Breaking News
Local Sports

Back on course

Golfers relish chance to get rounds in as local courses begin to reopen

By Robert Collias 9 min read

Scott Soldwisch's birthday has included a round of golf for as long as he can remember.

His 56th birthday was no exception Saturday as he and his 14-year-old daughter Ariya, an 8th-grader at Iao School, played the Maui Nui Golf Club course one day after courses around the county were allowed to open with safety precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We played the last day before it got shut down -- we played at Waiehu the last day they were open," said Soldwisch, the athletic director for Lahainaluna High School and Maui Interscholastic League golf coordinator. "She's been practicing at home in a net, she's a junior golfer. It was just nice to get out there. We were just happy to be out there, I think it's safe and everybody is respecting the social-distancing rules.

"My birthday always includes golf, it was a good birthday present to have golf open up on the 1st."

Soldwisch and Maui High athletic director Mike Ban are both part of the state committee to set start dates for sports; the committee is scheduled to meet virtually today. The MIL ADs will then meet to discuss things further for Maui County schools.

Hawaii High School Athletic Association Executive Director Chris Chun suggested to The Maui News on Thursday that spring sports, specifically tennis and golf, could have a fall season after the entire spring docket for all sports was wiped out.

That could be a hard thing to work out for golf specifically, Sold­wisch said.

"I think the first thing we need to be cognizant of is that the golf courses are hurting, they are our partners in this and they have been super supportive in this for many years," Soldwisch said. "I think we kind of need to let them take the lead on when they can support high school golf and junior golf again.

"Without them we have no MIL golf or junior golf, so maybe it's premature to assume we could start. They're going through a tough time and we need to support them the best way we can."

Soldwisch did give credit to high-ranking Hawaii government officials for golf courses being open at all -- they had been closed by state and county government edicts since March 23.

"Thank you Mayor Victorino and Gov. Ige for opening up golf because I think it's one of the safest activities and it's also an industry that's really hurting here in Hawaii," Soldwisch said.

Of 17 Maui County golf courses contacted by The Maui News, 16 are open or plan to open this week -- the lone exception was Cavendish Golf Course on Lanai, which could not be reached on Sunday. Cavendish, a community cooperative golf course that is maintained by the players and charges no greens fees, is currently closed.

Steve Kanada, 71, of Wai­luku was happy to take to the layout at Maui Nui on Sunday morning in Kihei.

"It is my first round in two months," Kanada said. "We're so excited, we were practicing getting ready in the morning. Waiehu (Municipal Golf Course) is my regular spot, but it's too booked. Being out here, it enhances your whole body, your mental health, and you've got hope."

Kihei resident Karen Siangco was waiting to take part in a round with her husband Lionel Siangco on Sunday at Maui Nui.

"Very excited," Karen Siangco said. "We golf with our (friends) twice a month, I golf once a week and my husband golfs twice a week, give or take. He golfed on Saturday, this is my first time back."

Lionel Siangco shot a 79 at Waiehu on Saturday.

"It felt great to be back out there," he said. "It was different with everybody having their own cart. Every cart had its own rake and the hole was covered with a noodle, so it was different, but it was fun."

Maui Nui general manager Lief Smith said his course was ready to roll Friday, the first day reopenings were permitted.

The Aloha Section of the PGA of America sent out rules that had to be followed, including one person per cart unless it was two members of the same household.

Some courses put a single sand trap rake in each cart, some went without rakes. Some courses had sand bottles to fill in divots on carts, some went without.

Maui Nui put together sealed plastic zip-lock bags for each golfer with scorecards, tees and ball markers, placed on a plastic table for the participants to grab before taking to the course.

"There were a lot of processes that we had to put in place, but we had a good, 40, 50, 60 days off, so I had been preparing based off what is happening in Arizona, based off what is happening in Florida, I'd already had a good set of rules that I was trying to prepare our staff with," Smith said. "I've got an unbelievable staff here and I've got some great ownership."

Smith singled out Rick Castillo from King Kamahemeha Golf Club as being one of the most helpful voices he commiserated with.

"Conversing back and forth with some of the other golf professionals and taking some guidance from those guys, we were locked and loaded and ready," Smith said.

Art Rego, the head professional at Waiehu for the last 30 years, said Saturday that the first two days with golfers back on the course had gone better than he expected.

"Everybody is really excited," Rego said of the sold-out first two days of business for the county's only municipal course. "They're happy to get out and enjoy the course. They said they are seeing some improvements since the last time they were here. Some people haven't played here in the last couple years."

Waiehu course superintendent Todd Allen was able to do some work all over the layout with the unexpected layoff.

"Todd went in and did aerification on the roughs, the fairways and the greens," Rego said. "He top-dressed them all and he really worked hard in the last couple months on herbiciding. He herbicided all the fairways twice. The fairways are brown -- it doesn't look pretty, but in about two weeks it should be all back green again. ... This break really helped his crew and they really did a good job."

The Dunes at Maui Lani is aiming to open on Friday.

"We're just trying to get everything together, make sure that all our ducks are in a row," Maui Lani director of operations Scott Reinhart said. "We've been doing a lot of work. The greens are recovering from aeration much like the other local courses. So, it's recovering well."

The Dunes has added yardage numbers on sprinkler heads throughout the course and like many courses has cut pool swimming noodles to put in the holes to keep the ball from dropping to the bottom of the cup. Flagsticks are left in the holes and the noodles allow golfers to retrieve their balls without touching the flagsticks.

The host course of the Maui Open announced to players two weeks ago that the event will not be held in 2020, but is set to return to Maui Lani Aug. 7-8, 2021.

"We have canceled for this year," Reinhart said. "We didn't feel like it was the best thing at the time this year to ask the community for their donations. Their resources are being stressed, so we wanted to not be relying on the community with this going on."

The three courses in Wailea held a "soft opening" on Sunday by invitation for "primary customers" as a fundraiser for the Maui Food Bank.

"A portion of the funds we raise -- this is on two courses, the Blue and the Gold -- will go for the Maui Food Bank," Blue Course GM Barry Helle said. "Then we will be staggering our openings to the public. On Tuesday, we're going to open our Gold Course, on Wednesday we're going to open our Emerald Course, and the Blue will open on Friday."

Helle said his loyal customers can't wait to return to the courses.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook ever since the mayor announced that we would reopen," Helle said. "There's a lot of pent-up demand by golfers who just want to get out and swing a golf club. I know the courses that did open on Friday had a lot of customers.

"I think the golf community is appreciative that they get to go back out on the golf course and we look forward to having them."

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

*****

Maui County Golf Courses

Maui

Kaanapali Kai Course, open, tee times from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Must book in advance.

Kahili Golf Course, opens Wednesday.

Kapalua Bay Course, opens Wednesday, tee times 8:30-11:30 a.m. Will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays after this week through the end of May.

Kapalua Plantation Course, opens Friday, tee times 8:30-11:30 a.m. Will be open Fridays and Saturdays through the end of May.

King Kamehameha Golf Club, open to members beginning Wednesday.

Maui Country Club, open to members.

Maui Nui Golf Club, open, twilight walking rates available (no carts) after 3:30 p.m.

Pukalani Country Club, open.

Royal Kaanapali Course, open, tee times from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Must book in advance.

The Dunes at Maui Lani, tentatively opening Friday.

Waiehu Municipal Golf Course, open.

Wailea Blue Course, opens Friday.

Wailea Emerald Course, opens Wednesday.

Wailea Gold Course, opens Tuesday.

Lanai

Manele Golf Course, set to open May 13 with tee times limited to 10 a.m.-noon Monday through Friday, Island Club members and Lanai residents only.

Cavendish Golf Course, closed, no opening date available.

Molokai

Ironwood Hills Golf Course, open, walking only for regular play, carts for club play.

Starting at /week.