Kapalua in Crisis: Hawaii Golf Course Threatened by Water Shortage
The prestigious Hawaiian golf course, home to the tournament that opens the PGA Tour season, faces serious challenges. For the seventh consecutive day, the course has not received irrigation, which puts at risk the preparation of the Plantation course in Kapalua for the January tournament. The situation stems from a dispute with Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) over the water supply system, which dates back a century and is vital for irrigation in the west side of Maui island. The Kapalua Golf Resort management made the decision to close the course on September 2nd for two months to preserve the turf, implementing measures such as verticutting to remove dead grass and facilitate water absorption, in addition to the application of slow-release fertilizers. However, the situation worsened when MLP went from a Level 2 restriction (60% of normal irrigation) to Level 4 (no irrigation) over the weekend. Kapalua has not watered the Plantation course since August 29. Alex Nakajima, general manager of Kapalua Golf and Tennis, reported that plans for vertical mowing and other measures have been postponed.The conflict revolves around the 11-mile-long Honokohau Stream and Ditch system, which originates in the West Maui mountains and supplies irrigation water to the Kapalua area. Tadashi Yanai, the Japanese billionaire owner of Kapalua and founder of the clothing brand Uniqlo, along with homeowners in Kapalua and Hua Momona Farms, filed a lawsuit on August 18 against MLP, alleging that it has not maintained the water supply system. Maui Land & Pineapple claims to have made “certain repairs and improvements to the ditch system” as ordered by the Commission on Water Resource Management, and that all its actions are “consistent with the agreements between MLP and the golf courses”. The PGA Tour has been in Kapalua since 1982, first as part of the unofficial end-of-year season, before becoming the season-opening tournament in 1999. Wisconsin-based Sentry Insurance is the title sponsor of a tournament that, according to officials, generates about $50 million in the area. Kapalua warned that another Level 4 suspension would be devastating for the turf, already depleted by months without irrigation. The recovery of the course was already uncertain under Level 2, so a second forced inactivity makes the preparation of the Plantation course for PGA Tour standards in January even more arduous and delicate. Nakajima couldn’t specify how much longer the course could hold out without water before the start of the PGA Tour season (January 5-11) was put in jeopardy. “The longer we wait, the worse it is for us,” he stated.We have all the plans to act. But without water, we can’t do anything. It’s difficult.
Alex Nakajima, general manager of Kapalua Golf and Tennis
