Come winter, the humpbacks are expected to return to Kapalua.
But will the Tour pros be back as well?
That question has emerged in the wake of this week’s headlines from Hawaii, where Kapalua Resort, the famed Maui destination and longtime host of the PGA Tour’s season-opening event, announced that it is closing for two months to protect its parched courses after prolonged water restrictions. Starting Sept. 2, Kapalua’s Bay and Plantation courses will shut down for 60 days, while most of the resort remains open to guests, including the Bay Course driving range.
News of the course closures, first reported by the AP and confirmed by GOLF.com, has prompted speculation over Kapalua’s readiness to stage The Sentry, the Tour’s traditional January kickoff, which has been held at the resort since 1999 and long ranked among the players’ favorite stops.
“This decision was not made lightly,” Alex Nakajima, general manager of Kapalua Golf and Tennis, said in a statement. “Closing at this time will allow us to begin careful recovery and restoration so that the courses may once again meet the standards of playability our guests deserve.”
Kapalua is situated in West Maui, the dry side of an island that has been wracked by drought in recent years. In 2023, high winds and tinderbox conditions helped fuel a devastating fire that left more than 100 people dead and leveled the city of Lahaina, nine miles down the coast from Kapalua.
Whether drought is to blame for Kapalua’s dried-out courses is another matter. The resort’s owner, Tadashi Yanai, founder of the apparel brand Uniqlo, believes that responsibility lies elsewhere. In a lawsuit filed last week, Yanai joined Kapalua homeowners and the operators local farm in accusing Maui Land & Pineapple of mismanaging the ditch-and-stream system that funnels water from the West Maui mountains to Kapalua.
“MLP has knowingly . . . allowed the Ditch System to fall into a state of demonstrable disrepair,” the lawsuit alleges. “That disrepair, not any act of God, or force of nature, or other thing, is why users who need it are currently without water.”
Maui Land & Pineapple has dismissed those allegations, saying that system inefficiencies are not the issue.
“During this time of record low stream levels, it is in the best interest of the community that all parties remain focused on facts and solutions,” the company’s CEO Race Randle told the AP. “Collaboration, not litigation, is the best path forward to addressing West Maui’s water needs.”
Until recently, Kapalua was under Tier 4 water restrictions, which typically prohibit the use of non-potable water for irrigation. While those restrictions have since been loosened to Tier 2 (allowing for 60 percent irrigation), maintaining the courses has been a struggle.
“Under the Tier 2 restrictions . . our team is making every effort to restore golf course conditions to the highest level to host The Sentry PGA Tournament in January 2026,” Kapalua’s Nakajima said.
A decision as to whether to reopen the course on Nov. 1 will be made on Oct. 15, he said.
The Tour, meanwhile, has said that it is monitoring the situation and will remain in communication with both the resort and tournament sponsor Sentry Insurance.
