The West's Best: "K" is for Kauai

by Tony Dear

Sure, Kauai is the oldest of the Hawaii chain’s major islands. And, yeah, it’s without a doubt the most laid-back in attitude and pace. But the golf product is relatively new to mainlanders compared to Oahu, Maui or the Big Island. And the newer resort courses, especially those on the wetter, wilder north shore, are anything but calming to one’s game. In fact, they’re among the world’s toughest tests, which alone qualifies them for our greatest hits catalog. Add incredible scenery and first-cabin creature comforts and you’ve got a destination to die for.

But let’s start on the south shore at a particular heart-stopping hole: No. 13 at Kiele. Discovered by Jack Nicklaus in 1988, it plays across a 60-foot-deep Pacific precipice and is the one hole you fall into bed after another largely unfulfilling day and go to sleep dreaming about. After that comes a stretch of five consecutive holes that bring you within pitching distance of the ocean — more than any other course on Kauai.

The island’s golf history goes back further than most think. Local legend Toyo Shirai built the first nine of the Garden Isle’s 162 golf holes at Kukuiolono in 1928. And 33 years later, he added 18 more at Wailua, an impressive county-owned muni 10 miles north of the island’s capital, Lihue. Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s Kiahuna (reviewed in the February-March 2006 issue of FG) followed in 1984 and then came Kauai Lagoons’ Kiele and Mokihana, the island’s fifth and sixth courses respectively which, together, helped reinforce the notion of Kauai as a stand-alone golf destination.

Puakea, a Robin Nelson design, is another hugely enjoyable, eminently playable course where you can smack your driver about the place without the need for Fred Funk-like accuracy. A straight ball works best but wayward drives won’t necessarily take you out of the hole. A huge Home Depot behind the No. 1 green is an unfortunate blot on an otherwise alluring landscape, but it quickly fades from memory as you move into the more remote, more Hawaiian, parts of the course.

“It’s definitely among the best I’ve ever designed,” says Nelson, who feels it warrants a place in the state’s Top 5. Among his favorite holes is No. 6, a gorgeous downhill par 3 that looks towards Ha’upu Ridge where scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed. “It’s a great hole, but I really like the 3rd, 11th and 12th too,” he says. “None of them are overly difficult and anyone can make a par if they play sensibly, but you’ve got to have a good strategy if you want to birdie them.”

Most of Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s 81 Kauai holes are similarly compliant. The Woods, Lakes and Ocean nines at Princeville’s Makai Course were regarded as pretty tough when built in 1972, but a good player armed with a 460cc rocket-launcher and hop-and-stop Pro-V1s should really make hay while the sun shines, which it does quite a lot. Kiahuna is there for the low-handicapper’s taking if he gets on a roll. And Poipu Bay was made to look a bit frail by Phil Mickelson at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf when, despite hitting just five fairways, Lefty carded a 59.

In still conditions, the only place on Kauai where you’re in danger of losing a lot of golf balls, and perhaps a little dignity, is the awesome Prince Course at Princeville. Opened in 1991 to worldwide acclaim, the Prince stretches to 7,309 yards, boasts a 145 slope rating and still tops most people’s lists of Hawaiian courses. Don’t leave Kauai without taking it on.

Lodging options on Kauai are varied and numerous but the pick of a generally high-quality bunch is the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa where the least expensive room will cost you $455 if you book online. Once you’ve seen your room, eaten at Dondero’s, had a nightcap in Stevenson’s Library, woken up with a walk on the beach, swept away the cobwebs with an espresso on the Seaview Terrace and sent the kids off to Camp Hyatt while you relax at the Alana Spa or Saltwater Lagoons, it becomes apparent that you are holed up in one of the world’s great hotels.

The Princeville Resort built on the edge of glorious Hanalei Bay is every bit as opulent. The ocean views once prompted humorist Dave Barry to suggest Princeville was the sort of place people in Heaven went when they died.

Poipu, the island’s main tourist center, is not short on good places to eat. The Beach House Restaurant, a mile west of the Grand Hyatt on Lawai Road, has been voted the

Best on Kauai by Honolulu Magazine every year since 2000. The dining room enjoys a superb view overlooking the Pacific, and Executive Chef Todd Barrett, who arrived at the beginning of 2005, is making the most of the local fish, which he describes as “exciting to work with.” The Beach House is really all about seafood (the mahi-mahi is highly recommended) but the menu is in no way limited to the catch of the day.

If you’re staying at the Grand Hyatt, you really don’t need to leave the premises. No matter what your belly aches for, one of the eight restaurants dotted around the property will see you right. Tidepools, with its open-air hale pili (thatched huts) surrounded by waterfalls and koi-filled lagoons, is a very pleasant spot indeed to ram down a steak or seared ahi, while Dondero’s serves up a cracking plate of pasta in a very elegant setting. If it’s colorful hula dancing and a huge roasted pig cooked in a deep pit (or ima) you’re after, then head for the hotel’s very own lu’au, “Drums of Paradise” (Sundays and Thursdays only, plus Tuesdays in the summer).

For something altogether less formal, you’ll find great burgers and breakfasts at Poipu Tropical Burgers, and if you’re eating in, load up on fresh fish at the Koloa Fish Market.

Plantation Gardens, in the Kiahuna Plantation Resort area, is housed in a beautifully restored 1930s manor house. The menu is extensive and includes some very fine local dishes including steamed seafood laulau — fish topped with taro leaves then wrapped in ti leaves.

There never was a bad time to visit this particular corner of Paradise (apart from Sept. 11, 1992 when Hurricane Iniki struck, perhaps), but with the Prince being dolled up, Kiele getting its new hole and Puakea and Kiahuna soon to be building new clubhouses, the near future looks rosy for golf in Kauai.

But we love it right now. FG

 

Kauai Lagoons | 800.634.6400 | www.golfbc.com

Princeville | 808.826.3580 | www.princeville.com

Poipu Bay | 800.858.6300 | www.poipubaygolf.com