Architecture Geek: Is The 18th At Kapalua A Good Hole?
- Updated: January 4, 2019
The PGA Tour traditionally kicks off the new year with the Tournament of Champions played at the famed Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii and offers one of the silliest par-5 finishes you’ll see anywhere.
But is it actually a good hole?
At 7,400 yards in change from the tips, Kapalua plays to a par 73 and is mostly known for its undulating fairways, breathtaking views, breaching whales, and an uncanny ability to make people watching on TV at home in the dead of winter jealous enough to question their own life choices.
The main attraction is the 663-yard par-5 dogleg left
It all starts with the tee shot and if you hit the speed slot, see ya! Tiger Woods once smoked a 498-yard drive back in 2002, which remains the longest drive in PGA Tour history recorded by ShotLink.
From there, you can throw strategy out the window! Most guys are able to get home in 2 after a half-decent drive and are thinking eagle.
It’s essentially a giant mini-golf hole and the only thing that’s missing is a windmill.
Don’t take our word for it … take his.
We asked Garrett Morrison – Managing Editor of The Fried Egg and self-proclaimed “architecture geek” – for some insights on the 18th at Kapalua and whether or not it’s a good hole from a golf course architectural perspective:
The main value of Coore and Crenshaw’s 18th hole design is that it’s different and fun.
Yes, there’s definitely some strategy. If you want a good look at eagle, you have to be willing to curve two consecutive shots toward the ravine on the left. The tentative approach leads to a tricky pitch from the canted fairway short of the green.
That said, the pros make birdies from a lot of different positions on this hole, often without truly risking any penalty strokes. Rarely do more than a few balls each year find the ravine at the Tournament of Champions.
But hey, not every hole has to be treacherous! Sometimes, as an architect, you can just see a ginormous hill and say, “Oh yeah, we’re gonna route a 663-yard par 5 down that bad boy.” And I think it works on 18 at Kapalua.
What do you want on the last hole of a tournament course? Drama. Drivers off the deck that curve 80 yards in the air and run 100 yards on the ground. Eagles. The final hole at Kapalua delivers all of that. It’s just entertaining.
One last thing: it’s not often that you see the ball running along the ground at a PGA Tour course. One of the most unpredictable and thrilling elements of the game is how the ball rolls on sloping turf. In that way, Kapalua is very refreshing.
If you’re a fan of golf course architecture (GCA), we highly recommend checking out Garrett’s work @ The Fried Egg and following him on Twitter.
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