Kapalua Golf has announced it is back open for business.

The facility, one of the best golf properties in Hawaii and site of the PGA Tour’s Sentry (formerly Tournament of Champions) event, has been closed since Maui suffered a series of wildfires in August. Kapalua’s Bay Course is now offering tee times, with the more famous Plantation Course set to reopen in mid-October.

“Our team truly appreciates the outpouring of support from around the globe over the past six weeks,” said Kapalua Golf general manager Alex Nakajima. “Our staff was deeply impacted by the fires, with nearly a third losing their homes and possessions. As associates and the community work to heal, we continue to support them; welcoming back team members to work as they are ready. As we continue the recovery process, we are reopening our two golf courses for Kama’aina (local residents) on island and for those planning their return to Maui. As millions discovered during the pandemic, a round of golf can be good medicine for the mind, body and soul.”

The fires were spread out over 17,000 acres of land and caused over $6 billion in damage, with 97 dead and another 30 people still missing. With recovery efforts ongoing, the wildfire tragedy seemingly puts the Sentry in doubt.

But PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said last month that the tour hopes to be a “source of inspiration for the great people of Maui and Lahaina by the time that we get to Maui in January”.

“Absolutely,” Monahan said at the Tour Championship when asked if the tour will host the event in Maui. “But I think at this point there’s so many unknowns, and we want to be respectful of the challenges. We want to help be a part of the revitalisation. There are a lot of considerations. We’re committed, you know, if we’re allowed to, if we’re invited, if we’re embraced, given all that needs to be accomplished, we will be there 100 per cent.

“The PGA Tour, when moments like this happen, this is when we’re at our best. So we don’t have the answer to that right now, but we want to do everything we can to make certain that that’s a moment for the people of Maui that is entirely helpful and inspiring. And I would also add that our partner in Sentry has been there every step of the way and is doing some pretty remarkable things right now alongside our team and we’ll have more to add on that front. But we are hopeful to be there.”

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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said the tour remains committed to playing its season-opening event in Maui amid the devastation to the island from recent wildfires.

The Sentry (formerly known as the Tournament of Champions) is currently scheduled to kick off the 2024 campaign during the first week of January. However, earlier this month a series of wildfires engulfed the island of Maui, killing at least 115 people with another 800 missing. The fires were spread out over 17,000 acres of land and caused over $6 billion in damage.

The ongoing tragedy seemingly puts the Sentry in doubt. Not only for the island’s capability of providing the resources to host the event, but the perceived optics of playing a golf tournament for millions against the ongoing struggles from the fires. But Monahan, speaking on Tuesday at the Tour Championship, said the tour hopes to be a “source of inspiration for the great people of Maui and Lahaina by the time that we get to Maui in January.”

“Absolutely,” Monahan later said when asked if the tour will host the event in Maui. “But I think at this point there’s so many unknowns, and we want to be respectful of the challenges. We want to help be a part of the revitalisation. There are a lot of considerations. We’re committed, you know, if we’re allowed to, if we’re invited, if we’re embraced, given all that needs to be accomplished, we will be there 100 per cent.

“The PGA Tour, when moments like this happen, this is when we’re at our best. So we don’t have the answer to that right now, but we want to do everything we can to make certain that that’s a moment for the people of Maui that is entirely helpful and inspiring. And I would also add that our partner in Sentry has been there every step of the way and is doing some pretty remarkable things right now alongside our team and we’ll have more to add on that front. But we are hopeful to be there.”

Founded in 1953, the tournament’s field was historically restricted to winners from the previous year. A change was made in 2021 to invite all those who made the Tour Championship due to the abbreviated 2020 Covid-19 season, and in 2023 the field now includes the top 30 players from the final FedEx Cup standings who qualified for the previous year’s Tour Championship in addition to the previous calendar year winners. Additionally, with the tour revamping its fall season, the 2024 edition of the Sentry will mark the official opening of the new season.

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The usually bustling tourist town of Lahaina, less than 20 minutes south of Kapalua, has been the hardest hit. More than 2,200 structures on the island have been destroyed or damaged by the fires — about 86 per cent of them residential, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said.

That’s why Collin Morikawa concedes it will be “scary” returning to Lahaina, where the Californian’s fraternal grandparents were born. They owned the Morikawa Restaurant, believed to have been in existence in the 1950s and 1960s. The two-time major winner was asked Tuesday at the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields if he was “fearful” of seeing the devastation at Lahaina come the first week of January.

“I am,” Morikawa said, having earned his spot at the Sentry courtesy of being among the top 50 on the FedEx Cup standings who made it to the BMW. Those top 50 will be eligible for Sentry, which changed its eligibility from its previous winner’s-only status. “Going back to a place like that where I know I have so many connections … it’s going to be very eerie,” Morikawa added.

“Every year we would always walk by the store that ended up being where the Morikawa restaurant used to be. I am very scared. But I think with being scared, also you need to step up. You need to be courageous, you need to be brave. We have that ability to reach out to millions of people, [with] our network of the PGA Tour and being professional athletes, to make it better [raise money and aid]. Find charities, find ways to help out these people because, they’re doing all they can and it’s always nice to have a helping hand. Golf will be very weird that week, I guarantee that. It’s only a handful months away. Even with that time, stuff can’t be rebuilt that quickly.”

World No.3 and reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm also has an affinity for Kapalua from playing the tournament. He won the Tournament of Champions this year, a year after shooting 33 under par for four rounds and finishing second to Cameron Smith by one shot.

Rahm said professional golf should be least of anyone’s concerns when it comes to Maui. The Spaniard echoed Morikawa in wanting to use the PGA Tour’s platform to raise money for the island.

“Obviously the priority right now wouldn’t be [the tournament at] Kapalua,” Rahm said. “It’s really sad what has happened over there, especially for a culture that cares about their native land as much as the Hawaiians do. I’m deeply sorry for everybody that lost somebody over there. I know Collin shared a bit of his [grandfather’s] story … I’m hoping they can rebuild Lahaina as quickly as possible. If we do go and play, I’m hoping through the tournament we can help the community as much as we can.”

Along with Morikawa, who is donating money from every birdie in the FedEx Cup to the recovery efforts, Michelle Wie West said she is donating $100,000 to support “the urgent needs of these families” who are dealing with the tragedy.

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