Hawaii: Kauai
Double-Oh HeavenOne trip to Kauai and You'll Feel an Island Bond That's Hard to Leave Behind
But when Mr. Bond goes off the clock, he’s looking for what the rest of us crave — plenty of anonymous down time. If that doesn’t pan out, look out — especially if you run into him on the remote-yet-famous north coast of Kauai. As local legend has it, Pierce Brosnan, sixth in a long line of cinematic Bonds, keeps a vacation home near Princeville, where he grows some whiskers, surfs a bit, maybe plays a few rounds of golf on two of the world’s most scenic courses and generally lays low. Not long ago — after he’d finished his four-flick run as 007 — a tourist couple spotted him in a local hangout and unthinkingly asked for an autograph. “He wasn’t happy,” a local source told a group of golf writers swinging, sipping and slumming their way through five days and nights of sweet island hospitality. “He let them have it and stormed off.” Tough to blame the guy for blowing up. Bond might be the model of suave strength for millions of modern men, but carve into a fiery Irish actor’s Kauai time and you’re bound to get an icy stare and sharp rebuff. Most of us aren’t famous, of course, so we can book passage to the Garden Isle with no fear of interruption, unless it’s the cocktail waitress looking to replenish that Mai Tai or a cart girl hawking stogies and brews. In fact, the biggest diversion for a golfer is scenery so prehistorically staggering that even the CG dinosaurs of all three “Jurassic Park” flicks couldn’t upstage it — and a wealth of off-the-course outdoor activities that tempt to turn even the most mild-mannered hacker into Indiana Jones, if only for a day or two. The trick is staying long enough to sample most if not all of the Kauai destination cooperative’s 99 holes and squeezing in some time to hike Waimea Canyon (sort of a Grand Canyon at island scale), sail, surf, snorkel … or maybe go inland for some whitewater rafting with an intrepid local golf pro, as one writer did before heading home. Kauai is the oldest of Hawaii’s major islands and the most remote from the others, though Oahu is only a half hour flight away. Like its sisters to the east, it’s a wonder of tropical microclimates, cooled by trade winds throughout the year yet never dipping below the high 70s in the daytime. Virtually all of its population (and its golf courses) are within shouting distance of the Pacific and centered in three main spots — Princeville on the north shore, Lihue on the east and Poipu on the south — while the mountainous interior remains as wild and dense with natural wonder as any region in the United States. Its climate and the intrinsic charm and friendliness of its native people, coupled with high-end resorts that stick in the soul like a fragrant seabreeze, make a week’s stay the bare minimum. More than a few mainlanders have come for a vacation and found a way to stay. Permanently. Every Kauai journey begins at Lihue, which might boast the quickest in-and-out airport in the Western Hemisphere. Grab your sticks from baggage claim, slather on some sunscreen, grab a shuttle or cab and you’re on the tee at Kauai Lagoons in less than an hour. For now, play the Mokihana Course; the seaside Kiele Course will reopen in 2008 or 2009 after Jack Nicklaus finishes reworking its back-nine stretch along Kalapaki Bay. He will completely reroute the already-famous stretch to offer more ocean views, with No. 13, previously a 3-par, turning into an epic three-shotter with some serious ocean real estate to negotiate. The front nine remains open. Then again, it’s tempting to just check right into the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club, the island’s oldest and perhaps most family-friendly major hotel, for a quick meal next to the huge, serpentine pool, or maybe a sidetrip to the Asian-themed spa and some beach time. A new porte cochere and ongoing room upgrades find this nearly 40-year-old property in prime shape; it’s a worthy home base for any Kauai visit. But to follow in Bond’s/Brosnan’s footsteps, you’ve got to head north right away, winding along Kauai’s northeast coast, through shrouds of fog and splashes of brilliant sunshine, until you get to Hanalei Bay and the resort hovering above it like a huge, terraced, lushly foliated palace. Ah, Princeville. Like someone once said of Pebble Beach, “it’s where even God waits for a tee time,” and yeah, its 45 holes of golf are magnificent and maddening, but no doubt Brosnan — and a slew of other celebrities, no doubt — originally found their way here for the Princeville Resort’s mellow, mature vibe wrapped in a coat of easy luxury so smooth it’s downright intoxicating. The clientele tends to be a bit older at Princeville, which makes sense. The place isn’t cheap and the pace is anything but frenetic. Only the tee shot on the Prince Course’s No. 1 tee box should come anywhere near raising one’s blood pressure. Damn that Robert Trent Jones II. You gotta love him, even when he’s at his most diabolical. We’ll get back to him in a minute. As for the hotel, it’s where an angel would hang out if the Lord gave him a few days off. Perhaps he’d splurge on at least a Prince Junior Suite, a spacious, split-level retreat with an ocean, garden or mountain view (any will strip away the stress at first glance), including a floor-to-ceiling look from the shower-tub thanks to electrostatic glass that goes opaque at the flip of a switch. It’s one of those little high-tech details that put this hotel on a level of its own, and gives every mortal guest a heavenly chill — not easy to do when it’s 85 in the shade and always on the humid side. Princeville’s chefs know how to curb those earthly hunger pangs, too, warming the palate with a sinfully fresh ahi tartare on the patio at Café Hanalei or a Mediterranean-tinged pasta or seafood dish served in the sunset glow of La Cascata, a fitting name since several waterfalls are visible tumbling down the flora-choked hillsides above Hanalei Bay. Just chilling in the towering, modern cathedral-like lobby is a transcendant experience; like the rest of the resort, it’s designed to soak up as much natural light as possible — indeed, to bring Kauai’s great outdoors, indoors. You’ve gotta head outside for the golf, though, and when you do, be prepared for a royal scorecard-thrashing round on the Prince Course, which lives up to its rep as a beast, and then some. To keep it in double figures, leave the driver next to the minibar and do everything you can to tiptoe through the jungle with hybrids and 3-irons off the tee. It’ll take a strong constitution to stomach forced carries on almost every hole, and the aforementioned angel’s putting stroke to negotiate Jones’ not-so-subtle Bermuda breaks. Exhibit A is No. 1, a downhill par 4 that slides and sneers over a ravine, between two thick swatches of rainforest and into a green perched on a grassy knoll. Jones just pours on the exquisite, deadly routings from there, peppering tee shots with ocean or mountain views and all but begging you to hit the ball straight at any cost. By the time you get to the back tee at No. 7 — as epic a par-3 as has ever been conceived in an island setting, including Trent Sr.’s famous third at Mauna Kea — you realize that Junior was so taken with this once-in-a-lifetime site, he did as little as possible to disturb its natural contours. To the left there’s Aniki beach a couple hundred feet below, and the Pacific itself; dead ahead and an impossibly long 205 yards away is a plateau green with precious bailout area to its right; and beyond are mountain peaks almost continually cloaked in fog. The rain falls in buckets up there, but on the course you’ll get cleansing showers every three or four holes — just enough to remind you that in this part of the world, God is clearly in charge, though the most blessed bounce can go hellishly awry. In that regard, the Prince Course’s true heart comes from holes 10 through 13, a brutal stretch that begins with a crescent-shaped, three-shot-or-else five-par. Holes 12 and 13 are the toughest pair of four-pars in creation, tougher even than 9 and 10 at Pebble. That is, unless your idea of bliss is an elevated tee shot to a straw-wide fairway at 12, or hopscotch-over-jungle-and-creek excursion at 13, whose green is backed by a waterfall. At once savage and civilized, the Prince exacts its price every time — even for head pro Steve Murphy, a California transplant who calls holes 11 through 14 “among the top stretches in the state — if you can get through there in par, you’re golden.” Murphy is fond of the 27-hole Makai Course, as well, but the Prince is its own alluring animal. “What makes it most special is the landscape and terrain,” he continued as his group of beaten-but-wowed writers made its way to the final pair of 4-pars, both of which climb gradually uphill toward the clubhouse. “The Prince Course is unmatched for its rugged beauty, and for challenge I think it’s unmatched in the state. Each hole has its own unique character. You usually don’t see any other golfers once you get started, unless they’re right behind you. And when it rains we get a lot of waterfalls. It’s a lot different from the south shore, which is a little more arid.” There are two ways to approach the Prince — early in your visit, thereby getting the hardest test out of the way early; or by saving it for last to savor every amazing view from this emerald bluff above the whitecapped Pacific, score be damned. Better yet, play it twice, bookending the rest of your Kauai respite with what could be considered Jones’ crowning achievement. Not that the Makai Course — Trent Jones Jr.’s maiden solo effort, opening back in 1971 — won’t get a few votes of its own, especially the Ocean Nine, which, for a few brief, shining moments, hangs on a cliff for dear life and takes your powers of concentration with it. At 224 downwind yards from the tips, No. 7 is an exhilarating ride, the only margin for error on the left side; short and right it’s a precipitous drop to the beach. Though it has hosted several pro events including the LPGA’s Kemper Open and the World Match Play Championships, the Makai is a friendlier way to delve into Princeville golf. Ask for the Ocean and Lakes nines — you’ll find wide fairways throughout, a few challenging junctures (this is still Jones, after all), and that ever-present Hawaiian fringe benefit: Views to make you glad you’re alive, and voluntarily marooned deep in the heart of the Pacific. But truth to tell, if you’re lucky enough to stay in Princeville for the duration, the golf is bound to take a backseat to the North Shore’s myriad other charms — kayak treks to deserted beaches along the Napali Coast, horseback rides to secluded waterfalls, hidden hikes to glorious tropical outposts or simply taking root on a rock to watch the whales and contemplate life. And make no mistake, life is good. Just don’t go to Mr. Bond for confirmation. He’d just as soon keep to himself. FG The Golf Makai Course | 800.826.1105 Kauai Lagoons Resort The Golf Getting There: Direct flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles via United Airlines make getting there from the West Coast easier than ever — perhaps a sticking point for travelers in the past. American, Hawaiian, US Air, Alaska and others also offer service through Honolulu. reader comments
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GamefaceSept-Oct 2007
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