But, in all likelihood, there might have been another way to imbibe in the game. Perhaps a more civilized approach… a leisurely and genteel pastime…. “The Golf Links at Kahului presented an animated appearance on Saturday afternoon last, the occasion being the opening of the golf links. “A marquee prettily decorated with flags, served as a rendezvous for the refreshments delicately prepared by the ladies of the club. “The opening “drives” were made by Messrs. Penhallow and Thompson respectively, following which, a bevy of ladies and gentlemen played in doubles and foursomes. “A pleasing feature of the afternoon’s sport was the keenness and adaptability evinced by the players nothwithstanding the condition of the links which are not conducive to the showing of one’s best form,” the Maui News reported on March 2, 1912. That Golf Links at Kahului must’ve been a sight. But it didn’t last, and would eventually be repurposed, likely for some pasture or coral. Many golf courses come and go. Golf is an ever-evolving process… a reflection of life itself. And so it wasn’t long before that old links was replaced with something more lasting.

“Realization of Maui’s ambition for golf links and country club is drawing near,” the story eagerly announced. Rice and Bell would take their clubs to the area near the “S.E. Kalama place” and play what they imagined was the future of golf on Maui—holes etched out on a site then known as the “corn crib.” Maui golfers, as Rice illustrated over 100 years ago, were people of action. We will never know what went on behind the scenes to bring it all about. Thus, like today, the game’s early advocates used any pulpit they could find to assert golf’s place. Maui News accounts were chock full of editorials advocating the Rice-like visions, of that era, on behalf of the game: “Possibly there may be found a pastime which gives to folk of all ages more healthful outdoor enjoyment than golf but to date that game has not been found. Without belittling tennis or any other out of door sports golf has its advantage over all of them, perhaps not for all but taking all in all for there are many persons who can indulge in the ancient Scottish game for whom other games are too violent. It has a fascination and gives a satisfaction that is hard to explain and is only really understood when one takes it up. So, for many persons on Maui it is unfortunate that there are no links and the effort to secure a course is well worthwhile,” one writer reported, back on February 1, 1924. “However, there is a considerable class on Maui that would benefit much if there were a course at their disposal. To get those persons together and cooperating for their own good, is what is necessary to put the Valley Isle on a par with the sister Islands in this one respect.

Many isle championship records, from the 1920s through the 1950s, are sketchy. Golf was just beginning to evolve here, but isle legends did exist. One, in particular, was Francis H. I‘i Brown. Brown, a renowned and gifted athlete, loved boating and fishing, but it was his skill as a golfer that was legendary. (He once held the course record at the Old Course at St. Andrews, after carding a 62 in a practice round prior to the 1924 British Amateur.) At one point he was the concurrent amateur champion of Hawaii, Japan and California. We’ll never know how much golf Brown played at the Maui Country Club, or Waiehu for that matter. But he was a presence here. Just three years after Brown won the 1930 California State Championship, another moment in golf history would take place at Maui’s Waiehu golf links, where its first-ever caddie tournament had just crowned a new champion. His name was Willie Goo. “I won that in 1934… I think. It was my first trophy,” Goo recalls. By then, Goo, a humble caddie, was styling with his own golf bag full of real equipment! “I had wooden clubs… a driver, a brassie, and a spoon. My iron… they used to call it a mashie… all wooden shafts,” he recalled. Over the remainder of the 1930s, Goo would continue to improve his caddie swing.

By 1950, Maui golf was growing fast. Numerous golf clubs had formed, and pros and amateurs alike were battling it out on the Valley Isle’s two courses. The once-caucasian-only Maui Country Club was beginning to loosen its policies, and Dr. Harold Kushi was among the first Japanese-Americans to become a member. Kushi, another ardent Maui golf supporter, decided the island needed a championship of its own after Mauiian Herman Coelho would make history winning the third and final Territorial Hawaiian Open to be held on Maui, at the Country Club, in 1950. He put a plan into action, and in 1952, the Maui Golf Association (MGA)—led by Kushi, who was its president at the time, staged “the biggest little tournament in the Hawaiian islands,” billed as the Maui Invitational Open. Held in October at the Maui Country Club, the inaugural event had just two pros and 87 amateurs. Two Maui amateurs would play to a tie and ultimately, Willie Goo, the caddie, would prevail over his fellow competitor, James Tokunaga. One shot behind the two was pro Bill Tokunaga. The Maui Open event was so immediately popular that by its second year all of the great neighbor-island pros were invading the Valley Isle each year to have at it. One of them was Jimmy Ukauka, an Oahu pro from the Kaneohe Clipper Course, who cemented a newfound nickname for himself in the history books: Mr. Maui Open—and for good reason…. The Maui Invitational Open was, at this point, increasing in size and prestige. Maui golf fans would line the fairways in huge galleries to watch Hawaii’s best players battle it out. Jimmy Ukauka, who had dominated the fledgling Maui Invitational Open Golf Tournament, won it six consecutive times from 1953 to 1958. Over time, the Maui Open would see numerous starts and stops, but always, there is a person of action daring enough to face whatever obstacles are presented for the betterment golf.

Yet, before that all happened, Brown, in his 1963 Sports Illustrated article about the impending Canada Cup at Kaanapali, noted that mainland perceptions of Hawaii were that the 50th state was “geographically and psychologically” “adrift” from the rest of the United States. “Mainlanders,” he said, “see it only through an exotic haze of coconut palms, ukuleles and swiveling hula skirts.” If that was indeed the perception, then Kaanapali was doing it right! Kaanapali saw the benefits of televised golf from the very beginning, and made the advertising investment in tourism. Any misperceptions about Hawaii would quickly change, with Kaanapali hosting 33 countries the resort planted itself into living rooms around the world. It would help lay the groundwork for an eventual tourism boom for Maui. In 1962, Bing Crosby hit the ceremonial first tee shot as his foursome led the charge when the resort opened. In 1963, Bob Charles won there on ABC-TV, and in 1964 Jack and Arnie were shooting 65s and breaking the course records while battling Argentina, their closest pursuer by 11-shots, to win the event for their fifth straight title. The success of the event would set forth a continuing legacy of televised Hawaiian championships. Isle golf legend, Francis Brown, was at Kaanapali that week in 1964, and what he saw inspired him to work with New York golf promoter Ed Carter to get Chinn Ho’s Makaha Country Club, and Hawaiian Airlines, to underwrite the Hawaii Open’s entree onto the PGA Tour in 1965. Kaanapali’s championship legacy, and that of Maui’s overall, was just beginning, as our timelines reveal how things went down, then and now.

Colin Cameron, Kapalua resort’s visionary founder, spent 20-years doing early studies, making plans, and recruiting a small army of talented individuals to “set the tone and the direction for Kapalua”, which he was proud of saying, was “an uncompromising commitment to quality.” Cameron believed man’s “improvements in facilities are one thing; improvements on nature are harder—if not impossible.” Thus, he ensured that his resort’s buildings and grounds were designed to blend into their setting, “rather than dominate”. His prime example was the Kapalua Bay Hotel, made in a style that was often referred to as “disappearing architecture.”  Kapalua made its entree into golf with the help of the legendary Arnold Palmer, who has left an indelible mark on the Valley Isle in countlesss ways. The resort, which celebrates 40-years since the days when Palmer and his co-deigner, Frank Duane, weaved the Bay course’s holes up and over pineapple fields down to the crashing sea.  The No. 4 and 5 holes at Kapalua’s Bay course are as memorable as it gets. And, Kapalua Golf continues to maintain its place on on the leaderboard with continuous updating and their long tradition of sweating the details. Soon after the Bay course opened, Kapalua would continue its growth opening the Village, once again with Palmer’s help. A young Mark Rolfing was on board by now, and the campy patrician resort (and Maui) would make history, as you will see right now… .Our Story continues with the Kapalua Timeline which will be available for viewing within the week. Stay tuned!