Saturday night's Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival dinner at the Sheraton on Kāʻanapali Beach is listed at $300 a ticket, and it is already marked sold out. Two days later, at 8:30 on Monday morning, Royal Kāʻanapali Golf Course opens the first round of a three-day college tournament to anyone willing to walk the course. Twenty Division I men's teams will play, and the ticket price is zero.
Kaanapali's busiest week of the fall runs on that split. The ticketed events are mostly gone. What is left, and what you can still plan around, is a full week of free events within walking distance of Whalers Village and the golf courses. Here is the week in order, starting today, Thursday, October 22.
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Oct 23 | Roy Yamaguchi Golf Classic, 11:30 a.m. shotgun | Kāʻanapali Golf Course and Roy's Kāʻanapali | Waitlist |
| Fri, Oct 23 | Courtyard movie, Hocus Pocus | Whalers Village ʻOhana Courtyard | Free |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Hula Dancing, 11 a.m. to noon | Whalers Village ʻOhana Courtyard | Free |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Caviar, Pearls & Aphrodisiacs, 6–9 p.m. | Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa | $300, sold out |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Courtyard movie, Frankenweenie | Whalers Village ʻOhana Courtyard | Free |
| Sun, Oct 25 | No EGGScuses, Let's Brunch!, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows | $150, 21+ |
| Sun, Oct 25 | Courtyard movie, Hocus Pocus | Whalers Village ʻOhana Courtyard | Free |
| Mon–Wed, Oct 26–28 | Kāʻanapali Classic by OUTRIGGER, 8:30 a.m. shotgun daily | Royal Kāʻanapali Golf Course | Free for walking spectators |
| Tue, Oct 27 | Junior Golf Clinic, 3–4 p.m., RSVP | Driving range | Free |
| Fri, Oct 30 | Courtyard movie, The Addams Family | Whalers Village ʻOhana Courtyard | Free |
| Sat, Oct 31 | ʻOhanaween, 4–7 p.m. | Throughout Whalers Village | Free |
The Ticketed Weekend Is Mostly Spoken For
The Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival comes to Kaanapali this weekend, and most of the doors are already closed. The 28th Annual Roy Yamaguchi Golf Classic tees off Friday at Kāʻanapali Golf Course and moves to Roy's Kāʻanapali. Registration opens at 10 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 11:30 a.m., but entry is through a waitlist. On Saturday night, Caviar, Pearls & Aphrodisiacs fills the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa from 6 to 9 p.m. Its $300 general admission tickets are sold out, and a waitlist is open.
The one ticket still listed for sale is Sunday's No EGGScuses, Let's Brunch! at Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. General admission is $150, and it is 21 and over.
None of the weekend's free events need a reservation, and they run on their usual schedule all week. On Saturday, Whalers Village holds its complimentary Hula Dancing in the ʻOhana Courtyard from 11 a.m. to noon, led by Patty with live music by Sabi. Each evening, the same courtyard shows a free movie starting 30 minutes after sunset. This October the lineup is Halloween films: Hocus Pocus on Friday, Frankenweenie on Saturday and Hocus Pocus again on Sunday.
Monday Morning, the Course Opens to Anyone on Foot
The Kāʻanapali Classic by OUTRIGGER, hosted by University of Hawaiʻi, is NCAA Division I men's golf. It runs three days, Monday through Wednesday, October 26 to 28, with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start each morning on the Royal Kāʻanapali course. The Kāʻanapali Golf Courses tournament page says admission is free and walking spectators are welcome. The teams play a practice round on Sunday, October 25, before scoring starts.
A shotgun start means groups tee off on different holes at the same moment. Within minutes of 8:30, golf is being played all over the course, so you can join wherever is closest. The course's general FAQ says outside alcohol isn't allowed on the course, which matters if you plan to make a morning of it. Parking and viewing details for this year's event aren't posted on the tournament page, so check with Kāʻanapali Golf Courses before you go.
The course has also earned some local standing this fall. In September, Maui Now reported that Maui residents voted Kāʻanapali Golf Courses the "2026 Best Golf Course on Maui" in the first KITV 4 Island News Best of Maui Viewers' Choice Awards. The awards covered 215 categories of local businesses.
Who Is Playing, and the Streak in Play
The University of Hawaiʻi Athletics tournament page lists this year's 20 teams:
- Hawaiʻi, the host
- Boise State, Colorado, Gonzaga, Sacramento State, San Jose State, UC Irvine, CSUN and Wyoming
- Clemson, Georgia, East Tennessee State, North Florida and UConn
- Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma, Purdue, Southern Illinois and TCU
Oklahoma is the team to watch. The tournament started in 2014, and Oklahoma has won six team titles, more than any other program. Last year, Maui Now reported that the Sooners won their fourth title in a row at 63 under par, a 789 over 54 holes. That beat the tournament scoring record of 800, set by Kansas in 2021, by 11 shots. A win on Wednesday would give them five straight.
The individual record has been tied twice. In 2025, Oklahoma's Ryder Cowan won at 20 under, a 193, matching the record set in 2019 by Georgia's Trent Phillips and Oklahoma's Quade Cummins. Cowan clinched it on the final hole, one shot ahead of TCU's Sam Udovich at 19 under. Georgia and TCU are both back this year, and so is Oklahoma. Earlier individual champions include Aaron Wise and Doc Redman.
Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl told Maui Now after last year's win why the scores came so low:
"Traveling to Hawaiʻi provided a much-needed mental reset. Coupled with almost no wind (which is highly unusual), great ball striking and solid putting at Kāʻanapali, our guys capitalized on the opportunity."
By the coach's own account, a rare windless week helped make that 789 possible, so how the trades blow next week will shape whether it falls.
Hawaiʻi has a home-team story too. Maui Now reported that Anson Cabello was the Rainbow Warriors' best finisher last year, tied for 14th in a 120-player field.
Tuesday Fits Golf Around a Clinic
Tuesday, October 27, is the one weekday with two free events at the golf courses. Round 2 starts at 8:30 a.m. Then from 3 to 4 p.m., the driving range hosts a complimentary Junior Golf Clinic. It requires an RSVP through Kāʻanapali Golf Courses, and the course calendar recently showed 99 spots left.
For a family with a young golfer, the day could run like this:
- Watch a few holes of Round 2 in the morning while the field is spread across the course after the shotgun start.
- Take a break through the middle of the day.
- Come back to the driving range at 3 p.m. for the clinic, with a confirmed RSVP.
The final round starts at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28. That is the morning to come if you want to see whether Oklahoma gets its fifth straight title.
The Week Ends Back at the Courtyard
When the golfers leave, the free events move back to Whalers Village. On Friday, October 30, the ʻOhana Courtyard shows the last movie of its October series, the animated The Addams Family, 30 minutes after sunset. There is no movie on Saturday because the courtyard hands the night over to ʻOhanaween.
Whalers Village ʻOhanaween runs Saturday, October 31, from 4 to 7 p.m. throughout the Village. It offers free trick-or-treating and family activities, with a costume contest at 5 p.m. and a costume parade at 5:30 p.m. Saturday hula still runs that morning from 11 a.m. to noon, so a family can come for hula and return for trick-or-treating.
From Monday to Saturday, the only free event that needs a sign-up is Tuesday's junior clinic. Everything else is open to anyone who walks in.
A free week on the Royal course often gets people looking at the homes along those fairways. When that happens, the Olsons at Salt & Light Ohana RE are glad to walk through what life near the golf courses looks like, from views and wind to what building and upkeep involve on that side of Kaanapali. There's no pressure and no rush, just an honest conversation whenever you're ready. Contact Us.
