There are concerns that Kapalua might not be able to host the PGA Tour’s season-opening Sentry in early January.
“The golf course has been damaged with no water for months,” Alex Nakajima, the general manager of Kapalua Golf and Tennis, told the Associated Press. “I proposed to the owner that we need to shut the golf course to increase our chances to save the golf course and the tournament.”
Therefore, the Hawaiian course is undergoing a 60-day closure, starting on Sept. 2. It hasn’t had water since July 25 and currently has a yellow and brown shade as its grass continues to die.
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The course has filed a lawsuit against Maui Land & Pineapple, claiming the water delivery system has not been properly cared for.
“MLP has knowingly … allowed the Ditch System to fall into a state of demonstrable disrepair. That disrepair, not any act of God, or force of nature, or other thing, is why users who need it are currently without water,” the lawsuit says, according to the AP.
The lawsuit also alleges: “Water is scarce not because rain is falling in significantly smaller quantities. Rather, water is scarce because MLP has failed to honor its promises to maintain the infrastructure used to collect, carry, and store it properly.
The PGA Tour is reportedly monitoring the situation.
Shutting down the course now appears to be Kapalua’s best shot at hosting the Sentry next January.
“We have to do this immediately,” Nakajima said. “Every day the golf course is dying.”
