Big Island Trip Report April 2024

[Bonneville85308]

 

Here's my golf report from a week spent on the Big Island this month. Home base was the Waikoloa Kings Land resort where I got a reasonably priced, modern room with a great setup including a kitchen, washer/dryer, and easy parking right out front. Had great weather pretty much the whole time, no rain, and only one windy morning. 

 

Hamakua Country Club: Quaint, sleepy little locals 9-holer in Honokaa. Most holes cross over each other; a left-to-right shaped tee shot on #1 (shown below) could carry two different greens before reaching the fairway. There is a different "back nine" set of tees to make an 18 hole round. A couple interesting green shapes/contours. Rough was extremely thick and grabby; I'm guessing Kikuyu. Greens looked a little parched, felt spongey, but rolled OK. You can't really fault this type of course for conditions. You pay via an honor box, the tourist rate was $25 for as many times as you want to go around it in a day. It was a hilly walk, they apparently rent carts via advance reservation and leave the keys for you or whatever. I was one of about 4 people on the course on a Monday afternoon. This round wasn't originally planned but became a good way to kill a couple hours while my wife went horseback riding nearby. The Waipio Lookout not far to the north of town (third pic) is a must-see.

 

 

Makalei:

This one was pretty wild. Hillside course with a big elevation difference from bottom to top. Great views in many places. Forget about walking this. The trek from the parking lot to the first tee is probably a solid mile or more, mostly uphill.  The course has a good variety of uphill, downhill, sidehill, and relatively flat holes. Bent grass greens were in nice shape. Fairways weren't great; lots of mixed grasses, taller tufts, bare spots. Bunkers were a mix, mostly not great but playable. Overall the course is scruffy, but very playable, and I'd say the entire course played semi-firm. Peacocks everywhere. Played first off in the morning with 2 friendly local retirees in about 3 hours. $109+ tax. A little high for the conditions. The clubhouse was demolished and they are operating out of a trailer for now. The entire property gives off that "this place must have been something special back in the 1990s" vibe. It was kinda fun to play, and despite scoring fairly well, I just don't see this as one I'd go back to.

 

 

Makani:

I really enjoyed this one. Perry Dye-designed tree-lined course at a higher elevation on a property with rolling terrain and some good views. Great "isolated" feeling with no houses around. #17 is an island green par 3 that I found fun but some might find gimmicky. Some of the fairways, particularly on the back, had some issues but were very playable. Greens were good. This course probably played the firmest/fastest of all the ones I played on the trip, and the greens might have tied with Mauna Lani North as the fastest. $99 rate was fair, though I was a little letdown that #18 was playing to a temporary green due to repair to the retaining wall in front of the real green. I'd definitely go back to this one. Worth noting that it seemed like they had the majority of the white tees moved forward one spot from the yardages on the card, so I moved back once I figured out what was going on. Was first off early AM solo and finished in about 2:30 taking my time to enjoy the scenery and play a few extra shots.

 

 

Mauna Lani North:

Excellent course in my opinion, and some nice contrast to the South course which is more wide open and forgiving. North has more elevation change and some narrower playing corridors with trees. You need to think a bit more on this one. Better variety of holes than South in my opinion. The North course played drier/firmer than the South course and the greens were faster. Perfect conditions, zero to complain about. $295 was no bargain but conditions and service were first class all around. Played solo early AM behind a twosome and another single and finished in about 3 hours. Would love to do it again.

 

 

Mauna Lani South:

This layout is comparatively wide open and easier than North in my opinion, it does have some patches of lava rock in play to be avoided. While grass conditions were top notch all around, the fairways were pretty heavily irrigated; not much rollout and approach aprons tended to grab the ball and stop it. Still, I enjoyed it and would happy return, though I'd hope to do it as a cheaper replay after a morning round on North. If money weren't an issue and I lived here, I would be perfectly happy playing both of these courses only, for the rest of my life. Played solo early AM behind a couple twosomes in about 2:45. Managed to birdie the iconic #15 par 3, though not from the tips.

 

 

 

Waikoloa Kings/Lakes nines:

Kings nine plays generally flat and very wide. #5 on Kings was a very good short par 4. Lakes has a little elevation change and a nice short par 3 against the lava rock. These nines are pretty forgiving confidence builders but I still found them enjoyable and ended up with a great score. Grip it and rip it is the strategy on a lot of the longer par 4's and 5s. For conditions, I'd say the course plays better than it looks, as it is a little scruffy around the edges and some of the bunkers are neglected. Average firmness, ball rolled out despite plush-looking fairways. First off in the morning with two other rabbits, we were done in less than 3 hours. ~$80 rate as a Waikoloa Kings Land resort guest was a great value. I'd play these again for sure at that rate. Range balls were included. Had some issues getting my GPS watch to be on the correct hole particularly on the Lakes nine so you might want to make sure your device is updated if playing here. They originally had 36 holes at this facility, and closed 9 a couple years ago for future resort development. Those holes are apparently still there and are maintained in a minimal fashion, I could see a few from my room and the clubhouse restaurant patio. 

 

 

Waikoloa Beach nine:

Played this after my Waikoloa Village round ended way earlier than anticipated. One good short par 5 playing up to the ocean, one really good curving par 4 around big piles of lava rock that temps you to cut the corner off the tee but could otherwise leave you with a interesting blind shot to the green, 7 other mostly forgettable but inoffensive holes. ~$40 9-hole rate as a resort guest. Played solo in the afternoon, mostly other singles and twosomes out there, finished in around 1:40. Conditions similar to Kings/Lakes nines above, though these greens seemed like they had an aeration maybe a few weeks or more ago. As above, had some GPS issues due to the recent routing changes. Next time I'd probably skip this nine and play the other two.

 

 

 

Waikoloa Village:

Decent parkland style layout with rolling terrain surrounded by a housing community, though the housing is set back well and the playing corridors are wide. The grass appeared to be wall-to-wall kikuyu (I could be wrong) that was in pretty good condition all around. It was really grabby especially in the rough and when trying to hit short pitches from the fairway. It got real windy starting a couple holes into the round, and that combined with struggling in the rough led to my highest score of the trip.  I was first off with a delightful local who plays here often. I got along great with him, a fellow early AM rabbit, we finished 18 in about 2 hours. $135+ tax. According to him, they are trying to introduce paspalum grass into the greens, which explains why they looked patchy and had some inconsistent speeds. They did putt very "grainy" to me.  Not sure what their policy is (I rode) but this course seems easily walkable. 

 

 

[Springsteennut]

I was hoping to play Makani for our second outing when we were there back in November. It was just a bit out of the way to have the wives drop us off and come back and get us. We were staying next to Kona Country Club. Nice but a little boring. We booked Hapuna instead and that was very nice. Maybe next time when we’re there in a couple of years.

[Bonneville85308]

3 hours ago, Springsteennut said:

I was hoping to play Makani for our second outing when we were there back in November. It was just a bit out of the way to have the wives drop us off and come back and get us. We were staying next to Kona Country Club. Nice but a little boring. We booked Hapuna instead and that was very nice. Maybe next time when we’re there in a couple of years.

 

The local I played with at Waikoloa Village was really talking up Hapuna as his favorite and that's on my list for next time along with Mauna Kea. I'll probably also do Kona CC just because I am a completist who likes to try anything once. However, Hualalai appears to require a stay at the Four Seasons to play there, and I'm not paying more than my monthly mortgage payment for one night in a room and a round of golf on a Nicklaus course, one of my least favorite course architects.

[Lexicographer]

Great reviews.  Agree on the Mauna Lani courses.  Love them.  

[tad950]

On 4/22/2024 at 7:01 PM, Bonneville85308 said:

 

The local I played with at Waikoloa Village was really talking up Hapuna as his favorite and that's on my list for next time along with Mauna Kea. I'll probably also do Kona CC just because I am a completist who likes to try anything once. However, Hualalai appears to require a stay at the Four Seasons to play there, and I'm not paying more than my monthly mortgage payment for one night in a room and a round of golf on a Nicklaus course, one of my least favorite course architects.

If it’s really windy, I would probably wait for another day to play Hapuna. For some reason Hapuna is particularly affected on windy days. That’s been my experience anyway. I know I’m in the minority here, but I really like Mauna Kea. Some people don’t like the elevated greens and elevation changes, but I enjoy the variety. Certainly not resort golf.

 

It wouldn’t hurt to ask at Hualalai. I think it depends on how busy they are, and what kind of mood the person behind the counter is in.

 

Kona CC is ok. Not a lot of memorable holes, but worth checking off your list.

 

A question, does Waikoloa Village still have tiny pebbles instead of proper sand in the bunkers? I haven’t been to the Big Island since pre Covid.  I used to go frequently. My favorite island.

[Bonneville85308]

9 minutes ago, tad950 said:

 

 

A question, does Waikoloa Village still have tiny pebbles instead of proper sand in the bunkers?

 

Yeah I forgot to mention that. Every bunker I saw there looked like they were all dense pebbles/pea gravel. Fortunately my ball didn't land in any. I'd have to think that is a quick way to put deep scratches on the sole and face of your wedge.

[tad950]

3 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

Yeah I forgot to mention that. Every bunker I saw there looked like they were all dense pebbles/pea gravel. Fortunately my ball didn't land in any. I'd have to think that is a quick way to put deep scratches on the sole and face of your wedge.

It’s not too bad. But I would hesitate if I had a brand new Vokey.

[Pure716]

Great picture of #15 on Mauna Lani South. I'm going to be visiting the Big Island for my honeymoon in September and have Mauna Lani South & Mauna Kea approved!

[ESOX ZO]

On 4/22/2024 at 9:01 PM, Bonneville85308 said:

 

The local I played with at Waikoloa Village was really talking up Hapuna as his favorite and that's on my list for next time along with Mauna Kea. I'll probably also do Kona CC just because I am a completist who likes to try anything once. However, Hualalai appears to require a stay at the Four Seasons to play there, and I'm not paying more than my monthly mortgage payment for one night in a room and a round of golf on a Nicklaus course, one of my least favorite course architects.

Bandwagon fallacy, if a course is expensive it HAS to be good.

 

I resonate with that last sentence, would I love to play it? Absolutely, but god is it wayyyy too expensive.