WAILUA — Kaua‘i Police Department investigators are trying to determine whether vandals or a single vandal sprayed grass at seven greens at the Wailua Golf Course to cause damage or to make threats against golf course Superintendent Ed Okamoto. On
WAILUA — Kaua‘i Police Department investigators are trying to determine whether vandals or a single vandal sprayed grass at seven greens at the Wailua Golf Course to cause damage or to make threats against golf course Superintendent Ed Okamoto.
On at least one of the greens and one tee box were found the words “Ed Sucks.”
Herbicides, possibly discharged through a tube sprayer towed around the greens, may have been used to cause the greens to turn brown.
“They were going around (the greens). And it was a good statement about a man they disliked, I believe,” said William Stanphill, a regular golfer at the county municipal golf course. “It is somebody who worked for Ed, and had a misunderstanding that made him very mad.”
Stanphill said he believed the work was a statement made toward Okamoto. “Ed seems to be in charge, and it (the vandalism) is direct to this Ed,” he said.
If anything, Okamoto has done a “real good job with the course,” Stanphill said. “This course has been run well, even though there was the tool-shed fire (at the golf course in recent months).”
Okamoto was off-island yesterday and was not available for comment. He won’t return to the island until tomorrow, Thursday, July 21.
KPD officers were notified of the damage, and began their investigation earlier this month.
The remaining 11 greens on the 18-hole course remained untouched as of yesterday, Tuesday, July 19. No additional security has been set up to prevent a reoccurrence of the vandalism, as there are many ways to enter the grounds of the golf course.
The damage may cause patronage at the facility to drop, affecting revenues to the county, one frequent golfer said. “It could cost them a lot of business,” said Jim Geddes, a resident of Lawa‘i and a “regular” at the golf course.
Residents and visitors routinely play at the golf course, in part because of relatively low greens fees and a challenging golf configuration.
Geddes said it may cost county officials $200,000 to repair the damage. An estimate of the damages from county officials or KPD sources was not available yesterday.
“It could cost $25,000 to replace each green,” said Geddes, who has played golf for 56 years. “I have played at courses in Colorado and Washington state. And that is what it cost to replace a green over there.”
Geddes said it was his belief the vandalism occurred sometime last week.
“Last Tuesday (July 12), I first saw the two greens, (holes) 8 and 9, damaged. It looked like paint was sprayed on the greens in swath. Then it looked like somebody was trying to wipe it away.”
Geddes said he and his wife, Fay, routinely play at the golf course, and that the damaged greens are a “distraction” that takes some of the fun away from the game.
Geddes said he will probably “skip a few games” when and if repairs take place.
A temporary option that would work while the repairs go on would be to “mow a fairway and make it into a putting green,” Geddes said.
Robert Yoshida, operator of OPT, a computer shop in Lihu‘e, his daughter Kari Yoshida, a Kaua‘i High School graduate, and Stanphill, who checks in golfers at Kukuiolono Park Golf Course in Kalaheo, said the damage repulsed them.
“I think whoever did this is awful stupid,” Robert Yoshida said. “The person is retaliating against a person at this golf course. They are punishing hundreds of people (golfers). It is ugly.”
Kari Yoshida said she was visiting her father, and was stunned by the damage. “I came here expecting nothing like this,” she said. “What happened to the aloha spirit?”
Stanphill said the greens were starting to get in top shape before the damage.
“It bothers me to see this,” he said. “Word of the damage has gotten around to all the golf courses on the island.”
The Wailua Golf Course was named as one of the 10 best municipal golf courses by Golf magazine in the 1980s, and county officials played host to several National Public Links championships.
The condition of the course plummeted due to an aging irrigation system, which was replaced during the administration of former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka at a cost of more than $2 million.
The work helped bring the heavily-used facility back to top shape, and helped to rebuild its reputation as being among the best government-managed golf courses in Hawai‘i, if not in the country, Kaua‘i County officials have said.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
