The PGA Tour returns this week for the first event of 2019 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui, Hawaii. For the 21st straight year, the event will take place at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course. Here’s everything that you need to know about the Plantation Course.
1. The origin of the course: The Plantation Course was built and designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore in 1991. Managed by Troon, the course is located on the slopes of the West Maui Mountains and features ocean views at every hole. As previously mentioned, Kapalua has been the home of the Sentry Tournament of Champions since 1999.
2. The design and layout of the course: The par 73 course runs 7,411 yards and features wide fairways and generous greens that are sure to make both professional and average golfers happy. The course has three par 3’s and four par 5’s, as well as four different tees for golfers to play from at each hole. Because the course is located within mountains, there are many downhill tee shots. As a result, golfers of all skills should drive the ball well and find the course very playable.
The most aggressive slope can be found on the course’s longest hole, the par-5 18th, which is 663 yards long from the championship tees. Meanwhile, the shortest hole on the course is the par-3 11th tee, which measures just 164 yards from the championship tees.
3. The future of the course: The Plantation course will be shutting down in February for a complete redesign that will be overseen by Crenshaw, Coore, and Troon. Every green will be resurfaced and every bunker will be renovated, while tees, fairways, and roughs will be re-grassed. The redesign will also include the addition of several new tournament tees and forward tees, as well as the relocation of several bunkers. The course is expected to reopen in November 2019.
[bc_video video_id=”5982128861001″ account_id=”416418725″ player_id=”B1lrmWbebQ” embed=”in-page” padding_top=”56%” autoplay=”” min_width=”0px” max_width=”640px” width=”100%” height=”100%”]