Maui's Golf Coast 2007 - (Page 14) I t’s hard to keep your heart beating at a normal rate when you step foot on The Plantation Course. This is where David Duval played – and won – the PGA TOUR winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship when it made its Kapalua debut in 1999. Where Tiger Woods hoisted the champion’s trophy the following year, after beating Ernie Els in an exciting 2 hole playoff. Where Jim Furyk won with a 23-foot putt for birdie 14 16 17 Restroom 5 15 6 Driving Range Restroom 18 4 CLUBHOUSE 7 11 10 3 8 13 1 9 12 y. w iH n la i‘i ap o on H 1st hole of The Plantation Course 2 to break a tie with Rory Sabbatini and took the title in 2001. Where Sergio Garcia claimed victory in a playoff with David Toms in 2002. Where Ernie Els dominated the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Championship by eight shots over K.J. Choi and Rocco Mediate, and set a new scoring record with his 31-underpar performance. Where in 2004, Stuart Appleby won the Mercedes-Benz Championship by only one Hwy. Honoapi‘ilani shot ahead of Vijay Singh and this win was the biggest payday of his career. Appleby went on to defend his title in 2005 to become the first back-to-back winner in the tournament’s history. This is 2007 Mercedes-Benz Championship Winner Vijay Singh a course that tests the best of the best. But for the faint of heart, fear not. The Plantation Course is challenging, yes, but it’s immensely enjoyable for us amateurs as well. Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed the par 73, 7,263-yard Plantation Course on a grand scale using a 240-acre canvas of rolling hills and ravines and expansive fairways, greens and bunkers. Large landing areas offer a measure of forgiveness. Steep elevation changes, while psychologically intimidating, reward with panoramic vistas of the ocean, of Moloka‘i and Lana‘i, distant pineapple fields and some of the five bays carved into Kapalua’s shoreline. The challenges of The Plantation Course are in figuring out how the wind will affect your game and how to handle the course’s large sloping greens. Depending upon weather conditions, you could play the course day after day, each time differently. One suspects Coore and Crenshaw wanted to reward players who have ingenuity. Strategizing hole #3, for example, depends almost entirely on how the wind is blowing. One of the most difficult holes on the course, this 352-yard uphill par-4 normally 14
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