The PGA Tour needs a fill -in location for the season opening event.
The Tour announced on Tuesday that the Sentry will not be played The Plantage Course In Kapalua in January due to the current droughtstones on the island of Maui.
The plantation course, with its enormous height changes and dreamy views of the ocean, has long been a famous first stop on the new annual schedule, but the current water retention efforts as a result of Maui County’s droughts have forced the Tour to move the event that is planned for 8-11 January 2026.
According to state dataMore than 90 percent of Maui County and more than 140,000 inhabitants have been hit by the drought, including Kapalua Resort, host of the Sentry.
The Tour said that his agronomieteam carried out a site visit earlier this month and concludes that course conditions, due to water restrictions, have been affected. It also called logistics issues, which forced the Tour to make a decision months in advance.
The Tour released the following explanation on Tuesday: “After discussions with the office of the Governor, as well as leadership of Sentry Insurance, Kapalua Resort and Maui County, the PGA Tour has determined that playing the Sentry of the Sentry is not disputed in the plantation course at Kapalua. Supplement, waterua.
The resort previously announced that it would close its plantation and Bay courses for 60 days from 2 September.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said Alex Nakajima, general manager of Kapalua Golf and Tennis, at the time in a statement. “By closing at the moment, we can start with careful recovery and restoration, so that the courses again meet the playability standards that our guests deserve.”
The Sentry is not only the first event of the year, but the first of the nine characteristic events of 2026, which means a larger wallet ($ 20 million) and more star power in the field.
The second event of the Tour of 2026, the Sony Open in Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, remains unchanged.
No information about a replacement location for the sentry was released, although the next five tournaments after the Sony in California (four events) or Arizona (one) are, so the Tour could decide to stay at a location on the west coast or to create a mini extension of the west coast.
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