If you ever need to get things done, get Earl Tamiya. It's advice the University of Hawai'i-Hilo administration has heeded since naming him its men's golf coach 16 years ago.

Without Tamiya's driving force and ain't-no-big-thing approach, there probably wouldn't be a Vulcans golf team, let alone one that finished fifth in the NCAA Division II national championships last year in Savannah, Ga.

And, for sure, there wouldn't be what college coaches around the country consider to be the best invitational golf tournament anywhere.

Division I golf coaches fall all over themselves trying to get an invitation to UH-Hilo's Intercollegiate Tournament, which will observe its 15th year next Feb. 8 to 10 at the Waikoloa Village Course. Needless to say, it's booked up again with 22 schools entered, including Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State, ranked second and third, respectively, in the latest Golfweek poll.

Now, Tamiya's goal is to launch what he hopes will also become its Division-II equivalent with the inaugural Mauna Lani Invitational next Monday and Tuesday at the Mauna Lani Resort's North Course on the Big Island.

"We tried last year but we couldn't get the teams to come," Tamiya said.

This year, seven Division II schools are sending men's teams — Western Washington, St. Martin's, Chico State, Sonoma State, Stanislaus State, UC San Diego and Notre Dame deNamur. Notre Dame deNamur and Chico State also will compete in women's play against the Lady Vulcans.

"We think we can make it an annual event," added Tamiya, who said that six East Coast schools have expressed an interest in coming next year. "We want to make this the class of all D-2 tournaments."

Said Dennis Rose, Mauna Lani's director of golf who held a similar position at Waikoloa when the Vulcans began their Division-I tournament there, "Who doesn't what to come to Hawai'i? Hawai'i's a big sell. We're trying to do for this tournament what we did for the other tournament."

"You cannot say enough for Mauna Lani and Dennis," Tamiya said. "They gave us a very reasonable rate. They came through for us big time."

And the Vulcans' golf program needs big-time help with a new NCAA 60/40 Division II rule requiring a school to compete against a minimum of 60 teams from its division, 40 from its region, to qualify for postseason play.

"By hosting the Mauna Lani tournament, it helps us to comply with the new NCAA rule to qualify for regional play," said Tamiya, noting that the Vulcans otherwise need to schedule six trips to the Mainland to be in compliance.

"For us, even interisland travel costs a lot of money, let alone going to the Mainland, " Tamiya added.

It can take a financial toll on UH-Hilo with its golf budget of only $60,000. Not one penny goes to Tamiya, who volunteers his time. Good thing he has a day job as a faculty member at Hawai'i Community College.

The golf budget is supplemented by two fundraisers — the Waikoloa College Am in conjunction with the February intercollegiate event and a benefit golf tournament in December at the Hilo Municipal. Both events raise around $40,000, according to Tamiya.

Tamiya, 63, who's from Maui, attended Oregon State and then graduated from UH-Manoa in 1966, moving that year to the Big Island where he managed Ben Franklin stores in Hilo and Waimea. He got involved in the Big Island junior golf program and assisted Waiakea High golf coach Riki Mori before becoming the Vulcans' coach in 1989.

Tamiya doesn't like to talk about himself. He wants attention focused instead on his two leading players, Maui's Kevin Shimomura and Canadian Colin Gilliam, both seniors.

"Write about them, not me. They're both super nice boys, very coachable," Tamiya said.

Tamiya recalls when Shimomura first came to UH-Hilo on the recommendation of his Lahainaluna High School athletic director, Alan Kawaguchi, and Richie Okamura, who runs the Maui junior golf program.

"He was so short (off the tee). I told him he had one year to pick up 30 yards on his drives. Today, he's as long as anybody, around 270 to 280 yards," Tamiya said.

As for Gilliam, Tamiya said, "He came out of the clear blue sky. He came to Hilo on a visit with his mother. We did not recruit him."

But if you want to recruit a real go-to guy, look up Earl Tamiya.