Kauai trip report

[EightBlue]

just got back from a week in Kauai and though I would give a quick report. Played 5 or 6 times. In case you didn't know, the island got 18 inches of rain the week before i was there. despite this, the courses were in good shape all things considered. (A couple of spots of washed out fairways and a few deep bunkers had issues)


Kauai Lagoons-- They are redoing the course so the 18 I played is a combo between the two courses. Always a fun course to play, the 16th hole on the Kiele course might be by favorite hole in all of golf. Course was almost empty. Played by myself twice for $75 (under 2.5 hours both times). golf isn't better than that.

Puakea -- nice public track a mile from our first hotel. Got a good twilight rate ($75), not sure i would pay full freight. In great shape, but kind of a boring course. They have lots of USGA qualifiers here so someday i might structure a vacation around that.

Princeville -- When I get too old to play golf, my last round of golf will be at the Prince Course. Absolutely beautiful and tough. (In case you didn't know, Tiger shot 77 the first time he played the course). Its target golf meets jurassic park. Shot 81 from the tips one day with 3 birdies (where i played better than when i shot 67 at my local course). Followed that up with a 92 from the blues.

In case you are asking, I didn't play Poipu this time. I'm just not a fan of this course.

[PhilsRHman]

Had a chance to spend a week in Kauai a month or so ago. What a place. Luxury on top of luxury. Stayed at the St. Regis up in Princeville, which was simply mind boggling in terms of amenities. The whole place just FELT rich if that makes sense. Then moved to the Hyatt for a few days and finally the Marriott. The Hyatt maintained a high level of posh, but was obviously busier and more active than the St. Regis. In golf terms, I guess the St. Regis was the classic country club (despite a recent overhaul) with the heavy woods and lush carpets and a couple dozen rounds a day. The Hyatt was your super high end resort course with 150 rounds a day, but you still feel like you own the place. The Marriott had a more family feel and the sort of place you could walk around in flip flops and a tank top without feeling like you're out of place.

As for the golf:
Prince: Wow, was that was tough. I'd put it on the 2-3 toughest courses I've played, although I'd love another crack at it. Definitely seemed like a track you have to see first. Many blind shots, and more annoying, many holes with blind trouble. Even with the GPS in the cart, it was hard to figure out target lines, especially the par 5 shaped like a question mark. Some of my fellow players called the course "tricked up" but I would disagree with that. The ? hole might be the only one because it can play anywhere from 400-600 yards, and it's hard to say a "better" shot would necessarily lead to an easier second. I'd guess 5-wood, 3 iron would be enough to get home many days. While I'd defend the design, I do think there are too many holes with hazards running directly across the hole. I played two sets of tees up from the tips, and I think played one further back would have made for a more enjoyable round. If I'm going to shoot 95, I'd rather do it having to hit driver more often than 3 iron off the tee. The one thing that's really cool about those "hazards" is that you drive the cart down and through some sections of jungle that feel like they're straight out of a movie set. Not going to see that in NJ!

Poipu Bay: I don't have a ton of memories of this course, so I guess it didn't make much of an impression. It was in great shape, there were some fun holes and some really tough ones. The guy I played with who knew the course well said that we had some of the lightest tradewinds he'd ever remembered. Knowing they'd hosted the pros might have set the expectations too high, but overall, I'd say it was a solid, enjoyable round, but nothing stood out.

Puakea: Maybe it's my anti-snob roots, but I really really enjoyed this course. After a few days in absolute luxury, it was nice to pull up to a course with a double-wide trailer as the clubhouse, and a snack bar instead of a cloth napkin restaurant. The conditions definitely showed why it's a sub-$100 round while everything else was twice that. But if you could get the Puakea layout into the shape of the others on the island, you'd have my favorite course on Kauai. There aren't the breathtaking ocean views, but the lush green mountains are there throughout the round. And in terms of design, there were no tricks, but it was far from easy. On the golf value scale, this is way up there.


Kauai Lagoons: The real wildcard of the trip. They explained that they're in the middle of a redesign that was derailed by the economic downturn. They've taken pieces of both previous courses to make 18 holes, but it does feel disjointed and hard to shake the idea you're hopping around. However, Kauai Lagoons had the most incredible holes of the week, including some really tough par 3s, and a short little 4 that's nothing more than a 3-iron, wedge into a tiny green that's about 50 feet below the fairway and surrounded on 3 sides by ocean (picture attached).

Great trip, once in a lifetime. Coming from the East Coast, it's a bear of a flight. Two legs of about 7 hours each. Oddly, that sort of added to the mystique. Despite being in resorts the entire time, I actually felt like it was less "Americanized" than some foreign spots (Cancun especially) and maintained a lot of the local vibe.

Certainly a place I'd love to get back to some day ... but for that I better hit up that "if I hit the lottery" thead!

[kris]

I played Puakea when it was a 10 hole course. Of course, it's probably changed a lot since then (other than the addition of 8 holes) but I thought it was a fun little course. Lots of sand if I remember correctly.

I do regret not playing Princeville while I was there.