(Pictured: 2020 Amer Ari champion Pepperdine, with L to R Hawaii coach Ronn Miyashiro, Amer Ari, and UH HIlo coaches Earl Tamiya and Kevin Ginoza)
*Pepperdine had to pull out of the tournament over the weekend.

The pandemic has played havoc with much of the sports world in 2020-21, but the Amer Ari Intercollegiate moves into its 30th season next week on the Big Island of Hawai`i.

True, COVID-19 has caused a few adjustments to the famous tournament set to play Tuesday-Thursday, Feb. 2-4, co-hosted by the University of Hawai`i and the University of Hawai`i Hilo. Eight teams will tee off instead of the normal full field of 20, and the tournament will be moved from the Waikoloa Kings' Course to the Hapuna Golf Club at the Mauna Kea Resort. Playing with masks will be required.

But as usual, the field is loaded. This year's group includes No. 1 nationally ranked *Pepperdine, who won the 2020 Amer Ari by two strokes over Texas. Pepperdine's William Mouw won a one-hole playoff last year over Arizona State's Mason Anderson to claim medalist honors. In 2019, Oklahoma State was the title winner, with eventual NCAA champion Matthew Wolfe winning the individual title. Wolfe would turn pro soon after, winning the 3M Open TPC Twin Cities (Minn.), placing fourth at the PGA Championships and he led the 2020 US Open heading into the final round.

Eight other schools will join favorite Pepperdine in the field, including No. 10 Arizona State and No. 20 Georgia Tech.. The rest of the field includes Hawai`i and Hawai`i Hilo, Oregon State, Washington, San Jose State, and USC. The No. 4 ranked player in the country according to Golf Stat will be here, Pepperdine's Dylan Menante.

It will be the first tournament of the year for the Vulcans and head coach Earl Tamiya, in his 31st season at the helm. The Vulcans, like many of the teams in the country, lost their Fall season to COVID.

"We are anxious to play, and we love hosting this event," said Tamiya, who has been involved in hosting every Amer Ari tournament since 1992. "We will scale down a bit in terms of what we are normally able to do in being hosts with Ronn (Hawai`i coach Ronn Miyashiro), but it will still be a great event on a great course."

The Hapuna Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay, is one of the most beautiful courses in the world, utilizing the scenic coastline of the Kohala coast. The Amer Ari was actually played at the Hapuna course over 20 years ago. 

The teams will play a practice round on Monday, Feb. 1. The three-day tournament will begin at 8 a.m. each day, playing 18 holes each morning. Vulcans scheduled to play include Andrew Otani, Noah Lau, Nicholas Gomez, Dustin Franko, Junghwan (Willis) Lee and Ethan Hironaga. 

You will be able to follow the action via LIve Stats at https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-golf/schedule.