Of Golf and Hawai'i

I've been watching the Mercedes Benz Championship this weekend. I'm an obsessive fan of Golf, even though I only learned the game myself a few months ago. This particular tournament is played at the Plantation course at the Kapalua resort on Maui. The views on the TV have me longing to return to the islands. Our next trip, planned for April, seems so far away.

But as I think about the relationship between Hawai'i and Golf, I have some reservations. After the first westerners arrived in the islands, it took just a scant 200 years or so before most Hawaiian lands fell into the hands of non-Hawaiians. Depending upon your frame of reference, the presence of large resorts on the islands can be seen as a harsh reminder of this simple fact. Indeed, my own piece of paradise is situated square in the middle of large resort on Hawai'i island (referring to it as the "Big Island" is no longer the preferred convention). 

The Kapalua course on Maui is built upon plowed-under pineapple fields, whereas the courses at the Waikoloa Resort on Hawai'i are carved out of harsh lava desert. I feel a little better about this. The resorts of the Kohala Coast, which receive only 10 inches of rainfall per year, are fine examples of terra-forming. The barren rock is bulldozed, broken up and pulverized into rich volcanic soil. Irrigation moistens the soil and all manner of plants are brought in, most of which you would have to live on the east side of the island to see otherwise. Then the birds and animals come and you wind up with an complete ecosystem based entirely on the electronically controlled valves that open up at night, bringing life-giving water to an otherwise dry land. Of course, this brings other ethical considerations into play, namely that water is a scarce resource and pumping it up from an increasingly strained aquifer so as to create gardens in the desert may not be its best use. 

Still, I can think of worse uses of this land than golf courses. All of these courses embrace the natural topography, flora and fauna of the islands. My love of the game can't allow me to believe this is a bad thing. Indeed, the Hawaiian people have historically been both inclusive and welcoming both to foreigners and to new ideas. I'm sure the kings of old would not be entirely pleased with some of the sites on which these courses sit today, but I'm guessing they would have built a few somewhere. After all, these smart people would have recognized that, unlike almost any other sport, Golf is characterized by lot of aloha for the 'aina. I like to think this is something golfers and Hawaiians have in common.

I suppose that the message in all of this is that nothing about Hawai'i is as simple as it seems from the lobby of your hotel or the lanai of your condo. The land, the people, and the relationship between both and the outsiders that have shaped these islands since the 18th century are complex and worthy of our consideration.