PRINCEVILLE — Golfing enthusiasts peppered the driving range Saturday during the Prince Course demo day. “It has been pretty steady all day,” said Steve Murphy, the Prince Course director of golf. TJ Baggett, the general manager for the Princeville Golf
PRINCEVILLE — Golfing enthusiasts peppered the driving range Saturday during the Prince Course demo day.
“It has been pretty steady all day,” said Steve Murphy, the Prince Course director of golf.
TJ Baggett, the general manager for the Princeville Golf Club, said what a lot of people don’t realize thedrving range’s dual life
“From 4 p.m., the driving range becomes the Mini Prince,” Baggett said. “We put in six holes with eight-inch cups, on a Par 3, and after the driving range closes, people can play on the Mini Prince. Steve and I go out there and it’s a blast.”
Murphy, the 2010 Aloha PGA Section Golf Professional of the Year and Merchandiser of the Year for Resort Facilities, the 2012 Section President’s Plaque recipient, and two-time Section Horton Smith Trophy winner, said the Prince Course was looking for a way to promote playing golf to new golfers.
“This is for everyone, from juniors to adults,” Murphy said. “The Mini Prince is where we hold our junior golf classes and lessons.”
Murphy said once the driving range closes, it re-opens as the Mini Prince with six holes, par 3. Holes range from 65 to 91 yards in length, and play is for both resort, or local play.
Charge is $15 for adults, and children accompanying the adults play for free, Baggett said of the Mini Prince course, which opened on April 1. For children who come on their own, there is a fee of $5, but golf clubs are available.
“This encourages kids to join their dad or mom for a few holes in the afternoon to get a feel for what it’s like to play on a golf course,” Murphy said. “For our local junior students, the Mini Prince is an opportunity for us to provide on-course instruction without tying up any holes on the Prince Course.”
Murphy said they will be starting a Get Golf Ready program for adults in the near future with the Mini Prince serving the same way as it does for the juniors.
The director of golf at the Prince Course said most of the Mini Prince work was done with its own maintenance staff adding one new green and upgrading the five existing target greens to roll smoothly.
Concrete slabs were poured and artificial turf tees with yardage markers were added to complete the Mini Prince layout.
The 18-hole, par 72 Prince Golf Course, named for Prince Albert, the son of Hawaii’s King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, has been ranked as Golf Digest’s No. 1 Golf Course in Hawaii, and one of America’s Top 100 Greatest Courses by several of golf’s top publications.
Coming up on the Prince Golf Course calendar is The “Prince” Invitational, which will be contested July 6 and 7. The event is open to all amateur and professional golfers.
Visit www.princeville.com, or call 826-5001 for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
