2022 Kā‘anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational features 20 golf teams from 17 states

The 2022 Kā‘anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational will take place Oct. 28-30 at Royal Kā‘anapali on the West Coast of Maui with a strong field featuring seven teams that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Championships.

The 54-hole tournament hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi will be played on the par 71, 6,700-yard course with 8 a.m. shotgun starts. Spectators can walk the course for free during the tournament.

Twenty teams from 17 states will be competing. The defending team champion is the University of Kansas. Brandon Berry with Loyola University in Maryland is the defending individual champion.

“Royal Kā‘anapali is a fun test of golf with tricky greens and many risk / reward holes,” said It has such beautiful views of Lana‘i and Molokai, where everyone always has a great day,” said Scott Simpson, a seven-time PGA TOUR winner and head coach of the Hawai‘i men’s golf team. “The Kā‘anapali Classic is perennial favorite of players, families, alumni and fans that come out to this great championship.” 

The colleges competing: Air Force, Boise State, Clemson, Colorado, California State University-Northridge, Denver, East Tennessee State, Georgia, Gonzaga, Hawai‘i, Kansas, Liberty, Louisiana Lafayette, Mississippi (Ole Miss), Mount St. Mary’s, North Florida, Oklahoma, UC Irvine, UConn and Wyoming.

“Our elite Royal Kā‘anapali layout will provide a fair but stern test for these great student-athletes,” said Karl Reul, general manager at Kā‘anapali Golf Courses.

Kā‘anapali Classic team titles have been captured by storied athletic programs including Oregon (2014), Oklahoma (’15), Clemson (’16), LSU (’17), California (’18), Oklahoma (’19) and Kansas (’21).

Seven teams in this week’s Kā‘anapali Classic field qualified for the 2022 NCAA Championships: Oklahoma, Georgia, Ole Miss, North Florida, East Tennessee State, Liberty and Kansas.

Nine teams are presently ranked in Golfstat’s Top-100: No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 21 Georgia, No. 31 North Florida, No. 34 Ole Miss, No. 45 East Tennessee State, No. 50 Liberty, No. 51 Colorado, No. 53 Kansas and No. 66 Clemson.

The Kā‘anapali Classic is comprised of 13 players in the top-100 of the PGA TOUR University Rankings. Oklahoma redshirt senior Patrick Welch is the tournament’s highest-ranked individual at No. 7.

Other top-100 players include No. 36 Archie Davies (East Tennessee State), No. 48 Jonathan Yaun (Liberty), No. 52 Nicolas Cassidy (Georgia), No. 54 Remi Chartier (East Tennessee State), No. 55 Hugo Townsend (Ole Miss), No. 56 Michael Sheers (Georgia), No. 58 Luke Kluver (Oklahoma), No. 76 Mats Ege (East Tennessee State), No. 78 Sarut Vongchaisit (Ole Miss), No. 88 Brett Schell (Ole Miss), No. 92 Isaac Simmons (Liberty), No. 99 Austin Barbin (Liberty).

Royal Kā‘anapali offers panoramic views of Lāna‘i, Molokaʻi and the West Maui Mountains. Since opening in 1962, the club has hosted numerous high-profile events including the PGA TOUR’s Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf (1964), LPGA Women’s Kemper Open (1982-85), PGA TOUR Champions’ Kā‘anapali Classic (1987-2000), SKINS Game (2008-11) and Hawaiʻi High School Athletic Association Golf State Championships (1998, 2009, ’13, ’17, ’22).