The PGA Tour has canceled its Sentry event. This is what the course looks like now

Shortly before sunrise, in the warm Hawaiian half-light, I climbed into a cart and drove to the 17th tee (the highest point on the course) on Maui’s famous Plantation Course at Kapalua. As I walked to the back tee box to take a look, brilliant light started streaming across the course from a low angle.

Since the course had recently suffered a major water crisis, been closed for a few months and just reopened, I expected stressed and sun-drenched turf, dead spots and ugly scars from malnutrition. Instead of? Green grandeur in all directions. Perfection from wall to wall. Not a spot to be seen.

Located on the northwestern tip of Maui, the Plantation Course is one of Hawaii’s flagship courses; one of the best public venues in not only the state, but the entire country; has been an important part of hosting and kicking off the PGA Tour’s January program with The Sentry (formerly the Tournament of Champions) for many years.

Opened in 1992, the beautiful seaside golf course is also considered an early masterpiece by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and its layout truly kickstarted the career of perhaps the greatest architectural duo of all time. Although famous for its closing run – featuring a devilish downhill par-4 followed by a stunning and reachable 660-yard par-5 – the Plantation Course is peppered with wild and unique golf holes that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere.

So given its status and history, the golf world was naturally stunned when the PGA Tour announced the cancellation of the 2026 Sentry at the Plantation Course (scheduled for January 8-11) due to drought and logistical challenges. And even more shocking were the images that emerged of a brown and water-poor course that seemed to be on the brink of an eternal exit.

But that was September. It came mid-December, when I laid it down here, and a different tune was sung. The elegy has turned into dancing. Hula, so.

“I continue to be impressed with how our agronomy team was able to accomplish the restoration of The Plantation Course,” said Kevin Kammien, senior marketing manager at Kapalua Resort. “The grass walked the thin line between life and death.”

The problems at the Troon-managed Kapalua Resort began when the Maui Land & Pineapple Company, which owns water rights in the area, essentially shut off taps to the golf resort in September. (A lawsuit between the parties remains unresolved.) Partial water flow – still 60 percent restricted – has since been restored, but not enough to keep both courses at the resort (Plantation and Bay) at acceptable levels. A decision had to be made.

“We had to shift all of our water assignments from The Bay Course to The Plantation Course, otherwise we would have definitely lost both courses,” Kammien says. “None of the staff or other industry experts knew whether Plantation would recover or not until we tried it. There is no manual for this type of recovery. Our team had to rely on their vast experience and make numerous decisions on the fly as we progressed with this ambitious recovery plan.”

Kammien said they even lost the first and eighth greens on the Plantation Course and had to propagate them with thousands of plugs from their nursery. And while the Bay Course remains closed, he said conditions on the Plantation Course are “fantastic.”

Undoubtedly, the drought-tolerant Celebration bermudagrass (on tees, fairways and rough) and TifEagle bermudagrass (greens) also proved to be an important factor in the recovery.

“We switched to these grasses in 2019,” says Kammien. “And over the past six years they have developed deep root systems. These species have really proven their worth, especially during the 100 percent water restriction period.”

While the durability of the turf was absolutely critical to Plantation’s recovery, their scientific weather stations, soil moisture meters and crop sensors, which have the ability to adjust precipitation rates for each individual head on the property, also contributed significantly.

And of course, the key people behind the entire project – Director of Agriculture Andrew Rebman and Superintendent Bryan Pierce – did an excellent job. Interestingly, during the closure the entire lawn team remained employed (43 people) and many projects – such as the renovation of cart paths, new safety barriers, shrub removal and extensive tree pruning – were improved.

But what I quickly noticed during my recent round (December 15, 2025), in addition to the uniformity and consistency of the turf, was the absence of ball marks, divots and other game wear marks. Although the course reopened in mid-November, it is clear that very few people played. (The day I played there were about 50 golfers on the tee sheet; $475 per player.)

Since it was my first trip around the Plantation Course, I was also eager to experience the fantastic finish. I was excited when I had to run a ball down the hill on the 18th and try to split the green. Not a bird, but considering how much fun I was having – and the reversal of these course conditions – I still felt like hula dancing.

Andrew Penner is a freelance writer and photographer based in Calgary, Alberta. You can follow him on Instagram at @andrewpennerfotografie.