Putting In Paradise In Maui

Claude Brousseau smiles with confidence as an earlier prediction he made comes true with the first hint of a trade wind around 9:30 a.m. Brosseau may be a native of Montreal, but he knows his stuff about Maui.

Now a teaching professional at the Kapalua Golf Academy, Brosseau, who was named Golf Professional of the Year in 2008 by the PGA Aloha section, is offering local knowledge to another Canadian about to take on the nearby Plantation course.

Designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore the Plantation is home to the SBS Championship, the season-opening PGA Tour event that features the champions of tournaments from the previous year.

It’s hardly a champion who heads out this day to a course that is a par 73 for men and par 75 for women and stretches to 7,411 yards, while offering offering spectacular tropical backdrops for both memorable and forgettable shots.

The wide fairways of the Plantation can be deceiving due to the trade winds that can either get behind a memorable shot, or do everything possible to put the ball in a precarious situation.

Usually, the breezes have done both by the time you’ve reached the par five 18th hole which, at 663 yards from the tips, is one of the longest on tour, but not as menacing as its appearance.

The trick is to keep the ball low, so the gusts don’t control your shot as Brosseau demonstrates in a drill with a shortened follow-though and a club with less loft. It proves to be a helpful hint, not only in Kapalua, but also on other courses in this island paradise.

About 15 minutes down Hwy. 30 from Kapalua, the Kaanapali Golf Courses have hosted the Senior PGA Kaanapali Classic, the LPGA Tour’s Kemper Open, Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf and the Canada Cup, now known as the World Cup.

The Kaanapali Royal course is the work of Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and opened in 1962, but recently underwent a major renovation. We played the Kaanapali Kai South Course, which also underwent a facelift in 2005.

The Resort course lives up to its name. Stretching to 6,400 yards, it can be a fun day for all levels of golfers on land that once was the site of a plantation. A sugar cane train still chugs through at times as a tourist attraction on this picturesque course with magnificent mountain and ocean vistas.

Nearby, there is a distinct taste of Hawaii on a vibrant beachfront that buzzes in the evening near a collection of waterfront hotels, offering a taste of Hawaii that begins on the ride out along Hwy. 30, with soaring mountain peaks disappearing into low-hanging, misty clouds on one side and Pacific waves lapping onto the beach on the other.

Whether your drive is from behind a steering wheel or off the tee, you’re sure to be surrounded by spectacular scenery.