Ka’anapali Golf Resort Named No. 11 Best Tour Course You Can Play By Golfweek

Chris Bereznay

Posted 2009-04-29

(LAHAINA, HI) – Ka’anapali Golf Resort’s Royal Ka’anapali Course – managed by Billy Casper Golf – was named the No. 11 “Best Tour Course You Can Play” by Golfweek in its just-released rankings, putting the celebrated layout in the top 83 percent of all Tour hosts. This puts the Royal Ka’anapali Course in elite company with other famous courses on the Golfweek list: Pebble Beach Golf Links (CA), 2009 U.S. Open host Bethpage Black (NY), 2008 U.S. Open host Torrey Pines (CA), Cog Hill No. 4 (IL), Bay Hill Lodge & Club (FL), Harbour Town Golf Links (SC) and TPC Sawgrass (FL).

“We’re proud to receive this exceptional ranking from a prominent industry publication,” says Ed Kageyama, PGA General Manager of Ka’anapali. “Putting the Royal Ka’anapali Course on the same footing as other top-tier courses validates our recent $13 million renovation and repositioning of the resort; the classic layout and impeccable playing conditions gives golfers an experience they’ll always remember.”

Golfweek’s second annual "Best Tour Courses You Can Play" guide – tallied by hundreds of Golfweek raters – ranks the best public-access courses played on the PGA, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA tours in 2008-2009. The Royal Course recently hosted – for the second year – the Wendy’s Champions KINS Game; Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw teamed-up and took home a record $530,000 during the two-day event. The Royal Ka’anapali Course, a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design, opened in 1962 and has tested the skills of professional and amateur golfers. A par-71, 6,700-yard layout, the Royal Course combines wide fairways and undulating greens, making it distinctive, demanding and exciting, hole to hole. With more than 45 years of tournament history, the Royal Course has hosted many of golf’s greatest legends: Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Jan Stephenson and Nancy Lopez. The resort underwent a $13 million renovation in 2005-2006 and was given a 4.5-star rating (out of five) by Golf Digest in the magazine’s recent “Best Places to Play” guide. Ka’anapali was selected by The Golf Channel to host “Big Break Ka’anapali” that aired April through July 2008.

For more information about Ka’anapali or to reserve a tee time, visit www.kaanapaligolfresort.com or call 808.661.3691