The PGA Tour confirmed this week that the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open would not be part of the schedule moving forward.
I have mixed feelings about the Tour’s official elimination of its two Hawaiian Swing events that traditionally kick off the tour’s calendar year.
On the one hand, the move is understandable and justified.
The tournament schedule has long been inflated, and this is a move toward absenteeism that new CEO Brian Rolapp recently espoused at his union press conference last month.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has campaigned publicly not only for a more cohesive schedule, but for a more energetic start to the season. Instead of seeing sleepy Hawaii in January, we’ll likely see the tour kick off the year at Torrey Pines, the WM Phoenix Open or another event that has more hype.
It was a forgone conclusion that these events would not survive the newly constructed, more limited Tour schedule. The tour wanted to start later, and cutting two smaller early January events to a remote location was probably one of their easier decisions.
I tend to agree with this assessment. There is a lot of Tour golf that means almost nothing to the casual fan and is ultimately not helpful to your overall product. You want to bring the world of golf – and the world of sports – together around the events that you have. Ratings and in-person attendance for events in Hawaii have always been limited.
Some tours have to be discontinued or re-imagined. The Hawaii events were shortened (although the Sony Open could be reimagined as a PGA Tour Champions event, small consolation).
Having said that, I will really miss these tours
Put all tour planning preferences aside for a moment.
I am so sorry that these Hawaii events are going away.
There was something therapeutic and earthy about watching the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. While many of us were stuck in the cold winter temperatures, the lure of watching golfers in paradise was strong for the golf-obsessed among us.
Was Kapalua tough for the pros? Not particularly. It’s a resort course where the winner shoots something silly like 30-under.
Was Kapalua interesting to the pros? Absolutely.
Beyond the gorgeous and soothing images of humpback whales splashing off Maui’s shores, Kapalua offered uneven lies, interesting views, and fun elements brought in by the ever-present winds. It had an identity that’s more than you can say for some other Tour events still around.
It was easily a top 10 golf watch for me every season.
As for the Sony Open, I will mourn the loss of Waialae, a classic Seth Raynor design that frustrated and challenged players despite being fairly short without many obvious hazards.
The course’s defenses are interesting corners and complex greens, much better than rough rough. Waialae always felt old and timeless, like a tour stuck in 1995. I mean that in the best possible way.
And for both of these tours, the view into the late hours of the night on the east coast was a phenomenal sight. The dark and dreary winter nights were brightened by the sunny scenes on our television screens.
This is a big problem, but a necessary action
I really wish we had kept these two events on the calendar. I feel terrible for Mark Rolfing and everyone in Hawaii who have poured so much heart into these tournaments for decades.
But if you were to start the tour schedule from scratch with no prior context of past schedules, you wouldn’t say, “Hey, we should get everyone juiced with two events in Hawaii.” You will go to a place with the support of the crowd. A place that feels big.
The start of the season should be an event for golf fans. It should feel lifted.
Baseball rallies around opening day. Why can’t golf?
The answer in the past is that there are too many tournaments. Golf is always on and has no off-season, so it’s hard to get everyone excited for every event.
The next schedule is showing more content. It will be more selective. Fewer events and a more defined period of time for fans to care about professional golf.
And there’s a good chance LIV won’t exist until 2027 so there may be even more oxygen available for golf fans to gather for the PGA Tour.
In summary, it stinks that Hawaii events are gone. I will really miss them.
But maybe it’s time for the tour schedule to look and feel a lot different.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: The 18th hole at Kapalua. (GETTY IMAGES/Ben Jared)
