HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

KAUAI IS CALLING

BY TONY DEAR

The Hawaiian Islands are full of the sort of golf holes that don’t look real somehow and you assume they were created by an over-stimulated artist or graphic illustrator on a sugar rush.

Maui certainly can claim a few, and the Big Island has its share. One of Lanai’s two courses has a couple of the best, and Oahu isn’t short of extravagantly beautiful holes.

Kauai, the ‘Garden Isle’ and fourth largest of the 137 volcanic islands that form the Hawaiian Archipelago, fares very well in the ‘almost-hallucinogenic’ golf hole category, with Poipu Bay, Puakea, Makai, Kiahuna, Kukui’ula and even the municipal Wailua all contributing. None of them, however, can quite hold a candle to Hokuala and its two spectacular back-nine stunners, for which you’ll need to pause a moment just to pinch yourself and confirm this place does, indeed, exist.

The bones of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course at Hokuala, situated on the southwest corner of the island a few miles outside Lihue, date back more than 30 years. Originally there were 36 holes here but significant changes to the development, purchased for $60 million by Colorado-based Timbers Resorts in 2015 since when the company has made $800 million worth of improvements (and changed the business model to one based predominantly, though not entirely, on luxury residential ownership rather than hotel/timeshare) have left just 18 very special holes.

Ocean Course at Hokuala • Lihue, Hawaii

The inland front-nine traverses dramatic terrain among mango and guava groves and includes a handful of holes that would highlight any round and which you think you’re going to remember forever. But then you reach the back and play a sequence of holes that obliterates images of everything that went before.

The 10th, 11th and 12th are good holes certainly, but not showstoppers. The 11th and 12th run parallel to the runway at Lihue Airport (direct flights from west coast cities — Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego), but this isn’t Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta or London Heathrow. You might see one plane take off or land, but it’s really not going to spoil your round.

At the long par-4 13th, with its line of palms ringing the back of the green and the blue Pacific extending beyond, there definitely is a sense you’re approaching something special. And though you won’t care about such things as you’re on vacation, and scholarly pursuits can take a back seat, there is actually some good, old-fashioned design theory on this hole where sound tactics will usually pay off.

A string of bunkers lies in wait for the slightly pushed drive to the right. But, going as close to the sand as you dare will leave a much easier second shot as the green is angled toward you and you needn’t carry the bunker at the front, which you will if you drive left. It's a simple strategy that makes an already alluring hole that little bit more enjoyable.

And then you walk onto the tee at the 14th. The sense of awe no doubt peaks the very first time you see it, but no matter how often you see the hole your eyes will grow wide and mouth open if only for a moment.

You’ve played slightly downhill, 210-yard par3s before, but the others didn’t have Nawiliwili Bay lapping up against the rocks below or the 86-foottall Ninini Point Lighthouse behind you. And there are plenty of palm trees to finish off the unforgettable scene.

As if the 14th wasn’t enough, you play another memorable oceanside beauty two holes later. The 15th is a fine par-5 that sweeps left around Ninini Beach but it won’t set your senses on edge like the 14th or spectacular short par-4 16th, where the second shot plays downhill to a heavenly green surrounded by sand and rocks with the smaller Kuki’i Point Lighthouse to the left.

The natural topography dictates the hole gets very narrow toward the green, but it actually works well. The prudent play is to aim for the wide part of the fairway with an iron, but if you’re in the mood and confident of threading the needle then by all means pull out the driver.

Nicklaus explains: “The 16th is a standout. It challenges you to make the right club selection on the tee. If your tee ball travels down the slot, then you have a chance to drive it on the green and putt for an eagle. A tee shot miss and you have an awkward pitch to the green. It may be smart to hit a hybrid or a 3-iron off the tee and leave yourself a little wedge down to the green.”

You could shoot a miserable, worst-score-ofyour-life 100 at Hokuala, but if you make a couple of pars at the 14th and 16th, or even birdie one or the other, you will more than salvage your day. You can dine out on that story for years.