Shark bites on new golf tournament

Before a bank of cameras and about 250 people, including two former Hawaii governors, Pacific Links Hawaii officially launched its new brand and a new senior golf tournament Monday. The $1.8 million Pacific Links Hawaii Championship will be Sept. 14-16 at Kapolei Golf Course.

Greg Norman, golf ambassador for Pacific Links International, came to the press conference at The Plaza Club while on a layover between Asia and his Florida home. He said he will play in the full-field event. The 57-year-old Australian has made just 11 Champions Tour appearances since turning 50. He has won 91 tournaments worldwide — including the first PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay (1994) — and designed The Experience at Koele on Lanai.

"Part of my responsibility is to see the game grow and give back to the Champions Tour," Norman said. "This is just a start."

Norman said there was discussion about Pacific Links sponsoring a senior event when he came on board 16 months ago.

Pacific Links Hawaii (formerly Hawaiian Golf Properties) chief operating officer Micah Kane said on Monday that "60 days ago this was just a discussion. Now it’s a reality."

Kapolei should not need long to get its game face on. The site was home to the LPGA Ladies Hawaiian Open from 1996 to 2001. The course is owned by PCI, which has eight courses in Hawaii, Nevada and West Virginia, and a 27-hole golf club in Tianjin, China. The group also owns Makaha East and West and leases the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club.

Norman is working on renovations at Makaha West, which is scheduled to reopen in 2014 and will probably host the senior tournament in the future.

The event will be the only Champions Tour event in September and Norman believes it is well positioned.

It comes after the majors and six weeks before the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup. And, he says, September is a time when the Golf Channel "is dying for content" and tourism is usually down.

Norman characterized Hawaii as the "Asia-Pacific hub for golf and tourism in general." He also called golf the "healthiest I’ve ever seen it on a global basis," with its popularity in Asia and inclusion in the 2016 Olympics.

The tournament winner earns an invitation to the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric at Hualalai for two years. It is the only other senior event in Hawaii now, since the Senior Skins and Turtle Bay Championship left.

Pacific Links International is a Canadian-owned "golf course investment company with reciprocal club access as a primary feature." Kane said the Hawaii branch strives to "elevate the quality of golf in Hawaii while promoting golf tourism and strengthening the local economy." The parent company is owned by Du Sha, a Canadian citizen and founder of the 97-store Home World Group.