The PGA Tour confirmed this week that the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open would not be a part of the schedule moving forward.
I have conflicting thoughts about the Tour officially eliminating its two Hawaiian Swing events that have traditionally kicked off the Tour’s calendar year.
On one hand, the move is understandable and justified.
The Tour’s schedule has been bloated for ages, and this is a move toward the scarcity that new CEO Brian Rolapp recently espoused in his state of the union press conference last month.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has publicly campaigned for not only a more cohesive schedule but a more energized start to the season. Instead of seeing sleepy Hawaii in January, we’re probably going to see the Tour start the year at Torrey Pines, the WM Phoenix Open or another event that has more buzz.
It’s been a forgone conclusion that these events were not going to survive the Tour’s newly constructed, more limited schedule. The Tour wanted to start later and cutting two smaller early-January events in a remote location was probably one of their easier decisions.
I tend to agree with this assessment. There is way too much Tour golf that means almost nothing to casual fans and that’s ultimately not helpful for your overall product. You want to rally the golf world—and the sports world—around the events you do have. Ratings and in-person attendance for the Hawaiian events have always been limited.
Some tournaments have to be cut or reimagined. The Hawaii events got clipped (although the Sony Open might be reimagined as a PGA Tour Champions event, a small consolation).
Having said that, I will deeply miss these tournaments
Put all Tour scheduling preferences aside for a moment.
I am very sad these Hawaiian events are going away.
There was something therapeutic and grounding about watching the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. While many of us were stuck in frigid winter temperatures, the allure of watching golfers in paradise was strong for those golf-obsessed sickos among us.
Was Kapalua hard for the pros? Not particularly. It’s a resort course where the winner shoots something silly like 30-under.
Was Kapalua interesting for the pros? Absolutely.
Beyond the gorgeous and calming images of humpback whales splashing off the Maui coast, Kapalua offered uneven lies, interesting shots and fun elements brought on by the ever-present winds. It had an identity which is more than you can say for some other Tour events that are still in existence.
It was easily a top-10 golf watch on the year for me each season.
As for the Sony Open, I will lament the loss of Waialae, a classic Seth Raynor design that frustrated and challenged players despite being fairly short without many obvious hazards.
The defense of the course is interesting angles and tricky green complexes, much better than thick rough. Waialae always felt old-school and timeless, like a tournament stuck in 1995. I mean that in the best way possible.
And for both of these tournaments, getting to watch late into the night on the east coast was phenomenal viewing. Dark and dreary winter nights were lit up by sunny views on our TV screens.
This is a massive bummer but a necessary move
I really wish we could have kept these two events on the calendar. I feel terrible for Mark Rolfing and everyone in Hawaii who has poured so much heart into these tournaments for decades.
But if you were starting the Tour schedule over from scratch with no previous context of past schedules, you wouldn’t say, “Hey, we should get everyone’s juices flowing with two events in Hawaii.” You would go to a place with crowd support. A place that feels big.
The season starting should be an event for golf fans. It should feel elevated.
Baseball rallies around opening day. Why can’t golf?
The answer in the past is that there are way too many tournaments. Golf is always on and there is no off-season so it’s hard to get everyone excited about each event.
The future schedule is showing more restraint. It will be more selective. Fewer events and a more defined window of time where fans should care about pro golf.
And there is a good chance LIV won’t exist by 2027 so there could be even more oxygen available for golf fans to gather around for the PGA Tour.
In summary, it stinks that the Hawaii events are gone. I will truly miss them.
But, it’s probably time for the Tour schedule to look and feel much different.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: The 18th hole at Kapalua. (GETTY IMAGES/Ben Jared)
