Aloha...FORE goes Hawaiian (part 1)

In preparation for FORE Magazine’s annual Spotlight on Hawaii Golf, I was given the task to head west—over 2,100 miles west—to the great island of Maui. There are three resorts on the itinerary, compiled by the Maui Visitors Bureau, including Kapalua (or as my dad likes to refer to it, the place with the genius butterfly and pineapple logo), Kaanapali, and wrapping things up at Wailea. My burning question was immediately answered by the first Hawaiian resident I ran into: yes, Dog the Bounty Hunter is as cool in person as on television. I was happy to hear that.

Currently at Kapalua, I’m sitting in bed looking out the window of my villa…that faces the ocean. It’s rained every morning, only to break for golf (for the most part), which I’m told is not unusual. We’re in the villas because of the six-month, $110 million renovation that the property’s hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, is going under (set to open at the end of this year). It's perfect for families or groups of travel buddies...bring all your own food if you want to stock the full kitchen each unit comes with, head down to the beach, or take a crack at the Plantation or Bay courses. It's good.

To just touch on the golf (more in the spring issue of FORE), my media group played the Plantation Course yesterday. The course is host to the Mercedes-Benz Championship (kicking off on New Year’s Eve this year) and I’ve never seen a course or an island for that matter more excited about a championship. Some random notes: Jim Furyk’s ocean-view home overlooks the third green on the course, and Joe Torre has a fort in the gated section of the Plantation. I hit a 275-yard drive on the par-5 17th hole (yay me). Hawaiian greens are amazingly different than mainland greens (grain growth is EVERYTHING). The ball rolls a LOT in the wide fairways. To be continued…

Kapalua is part of a 23,000-acre plantation (I harvested a pineapple with my bare hands from the Honolua Plantation across the street from the property) and has an immense and interesting history it is working to preserve. Visit the Kukui Room, which is the resort’s new cultural center, to learn all about it; it’s fascinating. Perhaps the highlight thusfar, however, was the ancient burial ground we toured, just steps from the hotel.

In 1982, when the Ritz-Carlton broke ground, they uncovered sets of ancient remains; remains, they say that are dated back to 850 A.D. They relocated the hotel property and began to excavate, and in the end found upwards of 2,500 sets of remains of native people as well as their artifacts. They were all reburied in Kapalua’s burial ground. Hawaii native and cultural expert Clifford escorted us onto the burial property—it’s off-limits unless escorted by a native person with certain qualifications. He had to chant to the spirits to ask permission for us to enter and to give our good intentions, and chanted as we left to “close the spiritual door,” he said, and to ask for protection of our spirits. The manicured area is amazing, on a cliff overlooking the Pacific and “Dragon’s Teeth,” a popular Maui destination. Clifford says that he brings people interviewing for managerial positions at Kapalua to part of the burial ground to put the heat on them…no pressure.

Today we’re off to stop No. 2: Kaanapali Golf Resort. Update coming Friday. Aloha…

Comments

[NoCalVal]

By the way, that logo is perfect. Your dad is spot on with that observation.