This is a three person net best ball competition using 75% of the player’s course handicap. The winning team qualifies for the Aloha Section Championship (also being held at Kahili Golf Course on August 10, 2009). The Section Championship team qualifies for the National Championship in Pinehurst, NC (October 26-28, 2009).

They need at least 7 teams (21 players) to hold the qualifier. To sign up either go to http://www.pga.com/teamchampionship.com or call the golf shop 808-242-4653, or simply email Brad Bowen with your team information. The event is very strict on handicaps, so all players must have a USGA / GHIN handicap to enter.

Kahili is considering combining the King Kamehameha Golf Club Back tee event with this qualifier (they are scheduled for the same day). Please reply if you have any interest in participating.

Alex Chiarella is from Pukalani, and had an interesting year in 2008, at ripe old age of 14. Of the 15 HSJGA events—listed in the organization’s official website—that Alex entered, he won six, and placed second in four. Is that 10 out of 15 I am counting here?

Last year, he went over to play Turtle Bay’s Arnold Palmer course to try and qualify for the Adams Golf Tour Championship. This is almost a year ago to the day! Alex carded five birdies, six bogeys, and shot a 1-over-par 73, and was runner-up. Ho hum…. Is this boy a flash in the pan? Doubtful. Does he have the ability to close the deal? I think five wins last year is a heck of a good start, don’t you?

I try to recall what I was like when I was 14-15 years old. Sure, I was pretty fresh. But, going up against Hall of Famers, pros from all over Hawaii, at that age, even if it is the norm nowadays, is still an impressive feat! Bravo, Alex! Well done! And he did it under tough conditions.

“I’d have to say it as one club more than the usual wind,” Bradley Bowen, PGA, the event’s director and also a competitor told me after the first round was over. “Usually it is about a two-club wind.” he explained. “But today, it was more like three.”

Brad was chipper. The course had received a chorus of prizes from around the Hawaii golf world. Everyone was stoked about the course conditioning, and the greens—which, after some discussion, it was decided they were rolling 10+.

“We are very happy to have our new A-flight this year, too!” Brad added with a smile. “David Balmores, the Kahili Golf Course bookkeeper, is leading at net 67!” Brad told me proudly.

David has been winning with his handicap since I can remember. He is the best 10+ handicapper I have ever known, and that isn’t in any way meant to imply he is a sandbagger. He just knows how to win. He did it in the old days, and he is leading now. Oh, and by the way, he also pulls shifts at The Dunes’ driving range, where I’m sure he gets to hit his share of balls.

Probably the biggest name in Hawaii (men’s) golf is Tadd Fujikawa. I visited with him after Brad had finished telling me that the Pro-Am event had “gone great,” and that he, along with Tad, had tied the previous day for the skins pot in that event, both having two birdies each (Brad: five and seven; Tadd: one and 18). “The winning team,” Brad explained, had “shot 24-under-par” in the 2-ball format.

“We had nine teams, and nine PGA professionals, and everyone had a wonderful time,” he explained. “The winning team’s professional was David Gerken, and I understand he had a lot of pars—which is what he needed to do so his teammates could post the scores they did. They did very well, and I congratulate them,” the long-time Maui pro exclaimed.

I have to admit that Tadd is truly a very nice, even-tempered, and mature young man. He went out of his way to chat with me, and even went and got his bag so we could take a few pictures and look at what he has for sticks. I admit I am a little rusty when it comes to local event coverage, and when I first arrived, I felt completely out of place at the restaurant, where I had earlier joined a table full of players many of whom I know. They were drinking and laughing it up, but the vibe was still a tad off-kilter, as I really am guilty of being absent from the local golf scene for years.

But Tadd didn’t know any better. He graciously stopped practicing so I could ask him about his opening round, and what he thought of the course. Funny thing, I noticed, he was the only guy in the entire field out on the putting green practicing. Most of the others were either drinking, or gone.

I asked him what he thought about Kahili’s design and layout.

“It’s a pretty nice course, especially with the wind, which can make it pretty tricky,” Tadd began.

“There’s a few holes where you need to hit a hybrid or a 3-wood, because driver would be too long. I really think this course makes you hit every club in your bag. I really think that’s a good test. You’re hitting everything from sand wedge to 8-iron to 4-iron. Every hole is a little bit different. You know, a lot of times you get golf courses where its driver 9-iron, driver 8-iron, driver 7-iron, and it’s just like boring. It’s nice to be able play a 3-wood, and then you get to hit a little cut 6-iron in there. It gives you something different. I like working the ball, hitting it high, hitting it low, drawing, fading, and on this course, especially with the wind, you really need to do that,” he said.

Tadd shot 1-under-par during the Pro-Am on Friday, and had the low gross score. It was his first time playing the course. “I like it,” he said, referring to Kahili.

As of now, he is +1, two shots back of the 15-year-old amateur, Alex Chiarella. You know, 14 years ago, Bill Keogh won this event, playing as an amateur himself, but he was well into his 30s. Amazing how time goes by. It seems like yesterday.

In an interview with reporter, Starr Begeley, in today’s Maui News story, Chiarella kept it in perspective:

”I feel very accomplished considering I’ve lost 15 pounds (due to illness), I’m a little string bean,” Chiarella said.

”I wasn’t expecting much out of today. I played golf twice in the past month and a half. My dad and I were looking at this tournament as being a nice prep, nice warm-up for the tournaments that I have coming up.”

Indeed. If he comes eve close to doing what he did last year, he may succeed Mr. Keogh tomorrow.

Brad’s description of today’s wind undermined the slippery greens that confronted the field. He told me he himself 3-putted the 18th from three feet. There were other horror stories, perhaps none like that of Friday’s Pro-Am winner David Gerken.

“I had birdies on Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 the tall, assistant pro at the King Kamehameha G.C. told me. I was 4-under going into 14, and could have been 5-under, after my ball hit the pin on 12—it could have easily fallen in for eagle….” he said, with a shake of the head.

“Then I hooked it on 14 and take a double-bogey. I follow it up with a birdie on 15,” [That's six out of seven, folks.] and then knock it onto the green, about 20-feet for birdie on 16. I’m 3-under now, with a birdie putt on 16. I roll it down the about three feet, and I lip that out, leaving myself about this much,” as he shows me with his hands, about a foot-and-a-half.

“I’m thinking to myself, okay, it hurts, but bogey okay, I’m out of here. Then the wind starts to blow really hard. My ball’s oscillating, and I’m hovering my putter to avoid grounding it because I don’t want more trouble. I’m bearing down, and I just popped it too hard. It curled around the lip and went straight down the hill, about eight feet!”

David Gerken was lying four, eight feet from the hole. He two-putting from there, needing five putts in all to finish the hole, and went from being deep (3-under-par), at the top of the leaderboard—with only two to go—to 2-over-par, in no time.

Scrambling wasn’t the exception today, and the wind and putting were not the only culprits. Many in this elite field just haven’t played this course since it was renewed by architect Robin Nelson two years ago. Larry Stubblefield discovered this when he tried to carry the corner on the downhill par 4 7th. He wound up short, right, and in the gulch. He pitched it out, knocked it on, and then holed his putt for par.

Dugal Milne opened his round with a double-bogey. He waited patiently until things started to turn with a birdie on 10.

So many good players and so many great tales. Brain Sasada has won this event three times. He is a local hero of sorts, and mine too. Brian is also just two back, and if his putter warms, he too will be a major threat.

Oahu C.C. head golf professional, Andrew Feldman, joins Dugal, Brian, and Tadd in a four-way tie for third. All are just one back of Mark Shimamura, and Ron Castillo: the always-in-contention brother of 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, Lori Castillo, as well as the son of golf patriarch, and 1994 Hall of Fame inductee, Ron Castillo Sr. Both Castillo and Shimamura follow young Alex by just one shot.

Seventeen players are within five shots of the lead, and fifty-two players are within ten. Boo Weekly coach and Kapalua denizen David Havens, Hawaii golf icon David Ishii, long-time Maui teaching guru Eddie Lee, Princeville’s Steve Murphy, superstar Hawaii champion Kevin Hayashi, surf-board maker turned pro (and pal) Ed Angulo, (Captain) Kirk Nelson of Makena, long-time Kapalua tour pro rep Dean Prince, Elleair head pro Eliot Gouveia, and my deal old friend, amateur Peter Rice are all in the hunt.

Gusty winds are expected and that could mean anything is possible, especially if the holes are cut in unintentionally deceptive, and devilish locations.

“We’re not trying to trick anybody up with our hole placements,” Brad Bowen, who shot 76 and is five back, told me. “We’ll move the holes, but there won’t be anything intentional done to make this golf course play anything but completely fair.”

Mo doubt. But golf is always full of surprises.

The Maui Open dates back to 1952, when the first “Maui Invitational” was played at Maui Country Club. Hall of Famer Jimmy Ukauka won it six years in a row (1953 to 1958), and then lost the next year in a playoff to Guinea Kop, another Hall of Famer. The event was a huge draw in those days because of the money that could be made from its purse, and other ways. Former event chair, Charlie Aruda, once mused about how the Maui Open “was the biggest event” around in the old days.

Many other grat players have won here, including: Makena’s Brian Sasada, Champions Tour player Dick McClean, the stoic and reserved champion Lance Suzuki, the legendary Ted Makalena, long hitter Casey Nakama, th great Masa Kaya, Mr. Golf on Oahu, Kauai-born David Ishii, and the affable Clyde Rego just to name a few.

This year’s field includes Ishii, Larry Stubblefield, Kevin Hayashi, Andrew Feldman, Kevin Carll and (of course) Brian Sasada, who won it—for the last time—before the event was revived last year. Amateur golfers playing will include Max Bonk (who I played with in the Kona Open ages ago, when he was just a wee lad), Alika Bell, Taeksoo Kim, and the lovely Desiree Ting.

The phenom, Tadd Fujikawa, is also on Maui this weekend. The 18-year-old pro, who is a senior at Moanalua High School, is playing despite a reportedly heart-wrenching situation with his father, Derrick, who is embroiled in a of sorts, back on Oahu.

Much ado has been made of this fabled resort’s name, its beautiful white crescent beaches, its exclusive and posh hotels and resorts, and its three brilliant golf venues: the Gold, Emerald, and Blue.

Today, Marie Lenz (pictured above), our New Media Director, and Australian advertising executive, David Mattingly, ventured out (along with me) onto Wailea’s epic Gold course for an afternoon game on the former site of the Wendy’s Champions Tour Skins Game. Their joint verdict: Wow!

Ranked among the national media as one of America’s Best is the Wailea Gold Course, a manifestation of Robert Trent Jones II’s penchant for transforming Hawai‘i’s lava-strewn lands into verdant fairways of incomparable quality and pedigree. It was a tad voggy today, but when we arrived, there were plenty of things to take our minds off of the weather in the form of ‘eye candy.’

To begin with, the first thing we noticed upon our arrival was a neat little art exhibit going on inside the main gallery entry way at the club’s stunning clubhouse. Local painter, Maggie Sutrov, had an array of her fine works on display, and we couldn’t help but noticed them when we stopped in front to drop our bags. Not only was she displaying her work, but she was also in the midst of painting too. I got her to stop for a brief minute to pose for a quick snapshot

Wailea is well-known for its penchant for great service, and the first person golfers usually encounter upon arrival is someone from the guest services team waiting for you at the bag drop area in front of the clubhouse. Today, P.T. was all smiles as he greeted Marie and I, and he had no idea who I was or that I was even doing any kind of story. But he dropped everything anyway and came to our rescue, grabbing our bags for us and insisting on taking care of everything for us. He didn’t ask for or even imply that he needed or wanted a tip, which I knew I would pay to him later. (Golfers, if you tee off late in the day sometimes these people work different shifts, so if they really deserve a tip, and the odds are that they will be ‘off duty’ by the time you are done golfing, you might want to give them their due right on the spot.)

After P.T. helped us with our bags, Marie and I parked and went in through the clubhouse’s main lobby and waved goodbye to Maggie. I always enjoy the smell of fresh new haberdashery, and that is what you sense as you enter Wailea’s award-winning Pro Shop. Aloha Section PGA superstar Rusty Hathaway, a man who has spent much of his career at Wailea, working his way up from the bottom, rules here, but with an ever-so-subtle touch. In fact, unlike most other more pretentious managers, Rusty exemplifies what a golf club should want in its front-man: he is easy-going, likable, and very fair. Rusty is just a great guy, and take it from a Hapa like me, there isn’t a hint of venom is the man’s veins.

Rusty’s professional staff is always made up of similarly helpful and friendly people. Today, as we entered, I recalled that guys are not the only ones at the counter at Wailea, there are many great gals too. One of my favorites is Brenda Rego, LPGA. Brenda is a Maui-born and -raised pro who had a stellar professional career and joins a long line of famed Hawai‘i professional golfers like her brothers Art and Clyde.

But Brenda is now at the Blue Course, and today it was my chance to meet a young assistant by the name of Neil, who was busy dealing with another customer while I was snapping photos of him—without his knowing why :-). Gracious as you’d expect an Aloha Section PGA member to be, Neil put up with me and was really superb handling the awkwardness of the situation with grace. In no time he had us all set up and even with range balls, and we were out to the cart staging area.

As we exited the pro shop I was happy to see Gary Sagayaga and Dean Kauhane, running the show at the main counter of the cart staging area. Both of these guys could put a bull in a China shop to sleep, and probably do more often than I know. They are mellow yellow guys who smoothly handle all of the nitty-gritty that goes into transferring you from cash register to tee in a painless and almost stress free process. Today, I wanted David and Marie to hit some balls and putts on the fabulous range and practice green, and Gary was quick to set us all up. David, by the way, was watching my whole ’show’ as I snapped photos, asked for this and that, and tried to pretend I was cool. He knows better.

“Are we going to ever see that photo you just took, John?” Gary asked me.

Of course you will,” I replied with a smile.

When David and Marie teed off, the No. 1 hole pointed straight toward the nearby islet of Molokini. This is a RTJ2 trademark; using a distant (and scenic) landmark as a backdrop framed by the rest of the hole.

Measuring 7,078-yards from the tips, the Wailea Gold Course is the resort’s most challenging and rugged layout, with undulating fairways, over 80 strategically placed white silica sand bunkers, and four to six tee boxes on every hole. Marie was especially fond of them, as she is a beginner and was visiting hazards of all kinds.

A thinking player’s design, the Wailea Gold Course can bite when the golfer loses focus, which is easy to do when the course’s unobstructed panoramic vistas of the ocean, Molokini Islet, and Kaho‘olawe offer such calming distractions. On one occasion, Marie was so mesmerized by the captivating views, that she topped her ball into a hedge in front of the tee. Thankfully, David was there to recover the errant ball, after immersing himself in the tropical Hawaiian ‘bush.’

But for sheer golf pleasure, the Wailea Gold Course offers a true test of golf for even the finest players. Formerly the host of the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game, the Wailea Gold Course has tested the mettle of TOUR players, top amateurs, and weekend warriors with equal aplomb. In the case of David and Marie, each was faced with their own respective challenges, as their caliber of play was quite different. Marie was inconsistent in all respects, and despite the course’s reputation for being somewhat more challenging, it tends to be a tad forgiving in the most obvious places, like directly off the tees, immediately right and left, and escape routes for running the ball onto the putting surfaces.

David is a far more advanced golfer. Probably around a 12. His drives were almost always in the middle of the fairways, and it was the iron game that caught up with him, where he’d chunk his approaches, or leave them right or left. But ample opportunity for recovery makes this golf course fair, and David faced the challenge well, saving par more often than not with his flat blade. But those bunkers, in the end, got to him. On No. 18, with a comfortable lead, he saw it all evaporate when he tried to finesse his ball onto the green and left it in the sand.

Despite its reputation for being Wailea’s most challenging, it should be said that Jones designed the Wailea Gold Course with the visiting golfer in mind and points golfers to amazing vistas on virtually every shot.

The end-result is a golf course that is, depending on the tees played, as challenging as one wants, yet hardly overbearing for the recreational player. In short, it is a golf course for all players; and for those who have yet to visit this grand venue, I urge you to give it a try.

The Wailea Gold Course represents the apex of resort golf—in Hawai‘i, and the world. It offered Marie and David a world-class resort golf experience, which included a spectacular clubhouse, an award-winning pro shop, a trip to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, and a stellar round of golf.

Marie Lenz and I visited Lāna‘i recently. It is just a short Expeditions (661-3756) ferry ride away from Lahaina, and one of the few excursions from the Valley Isle that I highly recommend. (Captain) Steve Knight is vice president of Expeditons, and he arranged for us to make the trip. It is home to two unique Hawai‘i resort golf courses: the Challenge at Manele and the Experience at Koele. Each course is very different, not only from one another, but from all else one will find in the islands; this includes its terrain, location, setting, and design.

The Lodge at Koele (2008).

We arrived at the pier and were quickly whisked away in one of the Four Seasons Resorts’ campy, yet modern shuttles. They took us straight to the Lodge at Koele—an imposing, yet very old Hawaiian sort of place. Anything and everything one might imagine finding in a country estate, the Lodge awaits—ensconced among the many regiments of majestic Cook pines and stands of native Koa that thrive here—in the heart of Lana’i’s central highlands. Marie and I felt instantly at ease amidst its serene grounds, with those curvaceous and alluring landscapes, this seemingly boundless luxury, all at our command. It was heaven on earth!

Where we slaved over our keyboards on Lanai.

Of course, we have ‘work’ to do. We are here for a day just to get some shots of the courses and to describe what we see for the Maui Golf Review! Needles to say, it was hard to avoid our own curiosities concerning the basics: its 102 luxurious rooms and suites; some with a stone fireplace; all set on two levels within the main building and in a north and south wing; refined furnishings and spirited décor all inspired by the natural surroundings; paintings all done by local artists; even a cozy window seat and carved pineapple finial on our two-poster bed. (Yes, there was a flat-panel TV. What did you expect? Broadband too. Of course.)

There was golf ahead of us! Now, in the past, I have always liked to start my visits to Lāna‘i with a morning round on the 7,000-yard, par 72 Experience at Koele. The ciourse is set on a plateau, roughly 2000-feet above sea level, where the mountains apex at a point where cool air permeates. In the early morning, high above the isle shores, there is a misty fog that rolls in like clockwork. It allows for bent grass to thrive on the putting greens, and the crisp clean air enlivens the spirits. Then there is the scenery: stunning views of West Maui and Molokai abound.

Doug Stephenson, PGA.

Cook pine, eucalyptus, and koa trees line fairways that wind through undulating terrain, with babbling, multi-tiered cascading waterfalls and placid ponds coming into play or view on 10 of its 18 holes. Ahhh. The splendor of it all. ‘Why don’t we come here more often,’ I asked Marie, pondering life’s spiral.

Greg Norman and Ted Robinson Sr. designed the Experience to take full advantage of the two climates that exist on this serene site. The front nine is played through densely wooded foothills and features four sets of tees and water on all but two holes. There are amazing floral beds, rock formations, and mature trees amidst a plethora of abundant and dense indigenous flora. Perfectly manicured bunkers and strips of verdant green fairway seamlessly fit into the landscape, much the way nature intended it. We headed out in search of the best holes in which to shoot. Doug Stephenson was kind enough to meet up with us and show us around. We told him we’d do our best, as it was 10ish, and we all knew the sun was high the the photo opportunities to be had in the early morning we lost.

“Just hit some shots and have fun,” the friendly Aloha Section PGA professional and resort director of golf told us. So, we did!

Norman and Robinson really do WOW golfers on virtually every hole and shot. They use water hazards and carries over bunkers which are strategically placed throughout as a means of protecting Old Man Par. They also place bunkers at or near the falloff areas where the water awaits errant shots (me), to give golfers a reprieve (most-needed) when erring off of many of the tees. It is a fair test of golf and, as I have mentioned, a scenic one too.

No. 8 is one of Hawai‘i’s most interesting golf holes. It is a par 4 that features an island green just 308 yards from the tips. The green is fronted by water and a rock wall, and massive Cook pines serve as a backdrop. I took a late afternoon shot of it which appears at the top of this page.

The back nine rises about 300 feet in elevation and in the mornings is so silent you can hear a pin drop. As I said, a morning fog usually wafts in and creates a biota-like environ that is both boggy and surreal. Everything just seems like it is wrapped in velvet.

As the course climbs to its great heights, we find a crescendo: the 444-yard downhill par 4 17th, which is so high up that the fairway looks almost impossible to hit. But you can do it, as I almost did! Years ago, during an exhibition match with Greg Norman, held in celebration of the resort’s opening, Jack Nicklaus pumped several balls O.B. trying to hit this small target.

Hole No. 8.

The par 72 Challenge at Manele is 90 feet above Hulopo‘e Bay, in an oceanfront haven with the white-flecked sea crashing into the cliffs far below. A Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, the Challenge has five sets of tees ranging in length from 7,039-yards from the Nicklaus tees, to 5,024-yards from the Red tees. This course has five par 3s and five par 5s, and a number of exceptional par 4s, many of which exceed 430 yards in length.

The Challenge at Manele is famous for its cliffside holes, but Nicklaus has created an intriguing test of golf on the inland holes that has done justice to its name. Holes sweep to the left and right, favoring neither the fade nor the draw, but both. Lava outcroppings require precision off of the tees, but the approach shots are where the scoring happens, and Nicklaus makes every single one of them a thrill.

The Challenge at Manele is known for its incredible cliffside holes, and when you get to them, you’ll say ‘WOW!’ too. The first of them is No. 12, a 202-yard par 3 with dramatic cliffs that run as far as the eye can see. Making solid contact with the right club on this all-carry hole is paramount, as is being sure you have your camera handy!

What follows is the par 4 13th, which also follows the same coastline. It is much like a shortened version of No. 18 at Pebble, only here there is less room to the right to bail out. The 444-yard par 4 17th calls for a long carry over the cliffs, and successfully done, is a highlight for any golfer’s trip to Lāna‘i.

With its commanding views of both shorelines and the majestic Mt. Haleakalā, this clubhouse is nestled within the lush foothills of the West Maui mountains, and below it lie the verdant Ted Robinson-designed fairways and greens of the club’s golf course, all meticulously maintained and available to its members.

This is a golf club unlike any other in Hawai‘i, with the finest of everything imaginable all polished and buffed and ready for the people who are fortunate enough to call it their Maui home course. Interestingly, while it does have members who are indeed famous, people from all walks of life have joined and the club has gone to great lengths to welcome businesses, families, and golfers young and old to join its roster with a varied and attractive offering of memberships to fit just about every need and budget. For the money, it is unquestionably the best membership opportunity for golf in Hawai‘i, and despite the prestige and exclusive feel that emanates from its imposing, fortress-like compound, it is actually an exceptionally inviting club, with convivial members and staffers alike, who share a love for the game, and Maui’s nō ka ‘oi aloha spirit.

Just like its many membership offerings, nothing was spared back in 1993 during the the creation of what the members of The King Kamehameha Golf Club enjoy today. The word ‘Grand’, part of its original name, is, in the case of this particular place, not a hyperbole, but fact. It was an epic undertaking. It had zero limits. Taliesin West’s John Rattenbury, Mr. Wright’s apprentice (and the clubhouse’s architect of record) was told that visionary co-developer Takeshi Sekiguchi, the man who also created the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa, though no longer affiliated with the property, said: “…don’t worry about money; you only worry about design.”

As Rattenbury put it later, “It was unbelievable. That’s the only time in my life that has ever happened.” $35 million dollars, and 15 years later, Frank Lloyd Wright’s design for what was to be the “Marilyn Monroe” house is now the home of The King Kamehameha Golf Club, Maui’s premiere, members-only, 18-hole golf club.

Since memberships at The King Kamehameha Golf Club have expanded to include a variety of levels and types, the smart golfers have followed. There is nothing like it anywhere in Hawai‘i—or the world for that matter—because it is here, on Maui, and it is a rarity, a treasure, and something no one will ever be able to duplicate. We have great clubs in Hawai‘i, but nothing so superbly separated from the hustle and bustle, or with such a famed Wright-designed clubhouse.

The clubhouse features interiors that are giant expanses. The floors, walls, ceilings, doors, and windows are stunning examples of Wright’s design genius. But this is only part of the story of what makes The King Kamehameha Golf Club unique among others: what really separates it is who it is named for: Kamehameha the Great.

King Kamehameha I was Hawai‘i’s greatest warrior-king. In 1810, he unified the islands into the Hawai‘ian Kingdom. He is historically the most significant Hawai‘ian man to have ever existed. When Tokyo tycoon Makoto Kaneko purchased the Waikapū golf courses four years ago, he made a commitment to honor the culture and history of Hawai‘i, and in doing so, named the members-only club as: The King Kamehameha Golf Club.

Mr. Kaneko and his management team at The King Kamehameha Golf Club go beyond honoring the Hawai‘ian culture with Kamehameha the Great’s name; they have also backed their words with important deeds. First, they consulted with a descendant of The King himself: Rubellite Kawena Johnson. Ms. Johnson was first asked to consult on the cultural significance of the Waikapū area and The Club’s relationship to it. Then, The King Kamehameha Golf Club retained the counsel of Clifford Naeole as a key part of The Club’s cultural pledge.

Through their joint guidance, The King Kamehameha Golf Club has strived to honor Hawai‘i, the island culture, and our history further through the commissioning of a collection of important artistic works in Hawai‘ian themes by Hawai‘i’s “living treasures.” Together, they have transformed The King Kamehameha Golf Club’s clubhouse into something of a cultural museum. Artists of great stature here in Hawai‘i such as: painter Herb Kawainui Kane, traditional kapa maker Puanani Van Dorpe, and featherworker Jo-Anne Kahanamoku-Sterling, have combined to help The King Kamehameha Golf Club honor the Hawaiian culture in a truly significant way. Additionally, The King Kamehameha Golf Club commissioned sculptor Dale Zarella, whose work clearly reflects a true bond with our culture, to create five unique sculptures to supplement the fine work of the great Hawaiian artists. The result shows in the details, in the deeds, and in the combined totality of the physical attributes of everything that is The King Kamehameha Golf Club. Together, it makes it all unique. Like I said: there is nothing like it in the world.

As those in the know make this golf club a part of their lives, and the ranks of The King Kamehameha Golf Club’s membership continue to swell, what will ultimately make this Maui treasure the envy of all non-members in the years to come will be the powerful, awe-inspiring, sublime, almost surreal experience that it is to actually play its 18-hole, 7,060-yard, par-72 Ted Robinson, Sr.- and Jr.-designed golf course. Fear and glory are just a small sampling of the emotions one will feel by the time they are done playing this natural, impeccably maintained collection of golf holes. No matter how many times you play it, something is bound to occur that you will never forget.

Members and their guests may never admit it, but most are certain to show an indelible number of pars, birdies, eagles, and ‘others’ on their scorecards, as they not only face 18 individually unique tests of golf but are continuously challenged, visually and emotionally, by the shots they must play; the breezy trades; the aesthetics of the course’s curving, sloping, undulating fairways; its waterfalls, ponds, and streams that flow down from the hillsides; the unobstructed, bicoastal views from virtually every perch; the gigantic, looming cliffs of the West Maui mountains; the magnitude of Mt. Haleakaā; the squares of cane fields that cover the valley; and the cape-like curvature of Ma‘alaea Bay, where Molokini peeks through the left edge of the hills along the West; and the length of shoreline that makes its way all the way down the South Maui coast to the Pu‘u Ola‘i cinder cone in Mākena. If there is one word that summarizes what it is like to play golf at The King Kamehameha Golf Club,
it’s “exhilarating!”

The Robinsons’ course design philosophy is threefold: flexibility, in that the course needs to be playable for all levels; memorability, in that when you leave the course, you won’t forget it; and natural surroundings, in that they try to impact the environment as little as possible when they create a golf course. In the case of The King Kamehameha Golf Club, they have succeeded in accomplishing all three of their goals: it plays to the fade, the draw, the long hitter and the short hitter. It has water features that blend into the surroundings and appear as though they belong. And with both nines facing either the North or the South shore, the views alone are memorable.

But most golfers who are lucky enough to play The King Kamehameha Golf Club will be busy focusing on the task at hand: trying to hit the fairways and greens and to make the putts. They may not notice that the TifEagle bermudagrass greens roll faster and are greener than anything in the islands. They may not notice that the Tifton 328 used in the fairways is the same stuff that putting greens are made of. They may not even notice the first and second cuts of rough, the brilliant decorative landscaping, or the Hawaiian nēnēs that are the only permanent residents of this incredible golf course.

Because when they step up to the first tee and see that rolling, sweeping, downhill, downwind par 5 in front of them, they may be in utter awe. They’ll see what PGA pro Rick Castillo, The King Kamehameha Golf Club’s director of golf, calls “one of the most stunning opening holes on Maui.” They’ll see that rolling, sweeping, downhill, downwind par 5 in front of them, and sigh.

When The King Kamehameha Golf Club’s members and guests putt out, there awaits utter royal treatment. Warm and cold towels are immediately offered. Clubs are shined and whisked away. It’s time to enter a world of luxury, where African mahogany lockers house the white jackets of the members, and the spas await, with their plasma TV in their sauna, their Japanese furo tubs, their private massage rooms, and exclusive lounges and dining areas.

The King Kamehameha Golf Club is Hawai‘i’s finest and most inviting golf membership club. The club has gone the distance to ensure that families, businesses, and individuals from all walks of life have the opportunity to call this club their own. The course, clubhouse, and philosophy behind the club are truly unique to the islands and represent the very essence of what a golf club should be.
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