Waikoloa Beach & Golf Resort
Lava made the Big
Island, of course, and it’ll make (and sometimes break)
your golf
experience at Waikoloa Beach & Golf Resort. It’s quite naturally
the defining element of Waikoloa’s two championship layouts along the
Kohala
Coast: the Beach Course and the Kings’ Course.
Designed
by Robert
Trent Jones Jr., the Beach Course winds its way along
historic lava flows near
Anaehoomalu Bay, offering dazzling ocean
views, and the occasional glimpse of
humpback whales. Water comes into
play on five of the first nine holes, but
that’s just a prelude to
what’s perhaps the most spectacular oceanfront par-five
in Hawaii—the
502-yard 12th. Tee off straight toward the sea, with lava flanking
both
sides of the fairway, then to a green that’s perched on an outcropping atop
the water and framed by coconut trees swaying in the
tradewinds.
Lava
in a links setting awaits you on the Kings’
Course, designed by Tom Weiskopf and
Jay Morrish. The 7,000-yard par-72
layout can be a stern test—it hosted a U.S.
Open Qualifier earlier this
year—but multiple sets of tees give you the option
of remaining
relatively unscarred by the lava outcroppings throughout. Pot
bunkers
and even a double green for the third and sixth holes lend the course
its links feel, but the views of the towering volcanic mountains close
by leave
no doubt that you’re teeing it up in a tropical paradise half
a world from
Scotland.
For more information, call 808-886-7888 or visit WaikoloaBeachResort.com to
explore a sampling of golf
packages, from the “Endless Fairway Golf Package” of
unlimited golf
offered by Hilton Waikoloa Village to a three-night, two-round
stay at
Waikoloa Colony Villas.
Mauna Kea's Makeover
Prince Resorts boasts several of
Hawaii’s most beloved destinations, from
Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel,
overlooking one of the Big Island’s best beaches; to
the Hawaii Prince
Hotel Waikiki on Oahu; to the Maui Prince Hotel Makena Resort
on Maui.
But this fall the focus is on a fourth landmark property, the Mauna Kea
Beach Hotel, as it prepares to re-open in December following a
two-year, $150
million makeover.
“Our goal is to re-establish Mauna Kea as a
sophisticated and
intimate luxury hotel offering contemporary accommodations and
amenities of the highest caliber, along with our signature tradition of
excellent service,” says PRH President Donn Takahashi. The
refurbishment focused
primarily on the resort’s interiors—including
guest rooms, lobby, restaurants
and common areas—as well as new retail
shops and other amenities, including a
spa and fitness center.
Closed since May 2007, for its own
tee-to-green restoration
under the guidance of Rees Jones, the Mauna Kea Golf
Course (above, the
par-3 third) will reopen for play in November.
To book
golf, set a date to stay at the new-again Mauna Kea or
for information on
vacation packages at any Prince Resort property,
call 866-PRINCE-6 or visit
PrinceGolfHawaii.com.
