Wailea Gold & Emerald: $155+4.167% Hawaii GET

Wailea’s newest 36-holes were designed by Robert Trent Jones II and have repeatedly garnered praise and accolades from the national media since they opened. The Gold is the more-challenging, but the Emerald is every bit of a test. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and many other legends of golf have played here. Wailea has extended a limited number of golf rounds for the readers of Maui Golf Review. The rate is only $155 plus tax. To book at this rate, you must call the golf course 24-hours in advance of play to make your reservation as normal. You do not have to say anything about this rate as we communicate with both the marketing manager and the head pro. The phone number is: (808) 878-7450. Once you have made your reservation, call Marie Lenz at: (808) 250-1311 to give her your name and tee time information. She will collect your credit card info, and then email the marketing manager and head pro to have them note on your reservation that it is a Maui Golf Review “comp”. Marie will copy you on the correspondence. Once she receives confirmation from the pro shop, you are good to go and she will charge your card.

Wailea Old Blue: $90+4.167% Hawaii GET

Wailea’s fabled 18-hole resort course, Old Blue, is the former site of the LPGA Tour’s Women’s Kemper Open, and has extended a limited number of golf rounds for the readers of Maui Golf Review. The rate is only $90 plus tax. To book at this rate, you must call the golf course 24-hours in advance of play to make your reservation as normal. You do not have to say anything about this rate as we communicate with both the GM and head pro. The phone number is: (808) 879-2530. Once you have made your reservation, call Marie Lenz at: (808) 250-1311 to give her your name and tee time information. She will collect your credit card info, and then email the Old Blue GM and head pro to have them note on your reservation that it is a Maui Golf Review “comp”. Marie will copy you on the correspondence. Once she receives confirmation from the pro shop, you are good to go and she will charge your card.

The Dunes at Maui Lani: $79/$69+4.167% Hawaii GET

This famed central Maui golf course is host to the annual Maui Open and was among only four courses in the nation mentioned in the Best-Kept Secrets issue of Golf Digest. Built on original dunes, this course is short but very challenging, and has one of the highest USGA course and slope ratings on Maui. The Dunes has extended a special rate for the readers of Maui Golf Review. The early morning rate is only $79 plus tax. At 11am, the rate drops to only $69! To book at this rate, you must call the golf course 24-hours in advance of play to make your reservation as normal. You do not have to say anything about this rate as we communicate with both the GM and golf operations manager. The phone number is: (808) 873-0422. Once you have made your reservation, call Marie Lenz at: (808) 250-1311 to give her your name and tee time information. She will then email the GM and golf operations manager to have them note on your reservation that it is a Maui Golf Review “rate”. Marie will copy you on the correspondence. Once she receives confirmation from the pro shop, you are good to go and must PAY AT THE GOLF COURSE.

Kapalua Plantation & Bay: $185+4.167% Hawaii GET

Kapalua’s two hallowed venues have hosted the PGA Tour for decades, and each year the Tournament of Champions is contested on the epic fairways of Kapalua’s Plantation Course. Kapalua has extended a limited number of golf rounds for the readers of Maui Golf Review at a very special rate of only $185 plus tax. To book at this rate, you must call the golf course 24-hours in advance of play to make your reservation as normal. You do not have to say anything about this rate as we communicate with both the general manager and the marketing manager. The phone number is: (888) 708-9705. Once you have made your reservation, call Marie Lenz at: (808) 250-1311 to give her your name and tee time information. She will collect your credit card info, and then email the general manager and the marketing manager to ask them to note on your reservation that it is a Maui Golf Review “comp”. Marie will copy you on the correspondence. Once she receives confirmation from the pro shop, you are good to go and she will charge your card.

Important Notes:

Bookings must be done 24-hours before play to qualify. No cancellations accepted within 24-hours of your tee time, except when course closes due to rain. You may arrange to pay for your golf with cash to avoid the convenience charge of 5%. All major credit cards are accepted with a 5% convenience fee. We are sorry but merchant fees for many mileage cards run as high is 4.5% + more if the card holder is from outside of the United State. A receipt will be emailed to you for your total charge.

This is an exclusive offer by the Maui Golf Review. For more information, please feel free to contact Marie Lenz via email at: mlenz@mauigolfreview.com or by calling: (808) 250-1311.

The post Exclusive green fee discounts. appeared first on .

Budgeteer’s Cornucopia

Aye, well I daresay you can’t come to Maui and be squeezed by the tariffs imposed. In fact, of all the lands I have traveled, Maui is fraught with good golf bargains for the thrift in us all. I tell you fit in a round at Kihei’s elleair Maui Golf Club, if you’re a-stayin’ that side.Seafarers like us tend to like to anchor off of the 8th green at  Waiehu, because, ye see, landlubbers: this golf course has more waterfront holes than any other. But nothing like a full head of wind in me sails, and that’s why I like Kahili. She’s designed to buckle down in any conditions, and I can see me ship right there in the harbor from any hole. Long ago, I discovered Pukalani upcountry, when I was looking to buy some wood for me vessel. It’s cool and clear up there, and the course ain’t bad either. The Dunes at Maui Lani is where ye gots to go. Ye have no excuses because she is right by the airport, you hackers. Best design on this rock, in me humble opinion. I never come to Maui without a visit to Wailea Old Blue. It’s where it all began, and the price is right too.

Power Loop

Fer ye long ‘n straight knockers of da pellet, there’s what me mates call “Power Loop.” Tis  not for da faint o’ heart, mind you, as I tell ya you’re a gonna hate disin’ out all that coin to shoot big numbers, but hey, ’tis your call indeed. Head to The King Kamehameha Golf Club around 1PM. You’ll need to spend some time in the moon ship they have there after your get yer drummin’. Next is one Plantation at Kapalua, where I want ye to also tee er up late in the day, especially during a Kona. Now head south to Wailea Gold and play early: I want da little birds to enjoy our time on the beach. Alas: before ’tis too late: Makena Golf Course fer a lickin’.

Old Hawaii

Well, aye, there’s no one who knows old Hawaii like this old salty dog. Ye landlubbers will never know what it was like in da old days, when luaus were ashore with bounty devoid of those chemicals you so adore. Nay, we and the people of these Sandwish isles heard nothing of those scoundrels who live in Washington instead, we stole and murdered the old-fashioned way: up-front and purrsonal. Now, if yer lookin’ to play some old-style golf courses on this here rock then you have but two that date back to me grandchildren’s days: Waiehu and Maui Country Club. Now, Waiehu is really the working man’s choice as the bluebloods I liked to kill usually hung their hats at the club. So, if yer looking to ter er up on the seashore, like it was 90 years back, then go to Waiehu. If yer looking to get some stink eye from a bunch of new money braggarts, then go ahead and hobnob with the misguided bullies who have nothing ado except to charge pennies more for fuel, or a tad more for a morsel of food.  Waiehu is me choice.

Halls of Champions

My favorite for me classic game is Wailea Old Blue, home of many pro championships, where the best have competed for that pot o’ gold. Same goes fer me other favorite: Wailea Gold, where Arnie and the boys brawled it out. I got me some time with Jack ‘n Arnie there we had a good time indeed. I like that 24-carat Gold Course fer me teeth, and me ears too, you lackies. But I must also say the great players have made their rounds on both coasts here, and it all began in thee old days at Royal Kaanapali, when a young Hawaiian lad by the name of Ted Makalena gave Jack, Arnie, and Gary Player a run fer their money in da World Cup. Me lad Ted tied fer third, and I’ll wager me last shillin’ the South Africanas, Player, was burnin’. Ha! Ladies Tour made good use of Kai and Royal back in da day, and I can remember one wahinie dancin’ o’ hula is one grass skirt too! “The Hawaiian Home of Senior PGA Tour” was how they dubbed thee Kaanapali. Now, a certain old bird told me ’bout one Mark Rolfing up der at da Bay at Kapalua. He and da wife, Deb, rolled on in about 70 years ago and took the place over! Next thing ye know and the Bay Course is a hummin’ wit Tour pros. Then the TV got involved and boom: Kapalua was on da map fer good. Rolf, as I call da lad, decided da Bay wasn’t enough, so he built the Plantation Course at Kapalua for that pot o’ gold to grow even bigger. You see Rolf out there on, what is it, NBC? He’s a bigwig here and there and everywhere. Aye so there ’tis.

LPGA Tour

Well I daresay the Women’s Kemper Open at Wailea Old Blue Golf Club in the early ’90s was a big gala here on Maui, and mainlanders were agog when it was held at me favorite South Maui enclave Wailea: where we anchored off-shore regularly. Much ado was brought on by my fellow pirate and friend, Jeff Halpin, when the ladies were later hosted at the Kaanapali resort, another favorite stop for me and me lads by way of Lahaina. Kapalua’s Bay was yet another stop for the best lady golfers when the fabled resort hosted the USGA Women’s Amateur Championships, and I was, in spririt, there to watch the long-hitting females as they made their way ’round the old course. Then old-time Kapalua boss Gary Planos brought a climactic and exciting LPGA full-field event to the same old venue where his favorite young lady pro, a certain Ms. Morgan Pressel, figured into the mix and captured her crown on the 18th hole. Aye, there have been many an occasion here for the lady pros to strut their stuff, and you can follow them as I did.

Hana/Crater Run

Not all of yer brood is goin’ to love da game as much as you. Here’s a way to sneak in some folly whilst your bride and kiddies are diverted on sight-seeing excursions of your own design! Trust me lad, I have me own issues trying to fit fun with ship’s duty as I harpoon whales and send treasure back home to me own leadership. Legend has it I met my maker at the hands of some angry local denizens, but between us, I have never stopped swingin’ the old sticks and neither should ye. Kahili is right in your path if ye wants to see the  Iao Needle and old Hawaii Wailuku. In fact, she is even en route to Hana and the crater. The Dunes is right in line to the airport, and Hana, and Pukalani is fit for the slaughter if da crater is in yer sights. No excuses: golf and the lot await.

Shotmaker’s Conquest

Well, the snot-nosed bugs who play better than me and me lads are indeed harpoonists of the highest order. I remember once when I had to stick one Brit boy named “Tell” after his archery beat me to no end. Well, the better shooters like him love courses like The Dunes, a bleeding killer of a course. ‘T is sure to whip yer ego and yer confidence as those blasted trades whip up and throw yer percha askew. Me old chum, his majesty the king, Kamehameha, has his own club, and trust me, yer gonna need your mama and yer priest here as the gales and the length and the millions of gallons of H2O will have their way wit ya. The Royal at Kaanapali has always been a stop fer us as we like to harpoon whales, women, and golf holes, but Jones, that ole codger, makes the game tough here. We though little Ben’s Plantation Course would make chopped liver out of da Royal, but we were wrong: she’s a brute, with gales and big curling fairways to befuddle us. So we head on down south and Wailea’s Gold Course is a bit of a reprieve, but not much, as those bunkers lurk, and then there’s Makena: a sad story to tell as our dreams of conquering the South are doused.

The post Captain’s Log: Maui Golf Itineraries appeared first on .

Golf Digest’s golf course architecture editor, Ron Whitten, attempts to explain Wailea’s setting: “The state’s most idyllic setting could be Maui’s ‘golf coast’, the southwestern slope of Mount Haleakala,” he exclaims. “Yet palms, plumeria, and kiawe trees flourish. The scenery is downright decadent….” He adds: “Sheltered from the elements, this area receives just 10 inches of rain a year, so sunshine is king.”
The 10,028-foot-tall Mt. Haleakala is Wailea’s protector. The mountain blocks the north shore weather and shelters Wailea golfers from wind, rain, and the other elements.  Wailea golfers enjoy endless sunny days, very little wind, and vistas replete with breaching whales and brilliant sunsets—no wonder the champions like it here. In fact, the non-stop panorama of wall-to-wall ocean views and the creviced and coned Haleakala mountainside are so breathtaking the Tour officials have actually put competitors ‘on the clock’ for mid-event sightseeing!

The Wailea Golf Club enjoys a commanding and dominant position as the standard-bearer for resort golf here in the Hawaiian islands. The Club’s two premiere championship golf courses feature holes of every imaginable shape and form, all beaming off and emanating from the resort’s famed Gold and Emerald Clubhouse.

The epitome of golf in paradise, Wailea’s Gold and Emerald Courses exude an air of quiet sophistication and confidence—and with every drive, approach shot, pitch, and putt one is reminded of how special a time golf here truly is—with endless seascapes and brilliant sunsets unlike any others anywhere touching the senses. It’s intoxicating, and to experience it is to yearn for more. Once imbibed, the desire to play and be at Wailea becomes irresistible. Where other golf resorts strive to keep up, Wailea nonchalantly goes beyond merely keeping pace: she sets it.

Wailea has forever joined in the tradition of hosting its share of professional events. But the club caters to more than the likes of Jack, Arnie, Tom, and Hale: it is also the venue of choice for champions of other skill levels, genders, ages, and sizes: from the LPGA and Champions Tours, to junior boys and girls—no one champions the champions quite like Wailea!

As 2012 ended, the Michelle Wie HSJGA Tournament of Champions concluded its annual sojourn to Wailea, their venue of choice, where tomorrow’s stars graced the resort during this prestigious event.
Wailea’s penchant for catering to the stars has been its credo since day one, and regardless of whether one is a head of state, or a snowbird from the West Coast, in Wailea’s eyes: you are a champion. Maybe that’s why golfers migrate in droves to this, Hawaii’s most desirable and beautiful golfing escape—where exclusivity and quality go hand-in-hand.

“Breathtaking and immaculate” writes Bdelatorre, a tripadvisor.com Senior Contributor, as he describes his recent golf experience at the Wailea Golf Club: “…the most immaculately manicured courses I’ve ever played, and the views are incredible from every hole. The course is well worth the money for serious golfers. Attendants greet you with ice-cold hand towels as you complete your round on hot days. Make sure to make time for a Mai Tai on the deck after your round to finish taking in the magnificent view of Haleakala that you get from most holes on the course also. This was one of the most memorable rounds of golf in my life!”
They always say the best venues are the ones you never forget, and that’s just what course architect Robert Trent Jones II had in mind when he created Wailea’s two premiere courses: the Gold and the Emerald: “True jewels that lend sparkle to this world class, award-winning 1,500-acre resort,” Jones proclaims.

The Gold Course is the resort’s “24-carat option”, he says. It “blends classic design with rugged natural topography, including 200-ft elevation changes, low lava rock walls, tall native grasses, 93 bunkers, and strategically placed doglegs add to the challenge.”

The press agrees. Condè Nast Traveler lauded the 7,078-yard former site of the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game as “one of the world’s best-designed golf courses.”
Jack Nicklaus describes it from a competitor’s perspective: “The Gold Course is a good test of golf and a good venue for this type of format. It’s not an exceptionally long course, and it’s set up well for senior golf. That’s the whole idea of matching the golf course or venue to the format. This golf course is a fair test for all of us.”

Travel + Leisure Golf, in “Maui’s Next Shot,” an article about Wailea’s Gold Course, said: “the Gold most closely hews to one’s preconceptions of what Hawaiian golf will be,” adding that “The Pacific views are showstopping, the course maintenance is top-notch, the hedges are groomed to bonsai perfection, and the ancient lava rock walls, called papohaku, are a delightful flourish. Your cart flushes birds at every turn, sending chubby francolins and slender egrets scurrying.”
The Wailea Gold Course features four to six staggered tees, allowing for even the novice to play, at times, like a champion. But it’s the extra length and those 93 sand bunkers that seem to creep into even the most stoic golfer’s self-confidence, and perhaps that is why the competitions favor this course.

Not to be outshone by her 24-carat sister, the second of the two crown jewels at Wailea is the Emerald, and she is equally as flawless: “…stretching to 6,825 yards, (the Emerald) has many facets, including a sensuousness created by a lush tropical landscape full of plumeria, wiliwili, birds of paradise, firecracker plants, and other island flora,” Jones enthuses.

Wailea visitor hunted466 from Roseville, CA agrees with Jones. In his tripadvisor.com review of Wailea’s Emerald Course, he wrote: “I have played every course on Maui and this is my favorite. Out of the 3 Wailea courses don’t miss this one. It really plays well and is in excellent condition. The pro-shop is extensive and has a HUGE variety of just about everything that you could imagine. The views are as good or better than any course on Maui. If you’re having a hard time deciding where to play during your trip don’t hesitate. Forget Kapalua and come here. You won’t be disappointed!”

Condè Nast Traveler talks about the Emerald in more elegant, yet similarly flattering words: “…from its shared tenth and seventeenth green to the postage-stamp thirteenth that evokes the eighth at Pebble Beach to the brilliant flowers that add to the course’s palette of blue and green. (The flora and fauna here are the prettiest of any course on the island.) With funneling fairways and directional bunkers, this is a course where you should match or beat your handicap but with just enough hazard to feel good about doing it.”

Golf for Women ranked the Emerald as one of the most women-friendly resort courses, and Jones agrees: “The [Emerald] course is flexible and forgiving, with four to six tee boxes on every hole and few forced carries”, although he is quick to add that the Emerald also has plenty of bite:

“The sixth green falls sharply into grass bunkers, leaving a tricky approach. Number eleven, the longest hole on the course, plays directly into the wind.”

There’s little doubt that Robert Trent Jones II left little in the bag when he designed the Wailea Emerald course. Its dramatic first hole is stunning, with captivating views of Molokini and Kahoolawe in the distance, and its welcoming green seems to have unusual gravitational forces as golf balls are drawn to it at the bottom of a massive lava- and kiawe-framed fairway.

Clad in Wailea’s unique velvety green we call turfgrass, the Emerald’s mix of long and short par 4s, downhill and uphill par 3s, and reachable par 5s makes it fun golf for all. Like the Gold, the Emerald also features stunning bunker complexes and uses elevation change and wind to affect varying skill levels differently. The double green shared on the Emerald by Nos. 10 and 17 is another favorite.

The Emerald is just as capable a venue for top competitive events. Michelle Wie, and former LPGA veteran and Hawaii State Junior Golf Association president, Mary Bea Porter-King, have repeatedly chosen the Emerald as their venue for the Tournament of Champions. That explains why no one ever tries to typecast the dynastic Wailea Golf Club!

Both courses start and finish downhill, leaving memorable first and last impressions as one heads home to the welcoming embrace of the Gold and Emerald Clubhouse, where refreshment and revitalization await you.
Perched high and above the Gold and Emerald Clubhouse is Hawaii’s only David Leadbetter Golf Academy at Wailea, where golfers have access to not only the very best instructors, but  the use of this outstanding range, practice green and bunkers, and enormous multi-tiered putting green.

Once the clubs have been stored away, browse for a few well-deserved rewards—you’ve earned them—in Hawaii’s best-stocked and most upscale pro shop. Then retreat to Gannon’s Restaurant, where haute open-air dining and verandas galore showcase views that captivate over icy cocktails.

The Wailea Gold and Emerald Courses have championed champions from all quarters, and their focus is strictly all about you. At Wailea, you’re always a champion. Tee it up on the Wailea Gold and Emerald courses today!

The post Wailea Golf Club: Championing the Champions appeared first on .

Kapalua looked just as beautiful as ever and few on the mainland will ever know what nerve-wracked tournament organizers must have been going through. There has been the on-going complaint that the best players never come, there has been a PGA Tour season opening schedule schedule change that means the event is no longer the season-opener, there has been the question of venue and whether or not the contract with Hyundai will be renewed, then there were the piles of money spent in the name of tourism marketing—most of which went down the drain with virtually no coverage on the weekend to speak of—thanks to Mother Nature. Not a good week.

But they got it done. None of the players had to do anything outside of their normal, self-absorbed routines. We heard nothing of the great aloha, the crater, Hana, or anything about how much fun the pros and their families had, outside of a few one-liners. We saw some play but starts and stops and to be honest, it was hard to figure out when it was on or off.

That has to irk the powers that be, as the event’s organizers have been at this for decades and they know what they are doing. But this weather that blew was an unusual event. Some referred to it as a ’100-year storm’. It wasn’t, but it was unusual and I can honestly say I have never seen the flags blowing in such extreme contortions. It was a freak event.

That is not good when you have invested your year in what amounts to a single week. There are a lot of hard-working people, in addition to volunteers, visitors who come just for the event… all were displaced, disappointed, disheartened. It has to have hurt, and that is just wrong.

But pushing all negatives aside, and instead looking at it from the point of view that: a) the event decided a champion in Dustin Johnson; b) it was actually extended by a day; c) the media had more to talk about than usual; d) The Ritz must’ve made a pile of cash this week; f) and it sounds as though Hyundai is pretty upbeat about the event and isn’t going to be going anywhere, anytime, soon.

The online coverage of the event was truly so bad I think golf as a whole needs to rethink how it is shown to the world. I was sincerely trying to follow the thing from New York and most of the big name websites for sports were just lame. Golf Channel, by virtue of its partnership with the Tour, should’ve had the best coverage, but all of the sites were pretty weak.

Given the viewers were unable to see it by hook or by crook over the weekend, and with so little coverage online, hopefully the people behind the scenes think of more topics and better ways to showcase our top resort, and most beautiful island.

The post Kapalua has a 54-hole champion in Dustin Johnson appeared first on .

The winds are howling again. They always blow at Kapalua and that’s why its Plantation Course fairways and holes were designed by Coore and Crenshaw with such enormity and scale. Everyone who lives and plays golf on Maui knows it blows like crazy out there, and while this is indeed a stretch of unusually strong wind, most on the Valley Isle suck it up and play anyway. That’s golf.

But for the Tour’s official event, with balls rolling uphill when the breezes kick up, expecting a quality competition to come off as it is expected to isn’t going to happen. The 40+ mph gusts are too much to today’s pros, but there were days when winds of over 50 mph were endured on flat, exposed courses and the drama was, if anything, more spectacular. Scottish links courses are a good example of venues that are exposed and windy. In the 1970 Open, Jack Nicklaus endured winds that were 10 mph stronger than at Kapalua. He prevailed in a playoff on 18, after hitting his 3-wood 380-yards from the tee and over the green. But times are, I guess, different.

While digging around online for news about today’s delay, I was bummed to see how little front page news the event was capturing. There were stories about everything but golf’s season-opener—even if it is a wash of sorts.

It got me thinking about how creative Mark Rolfing had been just a few years back. Not only did Mark have a heck of a lot going on before the event, but he kept things rolling throughout it as well. I can’t recall exactly every detail, but I do know he had the players doing a little extra that week. It made me sad that whoever is running the show, just doesn’t have the creative juice to make something out of nothing during this lull.

Here we have a chance to show off Hawaii but the stars who have come are all in their rooms Tweeting. Why can’t they be giving a clinic on how to play in the winds? Why can’t they have an impromptu long drive contest or a putting contest or a shot-making expedition? Maybe involve the fans, junior golfers, volunteers?

Where are Hawaii’s mighty PR and marketing people from Oahu this week? Why aren’t they filling up some shuttle buses with these star pros and taking them up to Haleakala, and having them hit balls down into the crater? Make these boys earn their money! Get some value for the taxpayer, sponsor, and other money that is going into all those private jets that were used to haul these guys out here!

I would wager that if the organizers had asked the pros if they’d help the island and Hawaii out, for the sake of tourism that the image of these guys being shown as kind, generous souls would reap rewards for Finchem and his southern gang. Think of what a contrast it would be to see these guys actually being generous with their time and creative and funny too! How novel. We know they are great in front of the cameras, on pro am days (usually), but imagine just being downright nice for a change. It would be such a reversal from what we are used to, it might even front page news (as opposed to all the other junk I saw on the front pages of the NYTimes.com, ESPN.com, and Golf.com)….

Think of the headlines:

“Winds don’t blow away the charm of old Hawaii as pros discover Valley Isle wonders while waiting for break in weather. Golf balls in crater, blasting out of Big Beach, and getting the line on Molokini make up for weather woes.”

“Tournament of Champions field stirs up fan emotions and appreciation as they wow event galleries in a brilliant display of showmanship and heart.”

“‘These guys are good!’ Rather than complaining about the weather or sacking out in their five-star hotel rooms, the game’s best give back to the fans with non-stop impromptu antics. Talk about good sports”

I literally did screen grabs of all of the aforementioned sites, and none had even a peep about this event on their homepages. Would Ian Poulter getting off his rump and doing a little fan appreciation work at the Kapalua Golf Academy be a sterling gesture? Absolutely. Bubba, and the boys, trying to drive 17 or 18 or doing some awesome demonstrations, rather than sleeping, would that be good for the game, the fans, the resort, and all of the people who are up there right now delivering the greats all those wonderful tropical drinks? Would it have been great for all of them?

You betcha.

Did they do it?

Hell no!

But I think if they had, maybe the whole thing would have benefited just a little. The players would look good, the emphasis on who wins and how much they got and so forth would be replaced by people pulling together out on the remote Hawaiian island of Maui. In short: make the best of it!

When Jack, Arnie, Gary, and players from all over the world came here in 1962 to play in the Canada Cup, they partied on the Royal Course’s fairways—with the fans—and watched hula and listened to music and were happy to make friends with the little people.

Maybe we’ll see some of that before these hot shots hit the road. With all the lessons that golf is supposed to teach us, it is those who are the greatest at it today who have the opportunity to be the role models we all value and need.

The main homepage for golf.com had a link to this outdated story. It was written on Thursday and this is Sunday!

Yahoo’s front page has only some headlines for sports, but look at the titles of some of them—golf just isn’t getting its due!

ESPN’s website had literally nothing about the event on its main homepage. Not even a headline to keep the ‘fans’ involved and in the loop on telecasts.

How can I be in NYC and not look at what the Times has to say about the PGA Tour’s season-opening event’s woes? Look at this page: how long it is! Not a single word about the event. If you dig in the menus for golf, and go to that page, you’ll find a Reuters update, but nothing on the Sports homepage of the NY Times is a shame.

The post Tuesday is only option as winds cause Sunday stall appeared first on .

The trip has become, for me, an interesting barometer of how far our isle tax and marketing dollars really go—given all the resources that are lavished upon the Tour’s season-opening event, held New Year’s week at Kapalua, on Maui.

I figure if I’m intentionally looking for it, and all of these resources are being put to bear… then Maui, Kapalua, Hyundai, The Ritz, everyone should be getting tons of exposure. But today, I noticed the event didn’t appear on the first page of my Yahoo news page. It always has in the past. ‘Wassup wit dat,’ I wondered?

I dug a little and found a few articles to get things rolling on the Yahoo Sports page itself. One was a Reuters story entitled: Golf-Players in paradise for PGA Tour season opener. It was one of the few I have seen where the people asking the questions finally got the players to talk up Maui, as opposed to merely asking them about their games. Don’t get me wrong! Of course it’s important to ask about how the putter, or the driver is working, but the idea of the Tour is to showcase both great players and great venues. So, I want to hear about both, and this time, someone in the media room got it right!

Take, for example, how they got Masters champion Bubba Watson to open up:

“Who would not want to come to Maui and play golf?” the American left-hander smiled.

Adding: “A great time for the family, hanging out with friends and seeing the scenery. Playing the golf course is a challenge,” Watson said of the par-73, 7,411-yard Plantation layout, “but it’s a fun time to start off the year here in Maui.”

Now that was pretty good.

“It’s always great to be here,” Hunter Mahan, a two-time winner on the 2012 PGA Tour, told reporters at the Maui resort.

“I don’t particularly like the water that much. I get seasick pretty easily, so I won’t be out in the water too much.”

In spite of being a landlubber, Mahan notes: “There’s a hundred different things you can do here. At the same time, this is great weather and I’m trying to work on my game a little bit and make sure I get enough time for that.”

Ironically, hindsight is 20/20, and while we all appreciate Hunter’s kind remarks, he was less prophetic than course GM and director of golf Mike Jones, who had predicted the charged up Konas that have wobbled this storied event.

“We went up to holes 10 and 13 and the ball wouldn’t even stay on,” the Chicago area native told me of the greens on the Plantation Course today. “Most of of the players have just gone home,” he said, “and we’ll play 36 tomorrow, and 18 on Monday,” he said. We joked about how strong the winds can be.

While it is a bit of a tradition to appraise the quality of the event’s field—as players like Tiger Woods (who didn’t qualify), Phil Mickelson, and others opt to pass on the event and the long trip to Kapalua—most remember the fantastic finishes and amazing show of skills that awe the spectators at Kapalua year-after-year.

Yet, the debate lingers, and Bob Harig’s article, Why the no-shows for PGA Tour opener?, on ESPN’s website shows there is no denying we could use a little more love from the game’s leaders:

“It is a new year but an old story,” Harig opens. “With all due respect to the likes of Webb Simpson, Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley and Steve Stricker, who begin the 2012 PGA Tour season this week on Maui, the tournament again faces questions about why so many players are skipping it.” He goes on: “Although it might be tough to fathom the idea of passing on a free week in Hawaii — Derek Lamely got $55,000 a year ago for finishing last — the Hyundai Tournament of Champions has been dealing with this issue for years.”

At this point, we just want to see some great golf, and while there’s no way to get in all 72-holes at this point—because all of the TV gear needs to go to Oahu for the SONY Open on Thursday—54 is doable.

In his story, PGA Tour’s season opener delayed again, AP golf writer Doug Furguson noted that the hopefully abbreviated TOC is a first since a very dramatic finish was held some time ago on the mainland: “It will be the first time the Tournament of Champions is reduced to 54 holes since 1997, when Tiger Woods hit a 7-iron to a foot to beat Tom Lehman in a playoff when a par 3 at La Costa was the only hole that could be used because of so much rain.”

As Andy Pazder, chief of operations for the tour, points out: ”It’s a 16-hour barge trip, in good weather,” to get the gear to Oahu, so no way for a Tuesday finale.

Furguson notes the forecast for tomorrow and Monday:

“The forecast is slightly better for Sunday and Monday, with strong wind in the morning gradually abating through the day. Even so, the Plantation Course is a long walk with severe changes in elevation, which figures to be brutal on the caddies. White said they were considering offering more shuttle rides on portions of the course to help.”

The post Wind shakes up an already jittery TOC at Kapalua appeared first on .

The post First-cut video interviews from 2012 Michelle Wie HSJGA Tournament of Champions at Wailea. appeared first on .

The post Exclusive raw-cut video footage from 2012 Michelle Wie HSJGA Tournament of Champions at Wailea, held on the Emerald Course on 16 December 2012. appeared first on .

The post 2012 Michelle Wie HSJGA Tournament of Champions Final Round Slideshow appeared first on .

The post 2012 Michelle Wie HSJGA Tournament of Champions Awards Slideshow appeared first on .