KAPAAU — With the closing of Waimea Country Club in 2012, and Big Island Country Club planning to go private in the foreseeable future, affordable golf options for North Hawaii locals and juniors have become few and far between.
In response, 12 community members banded together in January to discuss restoring the former 6-hole King Kamehameha Golf Center in Kapaau. Now renamed Kohala Golf Park, it is a North Kohala Community Resource Center (NKCRC) sponsored project.
Neglected since closing last September, the course was overgrown with grass and weeds, in desperate need of mowing, weed cutting and general maintenance. The community volunteer committee created a priority list to tackle the project.
The first order of business was contacting the foundation of the United Church of Christ, which owns the land.
“They agreed to lease the property to me on June 7 for two years under the name Kohala Golf Park,” Deborah Imonti Watson said, the golf park’s project leader.
The next step was a first stab at returning the land to its original golfing state.
“We immediately started collecting donations to begin mowing,” she said. “We had grass in some places up to my waste.”
A first cut was completed earlier this month.
“We had to spend $2,000 on the first mowing and need to keep it maintained,” Watson said. “We will need a second mowing in the next week or so, focusing on the rough.”
Bigger obstacles now stand in their way: the equipment used to mow the course is no longer available.
“We’re scrambling. We have one volunteer with his own mower who is willing to maintain the fairways for the time being,” she said. “It’s a grassroots operation.”
Harry Taylor, another committee member, started a GoFundMe campaign June 10.
“We need to raise money now to get equipment, such as a fairway mower and greens mower,” he said. “These retail around $5,000-$12,000 each. We also desperately need a cargo container, like the 24-foot Matson type, to help store equipment.”
As of Friday, only $1,000 had been raised online, in addition to other monies received through NKCRC and vouchers sold at Takata K Store on June 17.
“We have a list of things golf courses or others could donate such as a hand mower, gas, weed whackers, a fairway mower, greens mower, ride-on mower, utility vehicle and a hole cutter for the greens,” Watson said. “We’ve all spent a lot of our own money to make this possible and want to keep the momentum going.”
Plans also include expanding the course into a family-friendly, 9-hole par 3 set up. The committee continues to work on details for the course’s future management.
Taylor taught summer golf camp for kids at the course last summer.
“Golf teaches kids honesty, responsibility and respect for others,” he said. “It’s a game they can play for a lifetime.”
A work party was held at Kohala Golf Park on Saturday to continue removing debris and broken equipment. Volunteers used gloves, large trash cans and equipment to take items left on the property to the transfer station. Efforts are ongoing.
“Phase II of our cleanup will probably be sometime in the next few weeks to fix the toilet, and replace doors and rusted equipment, bringing the facility back to its former state,” Watson said. “I’m hoping Home Depot or Lowe’s can provide the doors and toilet. We also need small windows. We’re looking for anyone who has these items and can donate them.”
The committee is still optimistic.
“We plan to open by August,” Watson said. “I am very hopeful, but the setback of the mowers has put us in a full ‘all hands on deck’ mode.”
Volunteers say they won’t be dissuaded.
“I want to get kids back golfing again in Kohala,” Taylor said. “Keep the faith. We’ll get it done with support from residents in North Hawaii.”
Donations can be made to Kohala Golf Park anytime at www.gofundme.com/kohalagolfpark and through NKCRC. For more information, contact Deborah at 880-1550 or 949-466-0008.