Senior PGA Tour to change course

Advertiser Staff

After a long, windy run on Maui, Hawai'i's fall Senior PGA event will blow over to O'ahu in October to test blustery Turtle Bay.

The Ka'anapali Classic will change names and sites and be played Oct. 5-7 at the Links at Kuilima. It spent the last 14 years on Maui, where it had five title sponsors. Organizers will not comment on specifics until the PGA Tour makes its official announcement.

Jeff Monday, CEO of the Senior Tour, would say only that a few details remained and he was "very optimistic" a deal would be finalized by tomorrow.

The Links was designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay and plays 7,109 yards from the back tees. It has water hazards on 14 holes. The wind-blown front nine features bunkers, sandy wastelands, marshes and few trees. Large ironwood trees line nearly every fairway on the back.

The course is part of the Turtle Bay Hilton Golf & Tennis Resort, which also includes a 484-room hotel and Turtle Bay Country Club. That was home to the Hawaiian Ladies Open from 1987-89. It is currently nine holes, with parts of the original course integrated into the Links.

California-based investment firm Oaktree Capital Management LLC assumed ownership of the resort late last year. A multimillion-dollar renovation is in progress. The Links uses the original Country Club clubhouse, which is a half-mile from its first hole.

Kapalua's Hale Irwin won the $1.1 million EMC Ka'anapali Classic last October. It was his second win on the North Course.