Stay And Play: A Golf Jaunt To Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Resort

About 10 years ago, I personally discovered that Hawaii’s Kohala Coast on the Big Island has to be one of America’s most-underrated golf destinations. The island seems to be the lesser-visited sibling to Maui, Oahu and Kauai for vacationers, yet there are so many really good golf courses here within a 30-minute drive from one another that I couldn’t wait to return. And last week, I finally did. Yes, the Big Island is a romantic getaway, but I can also picture it as an excellent golf buddy destination particularly for West Coasters who can jaunt over on a non-stop flight in five hours.

As part of a longer trip this time, I was able to experience two nights at the Mauna Kea Resort – located on the northwest part of the island – and play a round at its 6,895-yard, Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay-designed Hapuna Golf Course. It’s a 35-minute drive from the Kona Airport up the coast along the black lava rock-lined main strip called Highway 19.

We checked into the Mauna Kea Residences at the resort, and were incredibly happy to find the unit located down on the lowest floor, facing the Pacific (every room at the resort has a front row ocean view), and armed with every amenity I could hope for. The Residences are part of the hotel, so guests still have access to all of the hotel’s facilities. The family was with me, so we had a spacious three-bedroom unit. Our private patio even had its own hot tub, along with a full kitchen, upscale appliances, large-screen TV’s, laundry closet, bidets, and even our own private gate to the beach. There was also air conditioning, but we often found ourselves opening up the full-wall doors to get a great, cool breeze. Everyone was happy. Yes we took advantage of the beach and two of the restaurants in the hotel – Naupuka Beach Grill and Ikena Landing. We also took the shuttle to the sister Mauna Kea Hotel one night for dinner there. Part of that hotel is currently under renovation, and unfortunately so is its world-renowned Mauna Kea Golf Course — a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design. But one of the hotel employees tells me that when they reopen the course in February, it will have eliminated several of the 99 bunkers. I understand that they’re making the layout more-resort-friendly and also completely replacing the turf. Can’t wait to come back and play it someday. Loved it when I played there on my previous trip.

Regardless, I was able to play the Hapuna Golf Course this time with my daughter. The course actually borders Mauna Kea Golf Course. But while Mauna Kea is situated close to the water, Hapuna plays up into the wild brush and hillside. Its entire front nine climbs up the hill – expect some amazingly refreshing breezes – and the back nine brings you back down. Yet every hole offers an ocean view and a photo opportunity. It’s very serene, with plenty of wildlife to keep you mesmerized – my daughter loved all of the goats we encountered during our round. The second cut of rough is essentially made up of tall straw that’s difficult to get out of. I blasted a shot from it once during the round that essentially went all of about 30 yards. Thankfully, the fairways are generously sized, making it easy to keep your ball in play. It’s a player-friendly, hilly course with few flat lies. But many holes are sculpted to bring your shots back toward the center. The greens are mostly flat and in amazing condition. And while many of the fairways were blemish-free, several candidly needed some TLC. There are many really good holes here, regardless. We seemingly had the course to ourselves for 10 holes – the only other human we saw was the very friendly beverage cart woman – before running into a slow group. We played through before landing behind another twosome for the last three holes. So I just played an extra ball for those holes. Despite all that, we still finished our round in less than 2.5 hours – giving us extra beach time for the afternoon. I highly recommend playing here to anyone visiting the island.

Nightlife on the Big Island has a unique meaning. There aren’t a lot of bars, although we hung out at the open-air one on the terrace one night listening to a great guitar player/vocalist. The sunset watching is fantastic, and I’m told you can also go stargazing up at 11,000 feet on Mauna Kea – a mountain that does get snow (yes, even in Hawaii) and boasts one of the world’s largest telescopes. Also popular is the manta ray night snorkeling, in which the water is lit up for what I hear is a surreal experience. Our only side excursion besides desperately trying to find a local pizza place, was touring a local Kona coffee facility up in the mountains, which was really enlightening.

If you’re planning to visit the island — and especially if you want to play golf on your trip — Mauna Kea Resort is a nice option.