Played Friday Dec 21st. They have a Friday skins game - $60.00 green fee and $24.00 skins buy-in. This was the same as when using the GolfHawaii discount card. The trade winds were blowing seriously s... Continue »

Played Friday Dec 21st. They have a Friday skins game - $60.00 green fee and $24.00 skins buy-in. This was the same as when using the GolfHawaii discount card. The trade winds were blowing seriously strong - any other time and we would have stayed in the bar but when you are on vacation, you feel obligated to utilize your limited time. Also, there is no bar, or restaurant, for that matter, at the clubhouse - just empty facility rooms that mirror the disused snack bar at the 10th hole. My playing partner has a 5 index and was unable to birdie any hole, such was the ferocity of the wind. On one hole, we chipped up to the pin from 50 feet, drove to the green only to find our golf balls had blown back to where we had just hit them from. On another. I chipped to within 1 foot, ran up to tap in before the wind moved the ball and as I addressed the ball, a gust bent over the flagstick and whapped me on the head. So, my impressions of the golf course are invariably coloured by the playing conditions.
The practice facility is uphill and into the trade wind direction. So, tip one, wait for the trades to dissipate and for the Kona (onshore) winds to arrive, for which this course appears to be set up. It winds uphill into the lava beds and does provide some great views of the ocean below. There are houses/condos around the holes, with more likely to be built whenever the economy rebounds sufficiently. They do not generally intrude on the ambience. The overall condition of the course was normal for such a resort course - perfectly acceptable without being superior. Rack rate is advertised as $125.00, which I would never pay - but then, no-one does. There are discount cards, coupons in Big Island brochures and packages for the local hotels and resorts. I would definitely play there again for the discounted rate.