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Sports Watch
HAWAII might never become a golf mecca such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst or St. Andrew's. GOLF WATCH
Hawaii has golf-
boom potentialRight now, it's a warm-weather resort destination with a lot of great golf courses, such as Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Orlando and Las Vegas.
But Hawaii has a shot at becoming a golf destination such as Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Palm Springs and Scottsdale, according to speakers from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
If you think about it, wouldn't you rather be visiting Hawaii than, say, Bermuda or Florida?
Mark Rolfing, the HTA events chairman, might be prejudiced, but he just spent several weeks in Florida and couldn't wait to get back home to Maui.
"Florida can't compare to our resorts," Rolfing said "There's a unique asset we have that's underutilized. It's our aloha spirit."
Rolfing, David Preece, the HVCB vice president for North America, and Gov. Ben Cayetano were guest speakers at the second annual golf conference sponsored by the Aloha Section PGA in conjunction with its hall of fame induction ceremony Monday.
Preece cited Hawaii as a place to enjoy a unique golf experience and said there's a need to get more of the seven million visitors annually playing golf.
Right now, only about 12 percent of the U.S. visitors come here primarily to play golf. Studies show 55 percent do golf, but it's not the sole motivating reason for visiting.
"People want to come here whether they golf or not," Preece said.
But he feels, with Hawaii's great year-round weather and highly rated resort courses, there's no reason why more visitors shouldn't come here with golf as the main reason.
As it is now, the golf industry has a one billion-dollar economic impact in Hawaii, according to Rolfing.
There's still a huge growth potential. The key to making it work is for all of the resorts to "think Hawaii" and not just their own resort, he added. "The goal is to expand visitor expenditure, not the amount of visitors."
And while the green fees at Hawaii's resort courses are comparable nationally, he said there's a need to give visitors a value for their money, besides making them feel like they are truly our guests.
While both Rolfing and Preece looked to visitors from the west, Cayetano was looking the other way, to Asia, as he proclaimed. "Hawaii - the Golf Capital of the Pacific."
He cited China's 1.2 billion population as a vast pool of future golfers. Also, visitors from Japan, where the extent of the game for most is limited to the driving range. Hawaii could be their golf destination.
Rolfing brought out the most intriguing idea at the conference. He feels Oahu needs a major, TPC-type, 36-hole facility in order to attract an international event such as the World Golf Championship or the President's Cup.
That might be a long-range dream, but it's an idea definitely worth pursuing.
COMING AND GOING:
Long-time Kaluakoi golf director Ben Neeley has joined AmFac's Golf Division and will help oversee the company's Royal Kaanapali and Waikele golf courses. Ray DeMello will remain as Kaanapali's director of golf, and Mel Nagata will continue to be in the same role at Waikele.
