THE ULTIMATE HAWAIIAN CHALLENGE

By Cori Kenicer

Photography by Johan and Jeannine Henebry

99 holes or golf ’til you drop.

“I’m beat, I’m blistered, but I’m going back out there,” insisted one bronzed, battle-weary, “warrior of the links” on his way to the final round of golf’s version of Survivor — 99 holes of golf in three days on three islands, under the blazing Hawaiian sun. That would be 27 holes on Oahu, 36 holes on Maui, and 36 holes on the Big Island. When you include mad dashes to the airport to catch interisland flights, the trip consists of little but golf, golf, golf.

Ten players of varying skill levels and handicaps were invited to experience the best of Hawaii golf by playing the golf courses of Prince Resorts Hawaii’s four hotels, which include the venerable Mauna Kea and Maui’s wonderful Makena courses. The catch was, we only had three days, take it or leave it.

Notwithstanding the physically demanding schedule, we couldn’t pass up the sublime experience of playing golf in Hawaii. It means luscious, well-manicured courses that seldom yield a bad lie, lofted shots over deep blue water, crazy bounces off lava rock, and balmy temperatures that relax muscles until your golf swing becomes the natural, effortless motion it’s supposed to be. Oh, yes, we were on.

A PRINCE OF A COURSE
The marathon began with 27 holes at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club on Oahu. While no pushover, the three nines (designated “A,” “B,” and “C”) are relatively flat and straightforward, and provide a gentle introduction to the pleasures of golf in Hawaii. The Hawaii Prince is located on the vast Ewa plains, a former sugarcane field 40 miles west of the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, which owns and operates the course. A complimentary private shuttle transports guests. Airplanes frequently fly over the course, arriving or departing from Honolulu International Airport and Hickam Field, a military base. About the worst kind of trouble you can get into at the Hawaii Prince is water, since 15 of the 27 holes run along lakes or ponds. White egrets skim the water’s edge.

Then there’s Hawaii’s wind. Typically the mornings are still and the sea is calm, making for pretty tame golf shots and clear underwater viewing for snorkeling and scuba diving. By afternoon, the leaves start to rustle and the coconut palms begin swaying as the trade winds, or “trades,” pick up, bringing welcome relief from the intense sun. When the wind begins to blow, courses play differently and the golf course architect’s subtle genius emerges.

Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay designed the Hawaii Prince course. On the “A” nine, a daunting stretch of four holes (No. 4, No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8) play right into the prevailing wind. The wind tends to dissipate fine, fluffy sand, blowing it right out of the bunkers, demanding replacement with a denser variety.

 If you think you see a squirrel skittering across the fairway, it’s actually a mongoose. Locals love to tell the mongoose story. It seems the ferret-like mammals were brought to Hawaii to diminish the rat population, only to discover that the rats come out at night while the mongooses are asleep. The little creatures have another well-known talent: killing snakes. This renders them fairly useless since Hawaii has no snakes.

WOW-WEE MAUI
In order to stay on schedule for our island-hopping golf weekend, we headed to the airport right after the third nine, reciting, “Here today, gone t’Maui,” (a favorite T-shirt slogan). Our destination was the affiliate Maui Prince Hotel Makena Resort, a secluded beachfront resort at the tip of south Maui, where 36 holes of golf awaited us.

Day Two began early, so we had an opportunity to find out if Hawaii’s sunrises are as breathtaking as the sunsets. They are. By 7:30 a.m., the sun is fully present, and by 9 a.m., it starts to get hot. You have to drink a lot of water, wear a hat, and use sunscreen, reapplying it as often as the sweat wears it off. Fortunately, the typical mainland “cart path only” rule isn’t in force, so players won’t get worn out running back and forth across the fairways.

The two Makena courses share one clubhouse, only a five-minute shuttle ride from the hotel. From both the North and South courses, you can see white snorkel boats streaming out to the crescent-shaped islet of Molokini, a fish preserve. Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the original Makena Golf Course in 1981, then created 18 new holes and blended the two courses into North and South in 1993. Both courses play into the foothills of Haleakala, Maui’s 10,000-foot dormant volcano, and contain remnants of ancient Hawaiian lava rock walls, preserved for their historic value.

The tougher North Course challenges players with its rugged chasms and ravines, as on the No. 6 hole, where the fairway is divided into two halves by a wide ravine that must eventually be crossed to reach the green. The back nine climbs up the flanks of Haleakala until gradually the majestic mountain pales in comparison with the panoramic ocean view below, best evidenced by the raised tee of No. 14. At 620 yards from the back tees, No. 14 is the longest hole of all 99. The dramatically elevated tee box makes it seem as if your drive will soar much farther than it actually does.

After our first 18 of 36, we just had to try the most popular snack item at Hawaii golf courses: Spam musubi. Yes, Spam. It outsells sandwiches and has replaced the hot dog. Spam musubi consists of a slice of the canned lunch meat surrounded by white rice and wrapped in nori (black seaweed) like sushi. The flavor improves if you sauté the Spam first and add teriyaki sauce. Hawaiian “expatriates” have been known to wax nostalgic about this particular dish, but it is somewhat of an acquired taste.

Makena’s kinder and gentler South Course has its share of ups and downs but is best known for the stunning ocean holes. The downhill green of par-3 No. 15 is framed by the ocean with neighbor islands Molokai, Lanai, and Kahoolawe in the distance. If your ball rolls down to the left side of the fairway on ocean-side No. 16, you can retrieve it from the rocky shoreline.

As we approached the second tee, a pair of wild pigs emerged from under scrubby “kiawe” trees (another name for mesquite) to wander across the cart path. Some of these pigs weigh as much as 300 pounds. They come down from the mountain to root for food, often leaving muddy holes on the fairways, much to the consternation of course superintendents.

At this point, midway through the 99-hole marathon, a truism about Hawaii golf emerged: Greens generally break toward the ocean, which explains why all those missed putts were ending up to the west of the cup. With hardly a moment to ponder this newfound knowledge, it was time to catch a flight to the Big Island. The final 36 holes would be played the next day at Mauna Kea Resort, located 40 minutes from Kailua-Kona, on the sunny Kohala Coast. The resort consists of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Mauna Kea Golf Course, the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, and the Hapuna Golf Course.

BIG ISLAND, BIG GOLF
Some of us admitted that by now, our golf swings were starting to fall apart. We’d heard about the special healing powers long attributed to this area of the Big Island, formed by the volcanoes Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai, and the lofty Kohala Mountains. What better time to try a traditional Hawaiian “lomilomi” massage? The long, flowing strokes coaxed sore muscles into giving one more day of intense effort.

When Robert Trent Jones Sr. created Mauna Kea Golf Course on top of lava flows in 1964, it was a masterpiece and remains so, named among the top 100 courses in the United States by Golf Digest. The tree-lined course offers a great variety of golf holes with ocean views throughout, many elevated greens, and 120 bunkers in all. Paved cart paths run only between greens and the next tee, leaving fairways open.

Mauna Kea’s famous par-3 No. 3 is one of the most photographed holes in golf. It plays across a surging blue inlet uphill to a cliff-side green surrounded by bunkers. Lush plumeria bushes border some holes, their fallen white blossoms scattered on the velvet fairways, their sweet fragrance carried on the soft breezes. Mauna Kea’s low-key clubhouse belies the grand reputation of this classic course.

But what’s with the wild turkeys roaming the fairways? Apparently displaced by construction projects and driven by several consecutively dry years to seek greener pastures, the relative newcomers seem to like Mauna Kea as much as everyone else does.

The final challenge of the 99 holes awaited us at Hapuna Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay in 1992. Although somewhat overshadowed by its famous sister course, Hapuna can hold its own. It’s a placement course, pretty unforgiving off the fairway. You’re either on the course or you’re in trouble, battling unplayable lies. Much of the terrain was left in its natural state, wild and unmanicured, with native grasses and shrubs intact. Hapuna is hailed as a truly environmentally sensitive golf course. Players bemoan the long carries across native rough, especially from the back tees, and the tight fairways demand accuracy. For instance, the widest point of the fairway on the par-4 sixth hole is only about 30 yards. Set up high with coastline views, Hapuna can be very windy, often calling for an extra club.

Arnie’s Restaurant at Hapuna is a welcome 19th hole — or in this case, a 100th hole — where melodic Hawaiian music plays in the background and chirpy little birds swoop around the laid-back, open-air clubhouse looking for crumbs. On the walls are photos and memorabilia from Palmer’s legendary career. Hapuna is the only clubhouse we saw with a full spa and exercise facility conveniently located right next to the pro shop.

Although humbled by the realization that this contest had really been more about endurance than perfection, we discovered that on one day or the other, all of us had had a “best round ever.” It could have been the adrenaline rush inherent in the competition. Or perhaps it was because golf became our sole focus, removed as we were from everyday stresses. Hawaii is aeons away in lifestyle from rushed mainland cultures and it is also physically far removed, farther away from other land masses than any place on Earth.

We agreed that this 99-hole contest probably couldn’t have been completed quite so successfully anywhere else but Hawaii. Why? Because the tropical sights, sounds, and scents worked their subtle magic even while we were physically engaged in the frenzied pace of a grueling athletic match, nurturing and replenishing us as we went along. “Hang loose” became our motto. Of course, the tropical libations helped a lot too. The golf courses are not separate and isolated but rather an intricate part of the rich tapestry that makes up the Hawaiian experience. We loved it when the pro advised us to line up that shot “just between the second and third coconut palms.”

Wearing loud “aloha” golf shirts, clutching Spam musubis, transfixed by a glowing tropical sunset, we realized we had managed to capture the sustaining spirit of Hawaii even during our intense 99-hole challenge. Better yet, we had all survived and no one got voted off the island.

Cori Kenicer is a San Francisco-based golf and travel writer whose work has been published in leading publications, both in the United States and abroad. Her work also has appeared in Fortune, Luxury Golf, Golf for Women, Senior Golfer, and Travelers’ Tales Guide: Paris. Her guidebook, Northern California Golf Getaways, was released in early 2001. She is currently working on a coffee-table book on top golf resorts in the United States. 

99 HOLES OF GOLF PACKAGE
The 99 Holes of Golf Package includes 51⁄2 rounds of golf (99 holes), cart fees, and golf gifts, plus a three-night stay at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel or the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, a three-night stay at the Maui Prince Hotel Makena Resort, and a two-night stay at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club. Cost is about $1,500 per person based on double occupancy. Guests can customize their itineraries by booking their stays in any order. For more information, call Resorts Hawaii at 866.PRINCE6 or visit www.princehawaii.com.