Hawaii - Big Island

[bradski]

It looks like the waikoloa courses would be very good in most places. They have big names designers trent jones jr, , Weiskopf. I am basically going of reviews that they are not quite the same level. How is the practice area there since I could walk to it?

also outside of golf
snorkeling- just north of there are mauna kea beacha and hapuna beach? any reviews on this? I have seen that south at the Captain Cook monument is good.

[brian575]

I love snorkeling near Captain Cook monument. I took the FairWinds boat out there with my now wife and it was without a doubt one of the best experiences while we were there. My father lived on the big Island for 13 years. What ever you do make the time to see the volcano after dark, last time I went the sky was as clear as could be and the stars looked like they were in my lap. That snorkeling trip and volcano trip were back to back days and probably the reason why me and my wife are married today. OK now I want to go back. I have only played BICC and KCC Ocean and I hated KCC Ocean. I am made I did not pay the extra money and play Mauna Kea.

[bradski]

Flying tomorrow.
I have reserved Hapuna for $65 at 9:30 ish on monday but still looking for best tee time for kea. It seems like the day before they are better deals.

[Siper11]

I just returned from the Big Island. Here's the report.

About me.
40 Years Old
Athletic (6'2 - 215 lbs/former collegiate athlete)
9.1 hcp

Game-
- Off the tee - (Average 80% GIR ~ 285 yd avg)
- Irons (Average 40% GIR)
- Putting (Average 30 per round)
- "High Ball" hitter


Golf -
General statement - Big Island golf is targeted towards the casual resort golfer (football field wide fairways, huge greens, etc.). It reminds me a lot of what you see in Palm Desert. All of the courses are similar, in fact I'd say that the other options (Kona Country Club, etc) would've been an equal trade.

-I was able to get on a private course thanks to a suggestion by the pro shop staff at Mauna Lani to simply "call in the mornings to find out if the private courses are allowing guest play that day". Apparently most of the private courses on the islands are known to let a few guests out when it's slow.. Wish I had the extra time to see if it would've been possible to get on the Kuki'o or Nanea (Both looked amazing). I skipped the Hualalai course (Four Seasons)- based on my experiences at the others I didn't think I'd have gotten my money's worth out of the $300+ rates.

(My Rankings) -
- All played from the back tees.


1. [url="http://www.worldgolf.com/courses/usa/hawaii/kailuakona/the-club-at-hokuli-a.html"]The Club At Hokuli'a[/url]
Pros
- Playable Scenic layout
- No wind
- Fun caddies
Cons - None
Note: There didn't seem to be as much wind South of Kona as there was on the courses to the North of the airport

2. Mauna Kea
Pros
- I stayed at the hotel
- Golfnow tee time price (highly recommended)
- Allowed my wife to ride in the cart for free
- Free use of the range everyday
- Par 3's on the water make for some great picture opportunities.
- Course conditions - B+
- Course difficulty - B (Need to be able to hit long irons)
- Newer club house (small)

Cons -
- Not as difficult as advertised
- Prefer a course that requires more precision off the tee (fairways are 100 yards wide)
- Can get very windy
- A lot of elevation changes
- No GPS (Glad I had GolfShot GPS on my iPad)
- Not worth the rack rate of $235
- Bugs in the restaurant (a 2 inch cockroach walked across the TV and another under my wife's foot while we were eating lunch)

3. Mauna Lani (North)

Pros
- Requires more precision off the tee than Mauna Kea
- Fun short Par 3's (nice change)
- Reachable Par 5's
- Friendly Pro Shop Staff
- Course conditions - B
- Course difficulty - B-

Cons -
- Not a course that makes you want to play it again. Even the so called "memorable holes" are easy to forget.
- Played twilight for $145 - wouldn't pay full rate to play.
- No GPS
- Of all the courses it felt most like an average Palm Desert resort course

4. Hapuna
Pros
- Sister course to Mauna Kea - About 25% less in every aspect
- Good value
- Course conditions - B (only saw 1 other group on the course)
- Course difficulty - C (Palmer courses always seem easier than most for me)

Cons -
- No GPS
- Nothing special about the course.
- Amenities are a little dated
- Most of the holes are uphill & directly into the trade winds


Quick Note for first time Big Island visitors - NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, MAKE SURE TO DO THE NIGHT SNORKELING WITH THE MANTA RAYS (Yes, I know I'm yelling but it was that amazing)!

[MileHi]

Good reviews. So Mauna Kea wasn't hard enough for you from the tips? Even the 275yd par 3 third hole? I think they have to make the fairways wide like that for the average hack or it would be 6 hour rounds.

Funny about the cockroach there. We stayed at a multi-million dollar rental home and saw a cockroach and a mouse inside. Just the price you pay for having the whole place opened to the outdoors I suppose. They did creep me out a bit.

Wish I had known the private courses were open to the public once in a while. From what I read, I'd assume Nanea wouldn't be included because it's so exclusive.

[Siper11]

The hardest part of the round for me was hitting into the wind. I spent 30 minutes the day before putting and learned the big difference between the uphill speed and the lightning fast speed it goes when towards the ocean. As for the Par 3 - The wind was blowing off shore so the hole set up perfectly for a high draw. I aimed for the landing area to the right hoping for a bit of run, hit a hard 3 wood, and got lucky. I landed on the edge of the green, chipped it close, and tapped in for par. My non golfer wife's comment was "That looked easy, why were you so nervous?" I told her that the hole was tough enough for her to be jumping for joy over my par.

[KPH808]

Hualalai is another great course just 30 min away from Waikoloa.

[MileHi]

[quote name='Siper11' timestamp='1335207807' post='4774830']
The hardest part of the round for me was hitting into the wind. I spent 30 minutes the day before putting and learned the big difference between the uphill speed and the lightning fast speed it goes when towards the ocean. As for the Par 3 - The wind was blowing off shore so the hole set up perfectly for a high draw. I aimed for the landing area to the right hoping for a bit of run, hit a hard 3 wood, and got lucky. I landed on the edge of the green, chipped it close, and tapped in for par. My non golfer wife's comment was "That looked easy, why were you so nervous?" I told her that the hole was tough enough for her to be jumping for joy over my par.
[/quote]

I didn't get to play it from the 275 tee because they had the sprinklers going, so had to play where they had the tees actually set up, still pretty long. My father in law (20+ handicap) and I both birdied it with 30 foot putts though, he was ecstatic. We played it so early there wasn't any wind though, I can't imagine playing it into the wind. That hole was definitely a highlight.

[venand]

I wanted to add my two cents. My review differs a little from Siper11 above, but I didn't play from the back tees at Mauna Kea or Haualalai.

I am back from my recent November trip to the Big Island. I read this topic as well as a few others before I went and I wanted to give you guys my review. I would normally have some tips for a cheap rate, but I was lucky enough to get comped at all three courses. So, my review is purely based on the golf experience and not the value of the course to what I paid to play.

Executive Summary: If you can only play one course, play Mauna Kea.

Courses played and ranked in order of my favorites:
Mauna Kea
Haualalai GC
Mauna Lani North

Mauna Kea Review: The terrain covered on this course was much different that the other two I played and pretty unique overall. Lots of elevation change and memorable tee shots. Rugged rocks and interesting trees all over the place and a glimpse or view of Ocean views on almost every hole. I could play this course every day due to the variety of holes and shots required. I have very little to say because this was just a perfect golf experience.
[url="http://www.princeresortshawaii.com/mauna-kea-golf-course/index.php"]http://www.princeres...ourse/index.php[/url]

- Tees Played: 6800 yards, but good challenge (7370 from back)
- Greens: Immaculate. Felt like they rolled at about a 10 – 11. By FAR the fastest of the courses I played.
- Tees/Fairways: Great condition. LOTS of slope yielding challenging 2[sup]nd[/sup] and 3[sup]rd[/sup] shots into greens. Lots of well placed bunkers that I didn’t particularly enjoy.
- Signature Holes: #3 par 3 over water. #11 par 3 downhill toward ocean. My personal favorite hole out of all 3 courses.
- Score: 82 and I was happy with it. Course felt fair and I can’t wait to play it again someday
- Random: Felt like I was trying to lay up to 105 all day and the ocean breeze kept knocking my ball down so I was hitting a lot of 120-130 yard shots into greens. BIG NEGATIVE not mentioned above, no GPS on the carts. Makes for a lot of walking to find sprinklers.
#3
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#11
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Haualali GC Review: If I hadn’t played Mauna Kea this would have been my favorite course, but after playing Mauna Kea this course just didn’t seem as great. The terrain was very cool with exposed lava rock basically everywhere. If you play you are hoping for a day of clean living because your ball could bounce 30 yards back in the fairway or 30 yards into some rich persons infinity pool if it finds lava. I wouldn’t consider it a must play, but the last 3 holes make it all worth it. I know it can be harder to get on, but I bet their tee sheet was only 20% full everyday I was at the resort. I am sure you can get on if you just ask.
[url="http://www.hualalairesort.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/ig.page/PageID/1348"]http://www.hualalair...age/PageID/1348[/url]

- Tees Played: 6700 yards, played these tees for more birdie opptys. (7117 from back)
- Greens: Slow. For me there is nothing worse than slow greens. Not sure what they were rolling at, but I would have enjoyed my experience a lot more if they had been fast. Great condition, but slow. I started making a lot of putts at the end once I got the speed down.
- Tees/Fairways: Tee boxes were fine and I found most fairways forgiving/wide when compared to Mauna Kea. You could stay out of trouble all day if you played conservatively. One let down was that you didn’t even see the ocean until #16. It could have been a lot more fun in firmer/faster conditions.
- Signature Holes: #16/17/18. Awesome finish and great photo opptys.
- Score: 75 basically shot my handicap and hit a lot of fairways. Judging the wind was the only challenge in my opinion.
- Random: Don’t look for any cart GIRLS because they don’t exist. They had some big cart guys handing out drinks. First time I have seen that at a top-notch course. He made stiff drinks, but just not the same.
#16
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#17
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Mauna Lani North: I wanted to play the south course, but it just ended up being really full when we tried to make a tee time. Based on what I read from other WRX posts it is a good option for some cool ocean views. The north course was the first course I played of the three and it seemed like a great course after tapping in on 18. Looking back, I would probably never play it again unless I got another comped round. It had a few challenging holes, but they were really only a challenge if you hit a driver when you should normally just lay up out of trouble. I felt like it didn’t have the same interesting terrain and character like Mauna Kea or Haualalai. They talk about it being a tournament venue on their website, but it was nowhere near tournament conditions.
[url="http://www.maunalani.com/golf/big-island-golf-courses"]http://www.maunalani...nd-golf-courses[/url]

- Tees Played: 6938, played a little longer due to required lay ups and wind.
- Greens: S-L-O-W. Very disappointed. Our whole foursome came up 5ft short with our putts on the first hole. Major deal breaker for me, maybe not for others.
- Tees/Fairways: Tees were fine, but really soft. Fairways were good, but the awesome course designer put some trees in the middle of the fairway. This is a REAL turn me off for me. I can’t stand hitting it right down the middle and then having to shape it around a gigantic tree.
- Signature holes: None really. They advertise #17, but it barely plays 90 yards downhill. I hit a 60 degree wedge….not real golf to me but a great birdie chance.
- Score: 75, hit the fairway and keep the driver in the bag at the right time and you will be fine.
- Random: The female bartender who served us a beer after the round might have been the worst bartender of all time. Overall the staff was underwhelming and pretty uninterested in what they were doing. BIG NEGATIVE, just like Mauna Kea they didn't have GPS on the carts. A must for the prices they are asking.
#?
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