's top teams coming to the Big Island for the 26th annual Amer Ari

Imagine a college basketball tournament that featured the two defending national championship teams, and then for good measure offered four of the current Top 10 teams in the country.

If that was not enough, add the promise that five of the top ten players in the country would be playing, all five certain to be NBA lottery picks. Outside of March Madness (NCAA tournament), you would be hard pressed to identify such a gathering.

University of Hawai`I Hilo will host such an event next week, but it won't be contested on a basketball court. The 26^th annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate Golf Tournament will be played on one of the most scenic golf courses in the world at the Waikoloa Beach Resort.

So there's that as well.

The tournament is set for February 2-4 at the Waikoloa Beach Resort, played on the renowned Tom Weiskopf-designed Kings' Course. Feb. 1 is a practice round, and January 31 is the Kohanaiki College Am.

21 teams will compete, including the two teams that battled it out in the NCAA Championship last spring (Oregon and Texas). Four squads currently ranked in the Division I Top Ten will be there, along with five of the top ten players in the NCAA rankings.

That's just par for the course, as they say, at the Amer Ari. UHH head coach Earl Tamiya has been hosting this outstanding event for more than a quarter of a century, and it is now one of the elite collegiate golf tournaments in the country.

"The Amer Ari is one of the iconic events in collegiate golf," said University of Oregon head coach Casey Martin, who also played in the tournament as a student-athlete at Stanford. "It was my favorite tournament as a player and it is now our team's favorite tournament each year."

Martin, who played on the PGA tour and competed at Stanford with Tiger Woods when the Cardinal won a NCAA title (1994), likes the stability of the tournament. "This event hasn't changed much, and that is a good thing," he said. "It's on the same golf course and always has one of the best fields in college golf. Our players can compare themselves to former great players that played here. Plus, the weather is great and you're in Hawaii. The Amer Ari is one of the highlights of our year."

Some of those past greats that have played in the Amer Ari include Woods, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kutcher, Notah Begay and Anthony Kim. Oregon's Aaron Wise, who won the Amer Ari last year, is now on the PGA tour.

Teams coming to the Big Island next week that are currently ranked in the GCAA NCAA Division I Top 10 include Oklahoma State (4), Stanford (6), USC (7), and Auburn (8). Texas, ranked 11^th, is also in the field. There are 21 total teams—18 Division I squads, one college team from Japan, Division II power Chico State and….UH Hilo.

"My standard line regarding our team and this tournament every year is good luck, we are going to need it," laughed Tamiya. "But we are not in this to win it. We enjoy putting on one of the best tournaments in the country. I think this is an event that for those who play in it, they will never forget it. And for the Big Island, it provides an economic impact that is immediate and residual."

Economic forecasters say the impact is substantial, close to two million dollars (see study at end of release).

Depending on which list you work from, the top two amateur golfers in the country will be on the Big Island next week. Wyndham Clark (Oregon) is ranked No. 1 by the NCAA heading into the spring season, while Stanford's Maverick McNealy is the recipient of the McCormack Medal, given to the world's top amateur golfer.

McNealy is ranked No. 5 in the NCAA list, with Auburn's Will Long at No. 4, USC's Sean Crocker (6^th) and Doug Ghim of Texas (10) all scheduled to compete for medalist honors at the Amer Ari.

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host this great event," said UH Hilo athletic director Patrick Guillen. "Earl does an amazing job every year and has quietly put together one of the top collegiate golf tournaments in the country. It has become a highlight of the season for those teams that are able to come here, and it is a great opportunity for our own players to play alongside the best in the country."

Here is a list of the teams competing in the 26^th annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate Golf Tournament, with their current national ranking in parenthesis.

2017 Amer Ari tournament field
Oklahoma State (4)
Stanford (6)
USC (7)
Auburn (8)
Texas (11)
Texas Tech (17)
Oregon (22)
Georgia Tech (26)
Arizona State (29)
Colorado (31)
Oregon State
San Jose State
Texas Christian
UC Davis
UCLA
Hawaii Hilo
Hawaii
Pacific
Chico State (22 D-II)
St. Mary's 
Osaka Gakuin (Japan)
 
Tournament History
Year       Team Champion               Individual Medalist                                       
1992       Oklahoma State                Craig Hainline (Oklahoma State)
1993       Nevada-Las Vegas            Alan Bratton (Oklahoma State)
1994       Arkansas                          Todd Dempsey (Arizona State)
1995       Arizona State                    Notah Begay (Stanford)
1996       Oklahoma State                Craig Hanell (Arizona State)
1997       Oklahoma State                Jim Skinner (Southern Methodist)
1998       Nevada-Las Vegas             Bill Lunde (Nevada-Las Vegas)
 
Year       Team Champion               Individual Medalist                                       
1999       Nevada-Las Vegas             James Watt (Nevada-Reno)
2000       Georgia Tech                     Matt Kuchar (Georgia Tech), Carlton Forrester (Georgia Tech)
2001       Georgia Tech                     Matt Kuchar (Georgia Tech), Bryce Molder (Georgia Tech)            
2002       Texas                                Sprague Kolp (Nevada-Reno)
2003       Georgia Tech                      Troy Matteson (Georgia Tech)
2004       UCLA                                 Adam Meyer (Texas Christian)
2005       Georgia Tech                      Anthony Kim (Oklahoma)
2006       Oklahoma State                  Tyler Leon (Oklahoma State)
2007       Georgia Tech                      Cameron Tringale (Georgia Tech)
2008       Oklahoma                           Jonathan Moore (Oklahoma State)
2009       Stanford                              Jesper Kennegard (Arizona State)
2010       Southern California              Nick Taylor (Washington)
2011       Oklahoma State                  Daniel Miernicki (Oregon)
2012       Texas                                Jeffery Kang (USC), wins playoff over Jordan Spieth
2013       UCLA/Washington              Dominic Bozzelli (Auburn)
2014       Oklahoma State                 Jordan Niebrugge (Oklahoma State)
2015       Arizona State                     Cheung-Tsu Pan (Washington)
2016       Southern California             Aaron Wise (Oregon)
 
Economic Impact of Amer Ari Intercollegiate tournament
The economic impact of this event will be substantial. According to two economists from the College of Business and Economics at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo , Drs. Tam Vu and Eric Im, there are short-term impacts and the long-term impact on  the Hawaiian economy.

1. Regarding the short term impact on the west side of the Big Island, the teams and their fans/families will spend roughly $310,000, including hotel rooms, food, gifts, car rentals, and miscellaneous expenditures.
2. Concerning the long-term impact of the spending, since one person's spending is another person's income, and the process repeats many times over the years, there will be spilling effects on the Big Island and Oahu.  A calculation of the spending multiplier based on historical data reveals that this long-term impact will be approximately $1,100,000.
3. In addition, there will be short-term and long term on impacts on the Hawaiian economy as a whole. The short-term impact of the revenue for Hawaiian Airlines, which will be roughly $214,000 after factoring out the revenue for United Airlines. The long-term effect of this increase in revenue on the Hawaiian economy as a whole over the next several years will be $760,000.

In sum, the total short-term impact will be $524,000, including expenditures on west side of the Big Island and airfare revenue for the Hawaiian Airlines. The total long term impact on the Hawaiian economy as a whole over the next several years will be $1,860,000. Additionally, the value of exposure through media coverage and visuals to the 21 schools and their metropolitan bases is substantial.