Humbly Prosperous with Ed Kageyama
Ed Kageyama
General Manager
Pearl at Kalauao, Aiea Hawaii
The Troon Value that resonates with me is “Humbly Prosperous”. I believe growth is a continuum, not a destination. Nor is it defined as good or bad, successful or unsuccessful. Therefore, if I continually focus on the process of growth, then I naturally remain humble. I don’t feel I’m necessarily “prosperous” in the financial sense, but I do feel prosperous in the sense of the relationships I have, the level of satisfaction and gratitude I have for what I do and the role I play at Pearl at Kalauao.
Q: How and when did you first get into the golf game?
A: I first started playing golf when I was 10 years old by going to the driving range with my father. It was simply quality time, he never pushed me to “get good” or play tournament golf. He let me take it at whatever pace I wanted to take it. I think it is because he didn’t push me, and that he let me push myself that then, I was doing it for me and not for any other reason.
Q: Describe your career progression with Troon and how many years have you worked for the company?
A: I started with what is now a division of Troon in 1996 – I believe we had about 15 courses in the portfolio at that time. I’ve had a great experience with the company; learned a lot (still learning), was given a lot of growth opportunities, was allowed the latitude to stretch myself but to also make mistakes. I was given the ability to take on new challenges and push my professional boundaries. In total I’ve worked for the company for about 23 years, spanning 28 years overall.
My career with Indigo, a division of now Troon, has been a series of unique projects that spanned new construction, foreclosure/receiverships, renovations, repositioning assets in the marketplace, TV projects, Champions Tour events, asset rebranding, and business development in foreign countries to name a few.
The first project I did with the company was a foreclosure/receivership project where the lender was foreclosing on the golf course owner, and we were hired by the court-appointed receiver to operate the course while it was going through the court process. This was my first true GM/DOG job and was literally “trial by fire”. It was difficult, high stakes, contentious but provided a lot of growth and learning opportunities in a short period of time.
Early into the new millennium, I started another foreclosure/receivership project with the company. This “temporary” project lasted nearly 15 years for me where I was the General Manager on site at Ka’anapali, as well as taking on a regional role with the other Indigo-managed properties across the state. This project afforded the most learning opportunity for me and really expanded my skillset. Some of the projects and events we were able to execute were a major golf course and clubhouse renovation, launch a new brand and logo for Ka’anapali.
The renovation allowed us to create Ka’anapali as a new “product” in the marketplace. Some of the rebranding elements included Golf Channel’s “Big Break Ka’anapali”, Champions Tour Wendy’s Skins Game, a Huey Lewis Concert, Hawaii Food Festival, and an NCAA DI tournament featuring some of the top collegiate teams in the nation, to name a few.
Additionally, during this tenure, I was allowed to pursue business development opportunities in Asia, a new market for Indigo at the time. This opportunity allowed me to learn about golf markets outside of the US, the business models they use, methods to attract play and to learn what they value and prioritize in their businesses and how they differ from the US model. Some of the markets we were able to work in were China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In 2019, I started a project with Indigo at Pearl Country Club, located on the island of Oahu. Pearl was under a 45-year ground lease to Mr. Honda, the founder of Honda Motors. The ground lease was to terminate in late 2020 and we were retained by the landowner to operate the facility directly for the landowner, a 140-year-old trust that was founded by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a descendant of King Kamehameha I.
Currently, we are in the midst of a full course and clubhouse renovation including new irrigation system, 20 redesigned and rebuilt green complexes, development of a short-game training facility, new kitchens for restaurant and banquet operations, increase of about 30% more seating capacity for F&B operations, and a new logo/brand. We plan to reopen in Fall 2024.
Q: What do you do in your daily job or life to inspire player development, be it new people to the game or expanding on their experience/skillset?
A: At Pearl, we have an extensive player development program. The junior golf program has about 200 kids enrolled, we host nine high schools for their practices and prior to shutting down for renovations, we hosted five high school tournaments, the Drive, Chip & Putt Oahu qualifier, PGA Junior Championship, Junior World Qualifier, among other junior tournaments.
I personally am the head coach for Hawaii Pacific University’s men’s and women’s golf teams, an NCAA DII program. After having developed a successful high school golf program on island, I am trying to do the same at the college level. My goal at the high school and college level is the same, to create opportunities for our keiki (children) through the game of golf.
We view Pearl as a vertical player facility where we can take a junior new to golf and service them all the way up to college golf and beyond. The goal is for Pearl to be a center for learning.
Q: What is one thing that you want your students/new players to focus on when they play/practice?
A: The one thing that I want our students to learn is, good golf is not a destination. It’s a continuum and process of learning. We all want to be “good”, but we need to learn the process of playing good quality golf. If they view golf as a process of learning, then playing golf allows for experimentation, adventure and a growth mindset.
Q: What are some programs that you have created at facilities that helps to drive new people to the game of golf?
A: I’ve always wanted to address the hurdles that people have to starting to play golf: time, money, people to play with, etc. The programs I like to create address one or more of the hurdles. If the issue is money and lack of people to play with, then we create group lessons. If they hurdle was time, we created Play My Way where a golfer could buy 18-holes of golf but consume them over a week or so. Therefore, they could play 3 holes one day, 6 holes the next time, etc.
One of the more popular programs we created on Maui (that has now expanded to other Troon courses) was FIT Club, a golf program that was focused on frequency. The FIT Club was set up like a gym membership, the golfers paid a monthly fee which allowed them to play (walking) as often as they wanted (after 4p) during the month. This was marketed as a fitness program as opposed to a golf program but the influx of rounds resulted in additional shop sales and F&B sales.
Q: What is one life lesson you have learned either from the game or golf business that you don’t mind sharing?
A: To have gratitude. Golf has allowed me to do some really cool stuff and to travel all over the US and Asia. Be it “Big Break Ka’anapali”, witnessing one of our high school players win the US Women’s Open or travelling to remotes part of China, golf has provided me a lifetime of experiences.
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