- Staff
- #1
That place in INSANE. There isn't a single flat spot on that entire course, and most of the elevation changes are extremely dramatic. You have to aim 30 yards away from where you want the ball to actually finish. It's a really technical track and demands strict course management.
Example: the 18th hole drops 90 feet for the tee shot. You have to aim at the clubhouse on the right so that the ball will stay in the fairway on the left. It was also down wind so my drive rolled out to 357 yards. With 243 left all I needed was a hybrid 4 to have an eagle putt.
Conversely, the 4th hole is a blind tee shot uphill and the fairway is almost 100 feet above the tee box.
Here's a pic from the 6th tee looking back on the 5th green (to the right) you can't even see the tee box (because it's 100' below that fairway). You can also see a massive canyon to the left with a glimpse of the 8th hole down on the left (170' below this tee box)
This is looking back down the 10th, which is another blind tee that rises 55 feet (coming up from the left side of the pic) with 12 and 13 (and Moloka'i) in the background.
Overall I'd give this course a 8/10. It's lush and prestigious, but can be comical at times. LOTS of blind tee shots make it difficult to determine what to hit off the tee, so you'd better hope to get grouped with someone who has played there before (I was lucky enough to get one guy who'd played there once) There are plenty of tees for all handicaps. The wind was blowing 20-25 mph so that didn't help, but the course itself is challenging enough. The fairways are wide, but usually roll out sideways, and the greens are mostly nearly flat but can vary to multi-tiered with crazy slopes. An example of that is 15, where Morikawa essentially lost the Tournament of Champions, I hit the green in two but with the tiered slopes I actually felt lucky to only 3-putt. You are not allowed to walk, which believe me is totally fine...
I have immensely more respect for the pros shooting under par on this track, It's a monster.
$479 to play (there were plenty of available tee times, I made mine the day before I played and got the time I wanted)
$120 for Titleist T200 rentals and 6 ProV1s (I lost every one of them)
Example: the 18th hole drops 90 feet for the tee shot. You have to aim at the clubhouse on the right so that the ball will stay in the fairway on the left. It was also down wind so my drive rolled out to 357 yards. With 243 left all I needed was a hybrid 4 to have an eagle putt.
Conversely, the 4th hole is a blind tee shot uphill and the fairway is almost 100 feet above the tee box.
Here's a pic from the 6th tee looking back on the 5th green (to the right) you can't even see the tee box (because it's 100' below that fairway). You can also see a massive canyon to the left with a glimpse of the 8th hole down on the left (170' below this tee box)
This is looking back down the 10th, which is another blind tee that rises 55 feet (coming up from the left side of the pic) with 12 and 13 (and Moloka'i) in the background.
Overall I'd give this course a 8/10. It's lush and prestigious, but can be comical at times. LOTS of blind tee shots make it difficult to determine what to hit off the tee, so you'd better hope to get grouped with someone who has played there before (I was lucky enough to get one guy who'd played there once) There are plenty of tees for all handicaps. The wind was blowing 20-25 mph so that didn't help, but the course itself is challenging enough. The fairways are wide, but usually roll out sideways, and the greens are mostly nearly flat but can vary to multi-tiered with crazy slopes. An example of that is 15, where Morikawa essentially lost the Tournament of Champions, I hit the green in two but with the tiered slopes I actually felt lucky to only 3-putt. You are not allowed to walk, which believe me is totally fine...
I have immensely more respect for the pros shooting under par on this track, It's a monster.
$479 to play (there were plenty of available tee times, I made mine the day before I played and got the time I wanted)
$120 for Titleist T200 rentals and 6 ProV1s (I lost every one of them)
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