"We must act immediately!" "The golf course is dying every day." Alex Nakajima, general manager of Kapalua Golf & Tennis, is sounding the alarm. One of the PGA Tour's most iconic courses is closing for two months due to a water conflict, our colleagues at the Associated Press report.
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Kapalua's Plantation Course, which has hosted The Sentry Tournament, the PGA Tour's opening tournament since 1999, has been damaged by a water shortage for months. "I suggested to the owner that we close the course to increase our chances of saving it and thus saving the tournament," added Alex Nakajima.
A lawsuit filed by the resort's owner, Japanese billionaire Tadashi Kanai, and Kapalua owners alleges that Maui Land & Pineapple failed to maintain the water system. Maui Land & Pineapple, for its part, claims it has made sufficient efforts and that the problem is due to low water flows.
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The decision to close the Plantation Course, a jewel designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, was made to conserve the little water Kapalua has for slow-release fertilizer and to facilitate the removal of dead grass by the greens crew. According to Nakajima, "this is the only way the course has a chance of hosting The Sentry in January."
The PGA Tour told the AP it is monitoring the situation closely and is in contact with the parties involved, including Sentry, the title sponsor of this $20 million Signature Event scheduled for January 8-11, 2026.
The Rules of Golf are a set of standards and procedures by which the sport of golf should be played. They are jointly written and administered by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the governing body of golf worldwide, except in the United States and Mexico, which are governed by the United States Golf Association. An expert committee composed of members of the R&A and the USGA oversees and refines the rules every four years. The latest revision took effect on January 1, 2016. Amendments to the Rules of Golf are generally divided into two main categories: those that improve understanding and those that reduce penalties in certain cases to ensure balance. The rulebook, entitled "Rules of Golf," is published regularly and also includes rules governing amateur status. In Italy, the Italian Golf Federation is responsible for overseeing competitions by enforcing the rules issued by the R&A, ensuring that these rules are observed by clubs, associations, and their members, and managing the resulting sporting justice, protecting their interests abroad.
