Round #2 of my Big Island trip was this morning at Waikoloa Village. It's a little ways off of the ocean, so the price is about half of what you would pay at the places on the beach. Just the same, th... Continue »

Round #2 of my Big Island trip was this morning at Waikoloa Village. It's a little ways off of the ocean, so the price is about half of what you would pay at the places on the beach. Just the same, the course was really quite nice. The people working there were super friendly, and the starter set me up with a very nice twosome of one local, and one fellow Seattleite. We walked the course in just about 4 hours, which was pretty amazing because we caught a fivesome about halfway through, but they played really quick and we almost never had to wait on them. It also felt very nice to actually walk a course in Hawaii, and not be forced into a cart.

The greens rolled really well there, not exactly fast or slow, but medium and true. There was a fair bit of grain to deal with, which is definitely something I don't have to deal with too often, but it really didn't bother me much. Fairways were nice, and the rough was a little bit thick, but not too penalizing. I stayed out of the bunkers so I can't say what they play like, but they looked pretty awful. The local I played with called them kitty litter, and actually putted out of a green side bunker on #9. A couple of tee boxes didn't seem quite level, but they really were not too bad.

The layout is quite forgiving, but still pleasant. I found a coupon in one of the magazines laying around with ads for Big Island activities, so with that it was definitely worth the trip. I'm glad I went out of the way to play it.