The West's Best: "I" is for Big Island

Anybody who’s ventured to Hawaii’s Big Island knows it’s a virtual National Geographic highlight reel of natural wonders. You can change climates by rounding a bend; ski 14,000-foot Mauna Kea in the morning and surf off the Kona Coast in the afternoon; lose yourself among the windward side’s waterfalls one day and hike into the fiery glow of Kilauea’s lava flow the next. A week doesn’t do it justice; heck, a lifetime of exploration might not do the job.

It’s the same with golf. To do the Big Island’s multi-hued hackin’ trail justice will take a 10-day trip, bare minimum. Most pilgrimages begin on the Kohala Coast with its warm, dry weather, big and luxurious resorts (Hilton Waikoloa Village, Waikoloa Beach Marriott, Mauna Lani, Four Seasons Hualalai, Kona Village, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Hapuna Beach Prince Resort, plus several condominium properties) and otherworldly volcanic landscape. Red and black lava beds define nearly every hole at the famous resort courses of Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani and Waikoloa — call them the heavenly half dozen. The first and still considered best is Mauna Kea, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. masterpiece with perhaps one of the three most photographed holes in the world: No. 3, a par 3 of 210 yards that spans a heaving, crashing bay.

Next door is Hapuna, an Arnold Palmer-Ed Seay design that’s more African savanna than classic Hawaii, never brushing the ocean itself but boasting a Pacific view on every hole. It might be the sternest test of golf on the island, replete with the King’s favorite design elements — blind tee shots, tricky layups, epic carryovers, bold bunkering, dizzying elevation changes and leviathan-sized greens. Its final four holes, which tumble downwind toward the clubhouse, make for a stirring, linksy finish — St. Andrews on a 5 percent tilt.

Five miles south, Mauna Lani Resort serves up 36 holes of modern lava golf in a lush, carefully presented package that began as 18 holes in the hinterlands. It’s like a set from “South Pacific,” but it’s also real — and what people think of when they think of Hawaiian golf resorts. By the time architect Robin Nelson signed on to expand the original course into two — the North and South — the resort was well-established and world-class.

Routed through vast, ancient a’a fields, around ancient fish ponds and craggy ocean inlets, both Mauna Lani courses are kept in prime condition, with the South getting more play. It’s where the Senior Tour staged its Skins Game until a few years ago; a plaque at each tee box recounts great shots or moments from that particular hole.

The South’s two seaside 3-pars, holes 7 and 15, are two distinct sides of the same surf-sprayed coin. The former is a 210-yard beast, usually into the wind. No. 15, the South’s signature hole, is creampuff in comparison, little more than an 8-iron from the regular tees to what may be the biggest green on the island. But there is the distraction factor, with that crashing surf and all.

While Mauna Lani is the most laid-back of the north Kohala destinations, the ever-growing, condo-steeped Waikoloa Beach Resort is easily the busiest and most popular. Anchored by the simply amazing Hilton Waikoloa Village hotel — with its dolphin lagoon, waterfalls, Disneyland-like boat rides and high-end shops — and the more low-key Waikoloa Beach Marriott, it also offers two 18-hole tracks: Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s Beach Course, which opened in 1981; and the Kings Course, an early Tom Weiskopf-Jay Morrish design that followed in 1990.

The Beach is the better bet of the two if you want a little of everything — flat, straight holes, tight doglegs, a few inland lakes and a splash of ocean. The Kings Course is away from the ocean, up on wind-exposed bluff, so play it early and head for an afternoon on the beach at nearby Anaeho‘omalu Bay, one of the island’s best. Both courses rank as must-plays, but good thing more people don’t know that; in the afternoon (where rates drop down to around $60), you might have either to yourself.

It’s the same scenario down the road at Hualalai, which is actually in the North Kona district but whose character is Kohala all the way. Tee times are plentiful and there’s never a wait, for one big reason: You’ve got to stay at the ultra-swank resort to the tune of about $600 per night, then pay another $190 to find your way onto Jack Nicklaus’ first Big Island design. Little play means sparkling lies on every inch of fairway at Hualalai, and a leisurely pace lets you marvel at how Nicklaus has found his own way through the lava. There are plenty of quirks — a deep bunker in the middle of No. 12 green, huge waste bunkers in driving lanes at holes 6 and 10, and a classic Jack

par 3 at 17 — a mere 164 yards from the tips, but every inch of it rife with danger, from lava to a massive wrap-around bunker to slippery grass slopes short. The hole is at ocean level, an obvious tip of the hat to Pebble’s nos. 7 and 17; face the spray and enjoy.

We’ve just begun to scratch the surface of the Big Island’s golf wonders. Down the coast is Kona and its handful of worthwhile, more classic resort tracks, and “upcountry” are some of the most aesthetically unique and surprisingly affordable courses in the entire state — Waikoloa Village Golf Course, Waimea Country Club, Big Island Country Club and Makalei Country Club. And you can get in a round within spitting distance of an active volcano on the island’s south side.

This is a brand of golf you can’t find on the mainland. It’s worth the five-hour flight and big budget. Trust us on that one. FG

Mauna Kea Resort/Mauna Kea Beach Hotel/Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel | 888.9.PRINCE | www.princeresortshawaii.com

Mauna Lani Resort | 800.367.2323 | www.maunalani.com

Waikoloa Beach | 877.WAIKOLOA | www.waikoloabeachresort.com