Drive Time
Sony Open poses parking problems
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
When Chester Kahapea drives through Kahala, he isn't checking out the ocean view or luxury homes. He's keeping an eye out for parking.
"Constantly, constantly, all year round," says Kahapea, who heads the Sony Open in Hawai'i, the largest sporting event in the Islands held regularly in a residential district.
Each year when the professional golf tournament comes to town for its weeklong run of activities, as it does starting Monday at Waialae Country Club, the event transforms one of Honolulu's poshest neighborhoods.
Quiet residential streets become alive with traffic. Schools and parks are used as space for thousands of cars. Shuttle services run all day between parking areas and the golf course. Special city buses and private trolleys run every 30 minutes between Waikiki and Wai'alae. And owners of million-dollar homes near the golf course sometimes charge as much as $20 a day to fans anxious to park in time to see their favorite stars tee off.
Ever since the tournament began in 1964, finding enough parking for the estimated 40,000 fans who attend has been one of the challenges for tournament officials.
"The area just wasn't designed for a big sporting event," Kahapea said. "We really try to work with the community so that everything goes smoothly."
Officials use three big areas, the privately owned Hunakai Park, Star of the Sea School and Kalani High School, and a constant rotation of shuttle buses to accommodate most of the fans and the 1,400 volunteers who help run the show.
But there's always a demand for more space. That's where Kahapea's sharp eye comes in.
"I'm always on the lookout for a vacant lot in Kahala," he said. Usually, they spring up when an old home is bought and torn down, and the owner is waiting for the right time to build a new one.
A typical open lot in Kahala might have room for 100 cars, no small potatoes in the ever-shifting parking game at Sony Open time.
When tournament officials find a new open lot, they usually offer the owner a little enticement — say a dozen passes to the golf tournament — to make the space available for cars, Kahapea said. Most agree.
You say you want to park right next to the golf course? Fuhgettaboutit! Even the 144 golf professionals playing in the tournament, the stars of the show, don't get that kind of treatment. The Waialae Country Club's small parking lot is reserved for club members throughout the tournament.
"In any other tournament in the country, all the pros would get their own courtesy cars to be used throughout the whole week," Kahapea said. In Honolulu, though, they wouldn't have any place to park them.
Instead, tournament officials have a team of local volunteers who drive the professionals and their families anywhere they want to go while in the Islands.
Sometimes a volunteer will pick up the golfer at his hotel, take him to the course, drive the family out to the beach, return them to the hotel, pick up the golfer after his round and later take the whole group out to dinner, Kahapea said.
"Some of the drivers really develop a bond with the golfers and become friends year after year," he said.
In the end, Kahapea said, all the year-long effort to provide parking pays off.
"One way or another, we always end up with more than enough parking," he said. "Sometimes, people stay away because they're worried about parking, but we've got room for everyone."
Mike Leidemann writes about transportation issues. Call him at 525-5460, write him at The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802, or e-mail mleidemann@honolulu advertiser.com
