NAWILIWILI — Kellie Pleas of the Ocean Course at Hokuala at Timbers Resort said University of Hawai‘i Mens Golf Coach Scott Simpson was inducted to the Hawai‘i Golf Hall of Fame on Feb. 10 during the Hawai‘i Golf Ho‘olaule‘a Awards Dinner on O‘ahu.
Simpson and the UH Men Golf return to Kaua‘i to host the 47th edition of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, which starts play on Thursday and continues through Saturday at the Ocean Course at Hokuala.
This will be the third year the tournament has been held at Hokuala after the intercollegiate event was hosted at the Wailua Golf Course for seven of its nine years on Kaua‘i.
“It’s a great course for strategy,” said Simpson in a release from the University of Hawai‘i. “The Ocean Course offers a great mix of holes to attack, and holes to play it safe, with much of the challenge dependent on the ever-changing winds.”
This will prove itself as the National Weather Service is calling for breezy southwest winds with passing clouds and showers on Wednesday, changing to breezy north to northeast winds delivering a cool air mass through the weekend as a cold front passes on Thursday.
“The Burns,” as referred to by golf media sources of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, will feature a 20-team field headlined by the 10th-ranked Arizona and seven other teams ranking in the Top 50. A total of 14 of the 20-team field are ranked inside the Top 100.
Defending Champion Bigham Young University, also a Burns winner in 1977, 2000, and 2007, hosted a golf clinic for young golfers, including Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation golfers in the upcoming 2024 season, on Tuesday afternoon. Following the clinic, the BYU team helped the Ocean Course crews in filling divots.
Pleas pointed out that BYU Coach Bruce Brockbank has family ties with Island School athlete Lucas Summerhays, who is connected with the school’s boys soccer team that won the Division II state title over the weekend for the school’s first state title in school history.
The highest individual ranked golfer in this year’s field is Washington’s Taehoon Song, who is ranked No. 13, while Arizona’s Tiger Christensen is slotted No. 20.
“One of the strengths of our UH team is that everyone’s capable of playing really good golf,” Simpson said. “Because the course is so beautiful and in great shape, we can attract many of the best teams in the country. Competing in tournaments like this is a great opportunity for all involved.”
During the competition, participants will play a total of 54 holes over the three days at the 7, 156-yard, par 72 course. A shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. begins play on each day.
