Troon Privé, June/July 2019

42 TROON PRIVÉ MAGAZINE TROON PRIVÉ MAGAZINE 43 Kapalua guests The Village Center is also home to Taverna Restaurant a popular Italian eatery now open for lunch to accommodate golfers with delectables such as pan pizza by the slice fresh fish tacos and half pound beef burgers with Gruyere cheese caramelized onions and more A 20 YEAR BLUEPRINT Im going from hola to aloha Matt Kuchar exclaimed right after he won the PGA Tours Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen Mexico last November referring to the fact that his win south of the border earned him a repeat trip to the winners only Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua played on the resorts Plantation Course Kuchar whose affection for the Aloha State has led him to spend much of his vacation time in the islands in recent years plays in the Tournament of Champions every chance he gets players need to have won on Tour in the previous year to qualify as well as in the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club on Oahu This year the Plantation Course was closed for refinement and revitalization work in February and is slated to reopen in mid November six weeks before the PGA Tour arrives in January 2020 The KAPALUAS MAJESTIC PLANTATION COURSE WILL BE REFINED IN 2019 BY ORIGINAL DESIGNERS BILL COORE AND BEN CRENSHAW Kapalua Maui Hawaii 808 669 8044 www GolfAtKapalua com AT A GLANCE enhancement project on the 28 year old course includes resurfacing all greens with Tif Eagle Bermuda renovating every bunker and re grassing tees fairways and roughs with state of the art Celebration Bermuda turf The layout will remain the same said General Manager Alex Nakajima But were adding some new tee complexes including additional forward tees to help increase guest enjoyment as well as several new tournament tees on key holes to further test the professionals during the Sentry Tournament of Champions Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are spearheading the project working with Troons design development agronomy team and Kapalua resident and NBC Golf personality Mark Rolfing second from left above with Ben Crenshaw left and Bill Coore right who was instrumental in launching the tournament and getting the Plantation Course built in the first place in 1991 Golf courses are living breathing organisms Coore said They evolve and change They age just like we do Generally speaking after a certain amount of time they need work In the case of the Plantation Course our top priority is to restore some of the original playing characteristics that have been lost over time Nothing ever stops growing in Hawaii and were looking at 28 years of growth Consequently the turf has gotten thick and spongy in places and doesnt allow players to use the ground to their advantage In its early years you could land a ball 60 70 80 yards short and it would bound along until it ended up on the green In recent years some of this was lost For the pros they can just fly it on the green But for the average resort player that made the course longer and harder Those are the kinds of things Ben and I have watched through the years Thats why we were so excited when this project was announced Our primary goal is to improve the experience for the resort guests These improvements to both the Bay Course and the Plantation Course will really bring golf back to the center of the Kapalua experience said Rolfing This is the blueprint that sets Kapalua up as the premiere golf resort in Hawaii for the next 20 years summer getaways