Mercedes Championship 1999

THE PLANTATION COURSE ON MAUI: ITS LORE AND LEGACY

Course Layout Hole Layout 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

KA LUA, Maui, Hawaii -- As the new venue for the PGA TOUR's season-opening Mercedes Championships, Kapalua's Plantation Course on Maui boasts a colourful legacy, golf on a grand scale and a host of superlatives that continue to perpetuate its golden image.

Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii

Sports Illustrated once referred to the course's expansive and challenging layout as "golf played off the edge of the world." Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore designed The Plantation Course amidst the physical beauty of the Kapalua Resort, from the shining sea up to the misty mountain forests, and in the process created a singular golf experience.

Kapalua's Metamorphosis In early 1900s the area that is now Kapalua was called the Honolua Ranch. The business evolved into a working coffee and pineapple plantation and later became the Kapalua resort community. While pineapple fields surrounding Kapalua are still harvested today by Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd. (Kapalua's sister company), The Plantation Course's name is symbolic of this era.

Kapalua's famous butterfly logo with the pineapple canter represents this metamorphosis of a pineapple plantation to a world-class resort community.

Local Knowledge Goes A Long Way The Plantation Course measures a mammoth 7,263 yards from its championship tees. In January, the Mercedes Championships field will face broad fairways sweeping across high, wide-open ridges, down and up steep slopes, across tangled jungle ravines, and aiming at expansive greens. Professionals who have played here before will have an advantage. Crenshaw and Coore describe The Plantation Course as a spectacular property. "We felt we could take this untraditional site and apply some traditional design concepts, while accommodating the trade winds and the slope. What we've tried to do is fit the holes to the terrain," said Crenshaw.

"You can throw away the yardage book," says Davis Love III. "It's all about feel and playing the slope and the trade winds."

The par-5 18th, for instance, plays 663 yards from the back tees, the longest hole the pros play all season. The view from the tee is one of golf's great vistas, down a broad expanse of green that swoops to the left toward the blue Pailolo Channel and the island of Moloka'i. The fairway drops 170 feet from tee to green, narrowing as it goes, and plays down-wind and down-grain. The hole is reachable in two shots, despite the longer-than-usual distance, thanks to the slope and the usually brisk wind. But you don't want to flirt with the ravine that runs all the way down the left side of the fairway.

Creativity From Nature In blending the course to the surroundings, Crenshaw and Coore created holes that mirror the environment. Fairway bunkers on the left of the downhill first hole, for instance, mirror the waves splashing against the peninsula in the distance. On the 11th hole, the only par-3 on the back nine, the green mirrors the sea cliffs a mile down slope. From the 14th tee, the green seems as flat as the tabletop mountain beyond.

"It's about golf, but it's also about art, texture, lines, composition and angles," says Coore. "A golf hole has to look comfortable in its surroundings as if it belonged there for generations."

Superlatives Galore Since its benchmark opening in 1991, golfers and media alike have heralded Kapalua's Plantation Course for its challenge as much for its physical beauty. Among its list of accolades are: GOLF Magazine's "Top 10 TV Courses;" Golf Digest's "America's Best Resort Courses;" and Golfweek's "America's 100 Best Modern Courses."

A Natural For Golf And Wildlife The Plantation serves as a model for golf played "naturally." There are no faux rocks, waterfalls, man-made lakes and fountains found on this 18-hole layout stretching from the West Maui Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The air is delightfully clean, an ocean breeze scented with forest and native grasses.

At least 23 species of birds can be seen on the course throughout the year, which, like Kapalua's Bay and Village Courses, are certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries. Criteria for this distinction, awarded by Audubon International, includes planting native species, creating habitats for wildlife, integrated pest management and watershed improvement. Even The Plantation Course's clubhouse fits its surroundings. The exterior of the building is constructed from graystone mined from a nearby quarry (as are rock walls around the course). The plantation-style design is in keeping with the resort's plantation past and present.

On Jan. 7-10, 1999, when ESPN covers the Mercedes Championships live and in primetime on the East Coast, Kapalua will make history while The Plantation Course takes canter stage.