Kapalua in Trouble: Golf Course Threatened by Water Shortage
The Hawaii golf course, home to the tournament that opens the PGA Tour season, faces serious challenges. For the seventh consecutive day, the course is without irrigation, which puts at risk the preparation of the Plantation course in Kapalua for the January tournament. The scarcity of irrigation water is the result of a dispute with Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP), owner of a century-old water supply system in Maui, crucial for irrigation in the west side of the island. Last week, Kapalua Golf Resort made the decision to close the course on September 2nd for two months, with the aim of preserving the turf. This included measures such as scarification to remove dead grass and improve water absorption, as well as 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. Since August 29, the Plantation field has not received water.The conflict centers on the 11-mile Honokohau Stream and Ditch system, which extends from 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 properly maintained the water supply system. Maui Land & Pineapple has stated that it has made “certain repairs and improvements to the ditch system” as indicated 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, initially as part of the unofficial end-of-year season, before becoming the season-opening event in 1999. Wisconsin-based Sentry Insurance is the main sponsor of the tournament, which officials say generates around $50 million for the area. “We previously warned that another Level 4 closure would be devastating for the turf, already exhausted by months without irrigation,” Kapalua stated in a release. “With the recovery of the course already uncertain under Level 2, 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 survive without water before the start of the PGA Tour season (January 5-11) was put in jeopardy. “The longer we wait, the worse it will be 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
