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Posted on: Thursday, September 27, 2001
• Rough going at resorts
• Fleisher, Doyle, Irwin to play at Turtle Bay
• Waikoloa Open champ to defend title
• Hawai'i course of the week
• Kwon honored by Aloha Section PGA
• This week's Holes in one
Hawai'i courses making comeback
Advertiser Staff
Like other golf resorts on the Mainland, those in Hawai'i felt the initial effects of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Kapalua Resort on Maui and Ko Olina Golf Club on O'ahu saw significant decreases after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although generally slow in the fall months, Kapalua was only 30-40 percent booked, down from its usual 70-80 percent.
"Things have improved a lot since then," said Gary Planos, vice president of operations at Kapalua. "Our businesses have improved and some of the group businesses have returned and some of the anticipated cancellations haven't happened."
Planos didn't have exact numbers but said those booking figures were from last week and "we've grown from that figure ... so we're excited."
Kapalua is the site of the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes Championships, which features Tiger Woods among the 30 champions who won PGA Tour events the previous season.
Planos said there have been no cancellations with the pro-am spots. The tournament runs from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, 2002
"The Mercedes Championships looks as bright as ever," Planos said. "We're seeing a better picture, and an improved picture from last week. We feel pretty positive about our position going forward to the future."
Ko Olina general manager Jim Richerson said the resort saw a "significant decrease the first two weeks after," but is now starting "to see tourism slowly come back.
"We're seeing a slow increase in tourism rounds. If that stays on course, we're optimistic the business will get back ... but we're not quite there yet."
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