from a distance, Plantation course in Kapalua it looks much the same as it ever did—its wide, rolling fairways framed by pines and backed by the Pacific. But as general manager Alex Nakajima makes his short commute to work, the picture changes. Up close, the terrain betrays the strain that initially forced the course to close to resort play in early September and has led to the cancellation of PGA Tour’s traditional season opener.
“If you’re not right on the property, you might think the course is playable,” Nakajima told GOLF.com in a phone interview. “But when you look directly on the ground, you can see the problems. It’s recovering. But it’s not where we’d like it to be.”
Nakajima, who played collegiate golf at the University of Oregon and previously served as an assistant pro at Princeville on Kauai, has overseen Kapalua for the past nine years, enough to know the Plantation Course in all its moods. Recently, the property has had reason to be angry. First came the Covid lockdowns, followed by devastating wildfires that killed more than 100 people and leveled the nearby town of Lahaina. And now, water woes — severe enough to end this year’s Sentry, a Maui fixture since 1999.
“It’s been a real roller coaster,” Nakajima said. “As a golf course operator, these are not the things you normally train for. We’ve been dealing with challenges that go beyond golf.”
The resort itself has remained open during the course closure, and Nakajima and his team have used the downtime to fine-tune other aspects of their operation. They have refreshed the clubhouse, fixed the cart paths and renovated the clubhouse restaurant. But the property is distinctly parched in places, no more evident than on its next 18-hole course. All of the available irrigation has been diverted to the Plantation Course, leaving its sibling, the Bay Course, completely depleted.
Then there’s the gap left by Sentry. Since its inception, the tournament has been a bright start to the professional golf season and a vital economic engine for the island, delivering an annual impact of $50 million. In addition to increasing revenue for hotels, restaurants, bars and other businesses, the start of the Tour’s long calendar has generated an estimated $10 million for local charities over its lifetime. His absence in January will be widely felt. To help cushion the blow, the resort has pledged a $750,000 donation to the community, the equivalent of what Sentry raised for charity last year.
Nakajima is not naive about golf’s reputation.
“I know people have different opinions and not all locals like it,” he said. “But it creates a foundation for this community, and not just during the tournament. It’s important the other 51 weeks of the year.”
Recent island trials have highlighted this connection. When the fires hit, 43 of Kapalua’s employees lost everything, Nakajima says. But not their jobs. No one has been laid off during the closing of this season’s course. With maintenance reduced for a time, some employees were reassigned to other duties.
“This is not about profit,” Nakajima said. “Any success we have at the resort doesn’t matter if we’re not appreciated by our neighbors. We don’t see ourselves as separate from the community. We’re very much a part of it.”
The decision to remove Sentry coincided with news that the Plantation Course will reopen for tour play on Nov. 10 — a timing that led some to question whether the tournament had been canceled prematurely. But preparing a course for everyday players is not the same as preparing it for elite competition.
“The level of detail is much greater,” Nakajima said. “We are not in the state you need to be in to welcome the best players in the world.”
When play resumes at the resort, two greens – 1 and 8 – will remain closed. Both are shady and have been slower to recover than others. Rounds will be offered at a discount for the rest of the year.
The loss of the Sentry is, of course, a loss for the resort; the tour doubles as a sun-splashed commercial at a time of year when much of the country is frozen. But Nakajima is confident about this weakness. As soon as the Nov. 10 reopening was announced, Kapalua’s reservation lines began to boil. The next day, Nakajima says, the resort had recorded 400 bookings.
“The tournament being here for almost 30 years means most golfers have seen it and dream of making it here,” he said. “So a one-year tournament loss doesn’t bother me.”
What might happen in the long term is another matter. Cancellation of Sentry lands between a calculation period for the PGA Tour itself, as it reconsiders its schedule and place in an evolving golf landscape. Sentry remains committed as title sponsor until 2035, but uncertainty remains as to what the calendar – and the Tour – will look like until then.
In Kapalua, meanwhile, Nakajima and his team have trained their energies on what they can control: returning the Plantation course to full health. At the current rate, all 18 holes are expected to be back in play by the end of the year.
“We will continue to focus on improving Kapalua,” Nakajima said. “We’re living the dream.”
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