Marriott International Inc. will give up management of the Ko Olina Golf Club Dec. 27 when its contract runs out but all 92 employees have been told their jobs are safe. Ko Olina Resort will manage the course itself, said John Toner, resort vice president. New management
at Ko Olina clubAll employees will be retained
as operations shift from
Marriott to Ko Olina ResortBy Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com"It will be a seamless transition. We just decided at this time that we wanted to operate the course ourselves," Toner said. On Jan. 1, the workers will become employees of the resort, he said.
Toner also announced that Greg Nichols, longtime golf pro at the Waialae Country Club, will become the Ko Olina club's pro on Dec. 1. "We're very excited about Greg," Toner said.
A partnership of the resort's developer, Ko Olina Co. LLC, and the local Hui family bought the 18-hole golf course from Japan Air Lines in 1999. At the same time, JAL sold the 387-room Ihilani Resort & Spa to a separate partnership of Ko Olina Co. and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance.
Marriott International, which was already developing a $250 million time-share complex on the Ko Olina waterfront was brought in to manage the golf course and the hotel, now called the Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina.
The management change does not affect the hotel, which will continue to be managed and marketed by Marriott.
Stan Brown, Marriott vice president for the Pacific Islands area, said the golf course owners wanted to keep it independent of the hotel and the other operations at Ko Olina, but told him they will keep the course operating as usual.