PGA Tour golf ... the Kapalua tweaks appear to have performed as intended

I played Plantation a month before the tourney and we had a phone conversation with Coore and Crenshaw as well as being on-course with Mark Rolfing. I have to admit that other than some affect-the-tour-only bunker additions and changes, I needed to see the fairways in action to see how it had been "tour-proofed" w/o hosing the rest of us. (And the greens that were made un-silly are a boon to notably us while opening up new hole locations.) I guess it did looking at par-5 scoring and the overall score.

 

The fairways definitely had less roll out ( regardless of being soft) by the change of grass. A lot of the holes where you could sling the ball in with a hard draw and get the ball to roll out to the green have had that option removed (for the most part)

 

And I believe the strain of Bermuda is also less prone to toward-the-sun grain, which is a big part of that.

With the correct tees -- read more forward than you think, Macho Men -- we longer hitters can still hit those points in the long downward fairways that produce that roll. I had mid-irons both times on 17, for instance. A hard righty draw still really helps.

 

it was about 10 years ago when I had the chance to play the Plantation, and the wind was blowing hard that day, which made the course especially difficult. I was looking at the tee box projections on the screen when they were showing the diagram of the hole, and in most cases I was 2-3 tee boxes in front of where the Pro's were teeing off. we played a mix 'n match of tee boxes, depending on how hard the hole, and the wind direction for the hole. I would like to play it one day in calmer conditions. It was blowing pretty good for us the whole week we were there.

Ken, is Merriman's restaurant still on the periphery of the course? we had a good meal there ( although expensive)

 

The Plantation House, upstairs in the clubhouse across from the pro shop. I don't think it's been Merriman's show for quite a while. Still a great place. Almost up there with Bev Gannon's place at Wailea. Have you been to MonkeyPod?

The course was built with that wind in mind, so long as it's the trades. But if it's really ripping it's no fun, for sure. I guess in that regard it's something like La Purisima.

 

BTW, we also played Bay, my first time since the re-routing. The upstart is that #4 and #5 on the water are now #16 and #17, so the eye candy holes come at the end.

 

It is still beyond amazing to me that they can hit the 18th green in 2 when it is playing 677 yards - especially when the tee shots are not rolling forever anymore!!!

I too had the fortune to play the course just before the tournament (on Dec 23) and I remarked to my wife last night that on the 3rd playoff hole, Justin Thomas' ball was about 3 feet from where I played the hole (only he was lying 2 and I was there in 5) .

The course certainly does a great job of testing the Pros while at the same time making it 'playable' for us Resort Golfers!

 

Good for you, Rock!!

It's only 677 on paper, of course. Downhill, big helping wind most of the time, and as you know it's a big shortcut going over the barranca. Still, it is beefy and the limited times it was hit bears witness to that.

I'm actually not a big fan of 18 for we schlubs, only because if the layup isn't hit really well so many shots end up right before the crook in a patchy lie. Now #17 is right up there with #8 at Pebble for all-world holes.

 

Have only played the course pre-changes, but my memory is less about the carnival contours and more about the wind. I have only played there once in fairly calm conditions. Every other time the winds were so intense I sometimes wondered why I was out there.

I’ve never had anyone explain to me why the wind ALWAYS seems to howl at Kapalua while the other end of the island (and other islands) can be reasonably benign.

I prefer the Big Island and Lanai-golf heaven for me. But, if you love golf and you don’t love golf in Hawaii you’re very different than me. I’ll admit that lugging your clubs there and inter-island is a pain, but worth it.

 

And the rain. I've long thought there's a line right about Napili, and when you get north of it it will be wet and windy, while just below, at Kaanapali, it's much more balanced. And then you get down to Wailea and (formerly) Makena ... rain shadow. Every island has the effect to some degree.

The Kohala Coast, certainly, to me, has the best run of courses, even if the look out there in the lava fields is redundant. I'm a big fan of Kauai golf, where you can have a Makai in the morn and a Poipu in the afternoon, each very different in look, temperament and above all else weather. Plus Kauai has what I think are the best value plays on the islands. Lanai is special and Manele is one of those courses, there's just not a lot of (golf) there there and, well, those prices ...

 

When we golfed in Lanai last year I used Ship Sticks ( on one of their sales), and I thought it was money well spent instead of having to lug the clubs around between flights

 

We now usually split time between the Four Seasons Maui, and/or the Four Seasons Manele or Hualalai. Have you tried Ship Sticks inter-island or for a multi-destination itinerary?

Ken’s posts remind me again of the paradise of Hawaii golf, and having someone schlep my clubs falls right into my paradise concept.

 

No, the only time I used Ship Sticks was for the Lanai trip, and I had the clubs sent straight to the course. really convenient. IIRC, I think the round trip price was like $149, which was really cheap compared to their normal pricing. Fedex picks up from your home or office, and delivers to the course, and vice versa. If you sign up for their email list, you will get sale offers by email about once a week. During slow periods, some of the sale prices are not much more than baggage fees would be.

 

I once had a four-island trip. Talk about bouncing around. It was either 17 nights and 19 rounds or 19 nights and 17 rounds.

After so many years of doing this, and years of golf travel before that, checking bags is almost as spontaneous as downloading a boarding pass. But in that regard I do certainly like my driving trips. Now if only I could actually play golf!!