So there we have it. The PGA finally decided to move the PGA Grand Slam of Golf off of the Island of Kauai with a tradition thats been had for over a decade now.

Talk about a major blow for the economy of the Island. But, it seems too many major events are being moved off the neighbor islands. The Hula Bowl from Kahului/Wailuku back to Honolulu. And, now the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from Kauai to the Bahamas.

Full story here: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Dec/06/br/br0642795831.html

We've known this was likely to happen for the past two years, so it comes as no surprise whatsoever. It was good financially for Kauai for visibility reasons and because it brought lots of people in the otherwise slow late fall season.

I'm not sure about all the factors, but among them I'd guess that they had difficulties negotiating a workable situation going forward with the Takanaka's who own the Hyatt.

I'm not sure about all the factors, but among them I'd guess that they had difficulties negotiating a workable situation going forward with the Takanaka's who own the Hyatt.
Well that's a shame. On the bright side, at least Maui still has a Pro tourney and Oahu with the Sony Open. So Hawaii hasn't left the PGA's mind completely.

... So Hawaii hasn't left the PGA's mind completely.

I doubt it ever will. They'd probably have dozens of pros screaming about taking Hawaii off of the schedule. The only thing better than a vacation in Hawaii is a fully deductible vacation in Hawaii.

I doubt it ever will. They'd probably have dozens of pros screaming about taking Hawaii off of the schedule. The only thing better than a vacation in Hawaii is a fully deductible vacation in Hawaii.
:D Good point.

And, we've got some great courses here, especially on Maui that the PGA can't help but utilize, IMHO.

Too bad about the Grand Slam leaving Kauai. There are still a couple events on Maui and one on the Big Island.

In addition to the PGA Sony Open already mentioned, the PGA also has a tournament at Kapalua. The Champions tour (i.e. "seniors") typically features three weeks in Hawaii (tournaments at Hualalai on the BI and Turtle Bay on Oahu, and a few of them also participate in a "skins" game at Wailea). And in 2006, the ladies tour had a couple tournaments on Oahu.

In February 2005, I watched the final round of the tournament at Hualalai and thoroughly enjoyed it. Landed at KOA Sunday morning and within a couple of hours, paid my $10 entry fee and proceeded to stand by the 16th green the rest of the day watching a lot of excellent players.

riftime

Actually we thought last year (2005) was going to be the 'last' grand slam even on Kaua'i.

In year's prior the PGA had ended the awards speach by saying 'see you next year' something they didn't do in 2005. A few days later however, they annonced Kaua'i for "one more time in 2006". All the chat at the time was about how much more money could be generated elsewhere for the PGA . . . the speculation had been that it would be Las Vegas that won the slam - a simple matter of money.

I'm not so sure that the loss is any great blow to the island however. In most years the slam has been during t'giving week when the hotels would be fully booked either with or without the event, so financially it might not mean much.

I do wonder however whether anyone in the PGA considered the fact that a certain 6 time winner by the name of Woods is obligated to an Asian tournament the week prior.

Many, many times in the past Tiger has arrived on Kaua'i on Pro-Am Monday and basically walked on the course cold after flying 10+ hours. One wonders whether can make it to the Carribean for the revised venue?

My guess, if Tiger takes a pass on a couple of 'slams you'll see it back in the islands PDQ. ;)

Yes, of course, I make the not too provocative assumption that Woods will continue to qualify for the slam. :rolleyes:

Lihue1k

www.pga.com/news/pganews/pgamedianewsletter/bermuda120606.cfm

www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2007/index.html

Woods wins...

He did win the PGA Championship this weekend.

The PGA Grand Slam, which moves from Kaua'i to Bermuda this year, takes place in October.

It may not be Hawaii but the Grand Slam is coming up and I saw that there is a cardmember offer on MembershipRewards.com/exclusives. It was 325k points but nows its down to 150k points for flights (jet blue), hotel (fairmont) and course access for 2 people.

Pretty Cool

Tiger Woods is NOT playing.

"Masters Champion Zach Johnson, U.S. Open Champion Angel Cabrera, British Open Champion Padraig Harrington and 2003 U.S. Open Champion Jim Furyk will compete in the 25th PGA Grand Slam of Golf, Oct. 16-17, at Mid Ocean Club and Fairmount Southampton Hotel in Tucker's Town, Bermuda. This is the first PGA Grand Slam of Golf to be conducted outside the United States."

www.pga.com/news/pganews/pgamedianewsletter/slam100907.cfm

I am involved with the TV production of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. I'm actually off to Bermuda today, as the event is next week.

The original concept of the PGA Grand Slam was that it would move every year, like the US Open, sowing the seeds of golf like Johnny Appleseed. However, both Turner Sports and top players in general really grew to like the Poipu course and the Grand Hyatt, and it fit in well with the PGA schedule (participating players - as Lihue1K stated in a previous post - were often committed to playing an event in Japan the week before), so it stayed on Kaua'i for a long time.

Last year, the event reached a new level: TNT execs moved the broadcast into prime time, and it was shown live for the first time since I've been involved (hence the later tee times). However, the past few years, player commitment slipped for various reasons (Mickleson, Els, and Goosens all turned down invitations last year) and in several recent years TV wasn't terribly satisfied with their field.

Bermuda had been knocking on the door for years with significant cash and a very telegenic venue, so really, a combination of factors contributed to the decision to finally move the event. It's definitely not a slight toward Kaua'i or The Hyatt Poipu (it was a terrific spot) and I wouldn't be surprised to see it come back at some point.

We'll see how it goes in Bermuda. The time zone definitely precludes a prime time broadcast. Certainly, with all due respect to Mr. Furyk, Woods dropping out hasn't been a good start, but it sounds like Tiger would have bagged this year no matter what the venue or date. It'll be interesting from a production standpoint, as TNT & PGA have really shuffled the cards. There are so many factors that go into making a good broadcast, they'll just have to play it and see how it rolls.

Just returned from the 2007 PGA Grand Slam in Bermuda.

The Mid-Ocean Club is - amazingly - an even more beautiful and glamorous venue than the Grand Hyatt Poipu. It's a very exclusive private club, and such high-profile members as Michael Bloomberg and Michael Douglas added a bit of star power to the event. Douglas and his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, played in the Pro-Am.

Bermuda has a population of around 60,000 people, and 7,000 bought tickets to the golf, so that's an indication of the huge amount of local support.

Bermudian Premier Ewart Brown described the tournament as "the greatest sporting triumph in the history of the country", and "the best decision ever made by the Bermuda Board of Tourism". Note that Premier Brown is not only head of the Bermudian government, but also the head of the Bermuda Board of Tourism, so read those quotes knowing that the whole deal was his baby, and that he essentially wrote the check.

On the downside, the venue is cramped when compared to the sprawling grounds of the Grand Hyatt Poipu. From a production standpoint, the course presents many more technical challenges. The terrain is very hilly - almost mountainous - and 100% of the high ground is occupied by sprawling mansions on private property, so placement of the microwave infrastructure wasn't optimal. The Poipu course, on the other hand, had a total verticality of about 20m, one antenna array mounted on one portable crane easily covered every inch of the course.

On paper the Mid-Ocean course is not a big challenge for the world's top 4 golfers, but course rules state "there is no out of bounds", and the broadcast was spiced up by several situations where one player or another was forced to hack an errant tee shot out of some $25 million villa's vegetable garden. Angel Cabrera made the mistake of using a golf club instead of a machete to play his 2nd shot on the 1st hole of round 2 from a section of deep mangrove jungle, resulting in a triple bogey.

Just returned from the 2007 PGA Grand Slam in Bermuda.

Hey, thanks for that update. It was very interesting to read about this from a "behind-the-scenes" perspective! ^

Do you think this event will stay in Bermuda now? Will it continue to be a successful event?

Do you think this event will stay in Bermuda now?

Bermuda's contract is for two years. The 2008 event will definitely return to Bermuda.

Oh yeah - two more things regarding Bermuda which may be of interest to my friends & neighbors here in the Hawai'ian Islands:

1) In Bermuda, gasoline costs $8.50 a gallon.

2) Bermuda has no ferries, "super" or otherwise.

I, for one, am glad it moved from Hawaii for purely selfish reasons.

This will be the second trip around the time of the Grand Slam and I'm sure the hotel will be a lot more peaceful and upgrades plentiful.

It's bad for the hotel, since the tourny filled up the hotel in the slow time before Thanksgiving, but this tourist is happy.

As for Bermuda, it is overpriced AND overrated and nothing at all like any of the Hawaiian islands.

1) In Bermuda, gasoline costs $8.50 a gallon.
:eek: :eek: