The PGA Tour confirmed on Monday that its two Hawaii golf tournaments \u2014 the Sony Open in Hawaii and The Sentry at Kapalua \u2014 will not be included in the 2027 tour schedule, representing a more than $150 million annual loss in visitor industry revenue for the islands.<\/p>\n
The Kapalua event is estimated to have a $50 million annual economic impact on Maui. Direct revenue generated by the Sony Open is estimated at $100 million a year, according to the Hawai\u2018i Tourism Authority, plus about $1 million a year to Friends of Hawaii charities.<\/p>\n
Most of the $100 million comes from visitor spending, according to data from the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism. In January, 16,162 people came from out of state to attend the Sony Open in Hawaii. They spent an estimated $29.69 million while here, generating $54 million in statewide economic impact during a week considered a slow period for the visitor industry.<\/p>\n
In addition to lost revenue, the two professional golf tournaments, which were played in January, provided Hawaii\u2019s tourism industry with invaluable publicity as the events showcased the islands\u2019 beauty in the middle of a cold winter for much of the TV audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many years, these events have delivered significant economic benefits to our communities \u2014 supporting local jobs, businesses and visitor spending,\u201d DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka said in a written statement. \u201cThey have also given local youth the chance to see world\u2011class athletes up close and in person, like Michelle Wie, Tadd Fujikawa and Allisen Corpuz.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corpuz, a U.S. Women\u2019s Open winner, is an LPGA pro who plays annually in the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club on Oahu. That tournament appears to be on solid ground. Its economic impact is a fraction of what the state receives from PGA Tour events, but it does bring in millions each year in direct revenue and marketing exposure.<\/p>\n
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Monday\u2019s news that the Hawaii tournaments will not be included on the PGA Tour\u2019s 2027 schedule was no surprise. But now that it is confirmed, it raises questions about how the state makes up the financial loss, and whether the tournaments will ever return after a more than 50-year history of PGA events in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
\u201cGolf and surfing are sports that showcase the beauty of our islands in every camera angle,\u201d said state Senate Majority Leader Glenn Wakai, an advocate of sports tourism. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that we are losing the PGA. It was a fantastic run. There are six professional golf tours in Asia. We should be teeing them up to stop in Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Sen. Lynn DeCoite, chair of the Senate\u2019s Economic Development and Tourism Committee, said the PGA Tour is important to Hawaii, and she will work toward making its absence temporary.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, as much as we hoped to salvage these events, we knew it was coming. It was a long shot (to retain them),\u201d DeCoite said. \u201cI don\u2019t plan on giving up on this. The challenges are multifaceted, but I believe we can work through them. I\u2019m disappointed, but I hope we can get things fixed within the next few years. We are trying to work with all of the partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Rolfing, the golf broadcaster known as \u201cMr. Hawaii,\u201d isn\u2019t giving up either, despite his proposal to keep the Sony Open in Hawaii on the PGA Tour schedule not getting approved. Rolfing said he was meeting with PGA Tour officials Monday night.<\/p>\n
A PGA Tour spokesperson said in an email Monday, \u201cWe can confirm that the PGA TOUR is having conversations about the Sony Open in Hawaii becoming a PGA TOUR Champions event.\u201d The PGA Tour Champions is for senior tour players, ages 50 and up.<\/p>\n
If played the same week as prior Sony Opens, such an event would become the new season opener for the Champions Tour.<\/p>\n
The Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalei is played on Hawaii island each year, the week after the Sony Open. The Four Seasons Resort at Hualalei is contracted with Mitsubishi and the PGA Tour Champions through 2030.<\/p>\n
Rolfing has spoken often about the huge costs involved in broadcasting golf events, especially when people and equipment must be transported to Hawaii. Events are much more viable in the islands if they are back to back.<\/p>\n
Even if broadcast costs are mitigated, the PGA Tour\u2019s new scheduling philosophy might override everything else.<\/p>\n
The tour\u2019s new CEO, Brian Rolapp, has consistently spoken of a shorter schedule that does not include tournaments in January which compete against the NFL for viewership. The PGA Tour had started its season each year at Kapalua and Waialae Country Club in early January, on the same weekends as NFL playoffs.<\/p>\n
Rolapp, who previously worked for the NFL, wants the PGA Tour schedule to eventually start after the Super Bowl is over in early February. So if the PGA Tour ever returns to Hawaii, it would not be in January under Rolapp.<\/p>\n
Hawaii\u2019s PGA troubles began last fall when The Sentry in Kapalua was canceled for 2026 after drought and water rights issues on Maui left the tournament golf course parched. Compounding the problem for Hawaii, 2026 was Sony Corp.\u2019s last year of sponsorship for the Waialae tournament.<\/p>\n
In a statement Monday, tour officials said, \u201cWe are grateful to The Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua Resort, Maui County and the State of Hawaii for their longtime support of our season-opening PGA TOUR event, as well as the fans, partners and volunteers across Maui who have supported the event throughout the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sentry Insurance has a partnership deal with the PGA Tour through 2035. It is not known yet if and where it might be a title sponsor, except that it will no longer be at Kapalua.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to have sponsored The Sentry in Kapalua for eight years. We have said from the beginning, we love Maui and Maui is a Sentry community not unlike our hometown of Stevens Point, Wisconsin,\u201d Stephanie Smith, Sentry\u2019s chief marketing & brand officer and chief golf partnership officer, said in a written statement. \u201cWe cherish the friends and partnerships we have formed over the past several years. Our commitment to the island runs deep, and we remain committed to being active in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tokioka\u2019s written statement expressed similar sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state of Hawaii deeply appreciates the PGA Tour\u2019s decades\u2011long partnership and its meaningful presence across our islands. While we are saddened to see the tour conclude its longstanding event on Maui, we understand the factors that contributed to this decision. We remain committed to supporting opportunities that showcase Hawaii as a premier destination for world\u2011class sporting events. Gov. (Josh) Green and I also want to extend our sincere thanks to Mark Rolfing for his tireless efforts to keep these tournaments in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to continued conversations with the PGA Tour and our community partners to ensure that professional golf maintains a strong and positive presence in our islands for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Star-Advertiser staff writer Allison Schaefers contributed to this report <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The PGA Tour confirmed on Monday that its two Hawaii golf tournaments \u2014 the Sony Open in Hawaii…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[591,1755,1330],"class_list":["post-28045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-sentry","tag-business","tag-editors","tag-the-sentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}