The tropical vibes are in store for Head Coach Garrett Clegg and his team as WSU concludes its fall season Nov. 6-8 at the Kaanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational in Maui. Hosted by the University of Hawaii, the invitational will be held on a course that beverage namesakes Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have played on.

The Royal Kaanapali Course will serve as the host site for what promises to be a critical juncture for the Cougars.

“At this point we have not played at the level we would expect out of ourselves,” Clegg said in reference to the previous four tournaments. “We have really only played good in one tournament. This week is important to prove to our young group that we are ready to compete in any field at any event.”

Coming off of a last-place finish at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational – a field that featured top-ranked team and tournament champion Illinois and elite Pac-12 schools Arizona State and California – WSU knows the margin of error in this tournament is effectively nonexistent. That field and playing surface will certainly be the toughest the Cougars face prior to the conference championship, but it has not been looked at as an excuse inside the locker room.

“Orlando did not go well for us,” Clegg said. “We hopefully learned a lot from the results and will be better to compete in Hawaii. We need to be able to play with more discipline and patience in order to compete on extremely difficult golf courses. “

Joining the Cougars and the host Warriors on a Bermuda grass course – different from what is played on in the Pacific Northwest and at Palouse Ridge Golf club – will be 16 other teams from all across the country featuring a strong representation from the Power 5 athletic conferences. Georgia, Indiana, Kansas and North Carolina State highlight some of the opposition worth paying attention to.

This tournament will be a strong final test for WSU before it hits the offseason, so much so that Clegg was not entirely sure of who all would be joining his team in Maui.

“Right now we are more concerned about out play and for that reason I do not even know who is playing in the event,” Clegg said when asked of how he thought his team stacks up against the field.

The spirit of youth will again take center stage in Clegg’s lineup card as he turns toward his young golfers to rediscover the level of play seen at the end of September when the team finished 29-under at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, good enough for a 20-stroke first-place team victory at Palouse Ridge.

Sophomore co-captain Derek Bayley will man the No. 1 seed as expected. He will be joined by freshman and highly-touted high school recruit Aaron Whalen atop the lineup card. Freshman Grant Cole, sophomore Zach Anderson and senior Evan Omelia round out the varsity five.

“This is our last event in the fall and we would like to finish the fall strongly so that we have something to build on in the off season,” Clegg said. “It is a very good event and a good finish will be a great confidence builder.”

A concentration on the three major areas of needed improvement likely will garner Clegg that strong finish he is looking for. Consistency on the putting green, following up birdies with even-par or lower holes and a complete three-round performance in the prior tournaments have sometimes been absent, so attention to detail in these areas could spark a team score atop the leaderboard come Sunday.

Clegg is scheduling his team for tough, competitive tournaments to build a strong case for his team to reach the post season in May, and he is looking at Hawaii as a springboard into the winter.

“To this point no,” Clegg said of his team not being in position to qualify for the postseason at the moment. “But it is still early and we have a lot of great events to bold our case. I’m looking forward to a great week with the guys. They have been working hard to prepare for this week and hopefully all the hard work will pay off.”

Tee times begin on a shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. PT and golfers will play one round each of the three days.

Live stats will be available golfstat.com.