Wind-swept Waikoloa awaits LPGA
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Take away the wind, and golf on the Kona coast would just be a bunch of beautiful courses surrounded by ocean and lined with lava. But let's talk challenge — and reality.
Waikoloa Beach Course photo • • • 2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic • WHEN: 7:20 a.m. tomorrow-Saturday • WHERE: Waikoloa Beach Course (Par 70, 6,163 yards) • FIELD: 130 LPGA players and two Japan LPGA sponsor exemptions • DEFENDING CHAMPION: Lorie Kane • PURSE: $900,000 ($135,000 first prize) • TICKETS: $15 daily. Free parking with shuttle at resort. • PRO-AM: 7 a.m. today • TV: TV Tokyo (Japan) and The Golf Channel (U.S.), noon-2:30 p.m. each day live, with 6-8:30 p.m. repeat
Winds up to 30 mph greeted players arriving for this week's LPGA Takefuji Classic at "Waiko-blow-a," where they will open their season at the Waikoloa Beach Course. Takefuji's Pro-Am is today, with the $900,000 tournament tomorrow through Saturday.
The seemingly idyllic Waikoloa Beach Course can be tough to conquer when the wind is blowing at 30 mph.
The first two Classics were played at Kona Country Club's Ocean Course down the highway. Waikoloa can match the breathless views of that course, and blows away Keauhou's relatively serene setting.
Trade winds of 10-20 mph are common at Waikoloa. Blasts above 30 mph are not out of the realm of possibility. Annika Sorenstam, a runner-up both years at Kona CC, could chase her visor as consistently as her first Big Island title. Lorie Kane might have to defend herself against the forces of nature with the same passion as she defends her championship.
Waikoloa Beach is ready for anything. John Paulos, the resort's head superintendent the past decade, and a crew of 33 have devoted the past 10 weeks to bringing the course up to LPGA standards.
The grass in the fairway is cut to a half-inch high as always. But now it is mowed daily — an eight-hour ordeal — instead of every third day. Putting greens, which normally run at 8.5 on the speed meter, have been bumped up to double digits. They are double cut daily and flattened and firmed with special rollers. All 74 bunkers are detailed before 8 a.m.
"We're doing anything and everything to get those conditions up to specifications," says Paulos, whose crew has worked nearly 24 hours a day in preparation. That includes trimming more than 1,100 coconut trees.
"We're the only golf course that does that in-house," Paulos says. "My guys really worked hard. They all feel a part of this event."
With their hours, they are all but a part of the course. This week, they will see what the LPGA can do to it. The Beach was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. The par-70 layout opened in 1981 and stretches just 6,163 yards.
Birdies are out there, if the wind and lava don't reach out and touch the players. No one touched Kane in the final round last year. She shot a course-record 66 to overcome Sorenstam and Karrie Webb.
"I have never played a round of golf where I have been so calm," Kane said. "I just had very good feelings."
It was Kane's fourth victory in 14 starts, but it became Sorenstam's season. She won all three of the LPGA's performance awards — Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy for a record 69.42 scoring average, and money title with more than $2.1 million.
Sorenstam captured eight titles, including a major in the midst of a four-tournament win streak. Last week, she won again, beating Webb in a playoff at the Australian Ladies Masters.
The Takefuji field includes 13 of last year's top 25 players, and Hall of Famers Juli Inkster and Betsy King. Former University of Hawai'i golfer Cindy Flom, who won the LPGA Match Play championship at Waikoloa Beach a decade ago, is also playing. Honolulu amateurs Sally Soranaka and Michelle Wie qualified Monday.
