Rains keep Kapalua course crew busy
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
KAPALUA, Maui — A lively thunderstorm hit Kapalua at 3:20 a.m. yesterday, causing officials to change the starting times they had changed Saturday to avoid bad weather.
Matt York • Associated Press
When the thunder, lightening, wind and driving rain struck earlier than anticipated, the 7:10 a.m. start was eventually pushed back four hours. The leaders went out just after noon.
Fans with umbrellas arrive at the rain-delayed final round of the Mercedes Championships at the Kapalua Plantation Course.
The course took on 2 inches of rain between 3 a.m. and 11 a.m., when it finally subsided. It sprinkled through most of the back nine for the leaders.
Craig Trenholme, Kapalua's senior superintendent, said his crew of 40 planned to go out at 3:30 a.m., but had to wait until the rain slowed. It eventually started to work in earnest on the course at 8:30 a.m., with 10 workers mowing greens and the other 30 clearing bunkers of water.
Trenholme said the Plantation Course drains well because of its location on the mountainside. The tournament also benefited from replacing 70 of the 100 bunkers last summer. Only the old bunkers had to have water pumped out.
All the water caused some inconsistencies in the bunkers and slowed the greens even further, according to Trenholme. But he added that it also took some of the "graininess" out of the greens early in the day when the grass "straightened a little more" in response to the rain.
A week ago Saturday, Kapalua had three inches of rain in a 12-hour period.
PGA's Hawai'i swing continues this week
The PGA Tour will be here the first five weeks of the year.
The regular tour will have its first full-field event this week with the Sony Open in Hawai'i, at Waialae Country Club. The Champions Tour opens the following week with the MasterCard Championship, Jan. 21 to 23 at Hualalai, then moves to O'ahu Jan. 28 to 30 for the Turtle Bay Championship. The Wendy's Champions Skins Game is Feb. 5 and 6 at Wailea, Maui.
All but six of the golfers at Kapalua will be on O'ahu this week. The missing include Stuart Appleby, John Daly, Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods. Among those who are playing are a dozen former champions at Waialae, led by two-time defending champion Ernie Els.
Punahou sophomore Michelle Wie is playing again after missing the cut by one shot a year ago. Vijay Singh will be the first No. 1 player in the World Golf Ranking to play in a PGA Tour stop at Waialae. The ranking began in 1986.
Four more players will be added after today's qualifier at Pearl Country Club.
The Sony Open in Hawai'i is looking for caddies to help today and Wednesday for pro-am tournaments.
Caddies will be paid $80 plus tip, per bag, per round. Those interested should call Waialae Country Club at 732-1457, extension 222.
MORE GOLF NEWS
Wendy's Skins is the same weekend as the Hawai'i Pearl Open (Feb. 4 to 6). Greg Meyer is the defending champion at Pearl Country Club and he will be chased by two females, among many others from Hawai'i, Japan and the Mainland. Teenage Japan pro Sakura Yokomine will play along with Wie, who finished 38th last year.
Proceeds from the Mercedes Dealer Championships raised approximately $1 million for Scholarship America through the Mercedes-Benz Drive Your Future program. The year-long Championships concluded this weekend at Kapalua, with a team from Jack Ingram Motors in Montgomery, Ala., winning the national final. Fifteen amateur teams qualified for the Hawai'i final. The tournament started with 12,000 players in 175 qualifiers.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.
