The view from the 18th tee of Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course is straight out of Hawaii. The endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean sways as a whale appears in the distance. The landscape is slipping off the shoulders of the volcano. Cookpine sways to the rhythm of the trade winds. The sun dances through the lacy clouds.
This is one of the best views in golf, with fairways and greens sloping steeply down to Kapalua Bay, all the way to Pailolo Channel and Molokai Island.
A plantation house in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
If you look toward the mountains west of the teeing grounds, you’ll see a watershed that receives about 400 inches of rain annually. The majority of Kapalua’s irrigation water comes from here and is used by nearby Native Hawaiian farmers and homes. And that’s the main reason pros are disappearing from the northwest tip of Maui this week for the Sentry, the annual PGA Tour season opener since 1999. The tournament was canceled on September 10 due to drought conditions and a water dispute that could lead to an on-court stalemate for years to come. Golf fans in snow-bound states like Minnesota, Nebraska and parts of the Northeast have had nothing to watch for 27 years and have relied on broadcasts as an escape. But here’s the problem. Last week, 150 golfers paid $475 to play at the course, and regular Joe golfers are expected to fill tee seats during what was supposed to be tournament week.
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“It’s beautiful. It’s as good as ever,” Alex Nakajima, Kapalua Resort’s general manager of golf, said of the Plantation Course. “That’s the sad part. If you look at it now, it’s certainly tournament-level condition. But they had to make a decision months ago. I certainly understand. Nothing was certain. When we closed the golf course on September 2nd, we were about to lose daylight. We only had about a month of growing season to get the golf course back up.”
How did Kapalua’s Plantation Course recover so quickly?
So how did the Plantation Course, which ranks No. 22 on Golfweek’s Best Courses to Play and No. 49 on the Modern Top 100 list, make such a remarkable turnaround, and was it too early to cancel the tour, which officials estimate would have an economic impact of $50 million for the region?
A plantation house in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
The emerald green fairways suggest that, but the story is more complicated than that. As the water delivery dispute winds up in court, the PGA Tour tries to determine whether Hawaii fits into its future master plan, but with the next Sentry just 12 months away, there is no sign of a settlement or resolution in sight. We’ll be covering these issues and concerns in multiple articles ahead of next week’s 2026 season opener, the Sony Open in Hawaii, on Oahu, which has its own set of concerns about its future.
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What is the cause of Kapalua’s drought?
Maui Land and Pineapple, which is responsible for providing water to resort courses managed by Troon Golf, essentially shut off the spouts, and the Plantation and Bay courses began turning brown. Following prolonged Tier 4 water restrictions (zero irrigation) that caused significant stress and damage to Kapalua’s two golf courses over the summer, Nakajima closed the courses on September 2 to allow Kapalua Golf’s agronomy team to restore turf health. A big beneficiary is Kaanapali Resort, home to the Royal and Kai courses, which are just a few miles apart but use a different water source (the county’s R-1 recycled non-potable water) and whose fairways remain as lush and gorgeous as ever. Avid golfers staying at the Ritz-Carlton or Montage hotels are a short drive away, shelling out $275 to $325 for a round at the Royal, the longtime site of a PGA Tour Champions event, and $100 less at the Kai, a more traditional and forgiving resort layout. “We hate to use the same Troon course, but that’s the reality and we’re not going to push them away,” Ka’anapali general manager Carl Reul said. “It was good for us, but we wish them the best of luck on the ground and hope it gets resolved soon.”
Since early September, Kapalua Golf has remained under Tier 3 water restrictions, a 60% reduction in normal water usage. With plans in place to renovate the Bay Course, the original resort course built by Arnold Palmer and Frank Duane in 1975, management decided to move all water available to the two courses to the plantation, completely cutting off the Bay and eliminating it. On September 16, the PGA Tour announced that the Sentry Tournament will not be held at The Plantation Course in January.
Through hard work, ingenuity, and a little luck, the Plantation Course reopened to the public on November 10th. At the Plantation Course, drought-tolerant Celebration Bermudagrass (tee, fairway, rough) and TiffEagle Bermudagrass (greens) were all planted during the 2019 renovation and proved to be a major factor in the recovery.
Aerial view of Kapalua Plantation Course, Maui, Hawaii.
Nakajima confirmed golf week Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, architects of the original Plantation Course (1992), will be on site this week to re-walk the property and make final decisions on new sight lines that will reduce the amount of water needed to irrigate the 105 acres by planting additional native grasses.
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Nakajima said there were no layoffs at the golf course during the course closure.
“We made a conscious decision to hire all of our full-time employees and transition them to the plantation course,” he said. “During the closure, they did maintenance on the facility or course. We did maintenance on the cart paths and carpet in the clubhouse. That’s what kept us busy. Guests playing now will find an improved course.”
When the plantation reopened, tee times were limited to 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., with a maximum of 80 rounds per day. As demand gradually increased, tee times were extended until later in the day, with the final tee time at 1 p.m. Reports from those who have played the game indicate that it is in good condition.
A plantation house in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
Andrew Penner, who recently played the course and wrote about it for Golf.com, wrote, “It’s green and majestic all the way. Every wall is perfect. There’s not a single blemish you can see.”
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In other words, the Plantation Course was supposed to host a $20 million signature event this week, but instead the teeing grounds are open to anyone with $500 with a hole in their pocket, a chance to play a bucket-list course at a time when the pros usually rule the roost. Tee times are available at the Plantation Course at GolfatKapalua.com. Additionally, customized Maui golf vacations are offered through Troon Golf Vacations.
Next up: Understanding Hawaii’s water crisis
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Kapalua Plantation Course doesn’t host the PGA Tour but is open to the public
