Maui’s Kapalua Resort Lands LPGA Event After Losing Its PGA Tour Stop

The Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort on Maui, which for years hosted a top PGA Tour event, in 2027 will host the LPGA’s LOTTE Championship.

Kapalua Resort

The Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course will serve as host of the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship starting in 2027, bringing a professional event back to the popular Maui property – as well as a much-needed economic boost — after the PGA Tour earlier this year opted to end its more than 50-year run of playing tournaments on the Hawaiian Islands.

The LOTTE Championship spent its first 14 years on the island of Oahu, including the past five years at the private Hoakalei Country Club just over 20 miles outside Honolulu.

The March 18-21 edition of the LOTTE Championship, which has a $3 million prize purse, will mark the first LPGA tournament held at the Kapalua Resort since the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic won by Morgan Pressel. From 1999 through 2025, Kapalua was the host of the PGA Tour’s first event of the calendar year but canceled the 2026 event due to water delivery issues on Maui and the tour later said it wouldn’t return to Hawaii at all in 2027 due in part to “logistical complexities” as it streamlined its schedule.

Getting a pro event back at Kapalua is a significant lift for the resort and region as Maui continues its recovery efforts following the 2023 Lahaina wildfires.

“This is huge news for Kapalua and West Maui,” Kapalua Golf and Tennis General Manager Alex Nakajima said via email. “This tournament will bring hundreds of people and requires thousands of rooms, which means every business on Maui will benefit. I’m happy to contribute and be a part of the rebuild process, (and we) couldn’t have done it without our ownership’s understanding and support.”

LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler said as the tour continues to strengthen its schedule, venues like Kapalua with “deep-rooted heritage” are exactly what it is looking for. The Plantation Course at Kapalua, the first design from the renowned team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is ranked 23^rd nationally in Golf Digest’s list of the Top 100 public courses in the U.S.

The Kapalua Resort is among 12 founding members of the Play Hawaii Golf alliance, an initiative launched in July in an effort to offset negative impacts of the PGA Tour eliminating both The Sentry and the Sony Open in Hawaii from its schedule. Golf has been a significant economic driver in Hawaii, contributing an estimated $3.4 billion annually to the state’s economy through direct, indirect and induced impacts. Golf tourism and related retail spending generate more than $1 billion per year, with the game supporting local businesses as well as the hospitality sector in Hawaii.

Ko Olina Golf Club on Oahu, the original site of the LOTTE Championship, is among the other resort properties that are part of Play Hawaii Golf, along with Turtle Bay on Oahu, Ka‘anapali and Wailea on Maui, Mauna Lani, Waikoloa, and Mauna Kea on the Big Island, Poipū Bay, Princeville Makai, and the Ocean Course at Hōkūala on Kauai, and Manele Golf Course on Lanai.

“Growing up in Hawaii, attending the LOTTE Championship was always a highlight for me,” said Allisen Corpuz, a Hawaiian native and the winner of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. “I think Kapalua is an incredible venue to showcase the beauty of Hawaii and everything that makes the islands so special.”

While not in the traditional winter window that the PGA Tour had, the return of professional golf to Kapalua and Maui comes as many parts of the continental U.S. will be just getting their recreational golf seasons underway.

“The golf course in March will be in prime condition (and) we are ready to showcase the Plantation Course to the world,” said Nakajima. “I’m excited also curious how best players from LPGA Tour will play the course.”

While the LOTTE Championship provides needed exposure on the resort side, the LPGA’s Nanea Cup (held the week prior) will offer the first televised look at one of the game’s most esteemed private clubs – as well as a $4 million purse.

Nanea Golf Club on the Big Island, which is ranked 59th on Golf Digest’s list of the Top 100 U.S. courses, will be the site of a first-of-its-kind competition that brings together 95 LPGA Tour players with 25 of the nation’s top collegiate golfers in an event intended to celebrate the present and future of women’s golf.

For the LPGA Tour, Hawaii is a natural stop as it returns from its Asian swing and heads to the West Coast.