Mauna Lani has consistently been one of my favorite golf courses in the world. A place I hadn’t played in about five years but got the opportunity to play this past February. I wondered if my intrigue with playing the South Course would drop from the time away. A golf course can look different to the eye after years of being absent. The features of a place that might have captivated the senses in the past, could fail to cause the same excitement. We pulled into the familiar parking lot. The trees casting shade across each of the spaces. Providing protection from the heat of the Hawaii sunshine. Everything felt familiar from the moment I exited the car. The huge pro shop still had tables and racks of merchandise to explore. If you wanted something that said Mauna Lani, something interesting could surely be found. I found a ball mark to purchase, which I do at many of the courses visited. My collection grows a little each year. I walked out the pro shop doors and down the staircase to find my clubs on a golf cart. I went off to the driving range to make a couple swings. We returned to the putting green to hit some putts and were ready to start.
There was one more piece of preparation for me to accomplished. Almost slipping my mind as we waited on the far side of the practice putting green. I have been doing this more and more for my rounds of golf. Asking the cart to be placed in handicap mode. The adjustment allows for the golf cart to be driven closer to the putting greens on the course. When under normal circumstances the cart would be required to stay quiet a distance back from each putting surface. Because of forgetting to ask, I left myself a bit of a walk to the cart stand. Thinking turning the cart to handicap mode would be something that could be done from the building. Not requiring the adjustment to happen on the physical golf cart. I was incorrect and felt bad when the cart person had to make the hike across the putting green with me, in order to push some buttons on the actual cart. I was thankful when he got us all fixed up within a couple minutes. My forgetfulness left us slightly behind in heading to the first tee. However, we were able to quickly catch up with the group in front. The move to handicap mode would come in handy as the day unfolded. I had forgotten about the numerous holes designed with significant mounding around the greens. Making the easiest way of walking onto the green from the front. I could pull up to about five feet of the putting surface and easily walk on, avoiding the hilly mounds.
The first hole on the South Course was as I remembered it to be in my mind. An average length par-5 turning to the right. The hole provides a good welcome to the day of golf. Not trying to do anything tricky or challenge the player too early in the round. The straightforward nature of the hole provides a warm welcome. Ending with a large green surrounded by a few bunkers. I noticed the familiar homes lining the left side of the fairway. Some of my favorites from playing the course before with their backyard pools overlooking the fairway. Almost welcoming me back inside a magical world I get to live in for those next four hours. The next hole to ignite my senses and conjure up memories was the third. The first par-3 on the golf course. A relatively short hole with a slightly elevated teeing area. This hole hit my senses because of the large green tilting from the front up to the back. The mounding flanking each side of the green paints an awe-inspiring picture from the tee markers. Standing on the hole gives me the first realization of where I’m playing. Kind of that welcome back feeling. No matter how many years I have been away. It was in that moment standing on the third tee, I knew the day wouldn’t be boring.
The signature hole of the South Course at Mauna Lani is the par-3 15th. For many golfers they can visualize the hole in their minds, even having never played there. The fifteenth has to be one of the most photographed golf holes in the world. I remember the first time I ever played golf at Mauna Lani; I couldn’t wait to see the hole. Causing me to ignore other aspects of the course and singularly focused of playing fifteen. Over my handful of time playing the South Course, I have found myself enjoying the hole each time, without it being my favorite hole. The distinction of my favorite hole belongs to the par-3 seventh. When the golfer drives from the sixth green to the seventh tee, they drive out to the ocean. The hole runs right along the ocean, moving downhill. When emerging from the brush surrounding the cart path, the view opens to the Pacific Ocean reaching to the horizon. Mauna Lani is built around a bit of a cove which announces itself from standing on the teeing ground of the seventh hole. The golfer will play along the ocean again on the second nine. There has always been something special about the first time going out to the ocean on a golf course. The seventh hole on the South Course is my favorite way of doing that anywhere I have played. It’s a moment never getting old, as it feels surreal each time I play the course. Like I’m driving the golf cart into a picture.
The most popular stretch of holes is in the middle of the second nine. With the signature hole being the par-3 fifteenth. Probably on of the most famous holes in the world. The fifteenth has the golfer hitting a tee shot to carry the Pacific Ocean as it travels toward the green. Fifteen surrounds a small cove between the teeing area and the large putting surface. From the forward tees that I play, the shot doesn’t call for me to carry the ocean. I play the hole from the side of the small cove. Making my shot much less intimidating, as compared with the tee boxes placed further back around the half circle of the cove. After having played the hole a handful of times, I did something unusual on this afternoon. I walked to the edge of my forward teeing area and looked over toward the ocean below. For whatever reason, I had never gone to look over. The drop was probably ten to fifteen feet to the black sand below. The wall made of lava between me and the ocean. I stood there for a moment, taking in the scene before me. Listening to the waves gently roll onto the black sand below. The sun reflecting off the ocean as my eyes wondered to the seventh hole that is situated on the other side of the small bay. I could feel the warmth of the island relaxing my body. With the image planted in my minds eye for moments like now. When I’m far from that peaceful spot on the Big Island of Hawaii. I turned back toward the golf cart for the last few holes of the day.
The other major point of the golf course I keep in mind happens a few holes prior. The holes leading me into the fifteenth should not be dismissed. Moving off the eleventh green, the cart path creates a large U-shape making its way around a pond. That pond is part of the par-3 twelfth. The significance of rounding the pond is the ocean reappearing to the golfer. The twelfth and thirteenth holes run down a gradually sloping hill to the ocean. With the teeing area for the thirteenth being set just behind the eleventh green. When rounding behind the pond. The view is like looking down a long hallway of grass to the ocean. From playing the South Course a few times, I have become familiar with the picture as I move toward the twelfth tee. The thirteenth hole is another one of my favorites on the golf course. After playing the short par-3, I stand on the thirteenth tee and can clearly see the ocean. The par-4 slightly doglegs to the right. At the point where the hole turns right, the ocean nestles up to the fairway. The Pacific crashes into the rocks about fifteen feet below the surface of the fairway. Thirteen is majestic with the view of the green grass appearing like is falls into the blue ocean. Midway through the hole, the sound of waves bring calm, and a feel of warmth surrounds me. After putting out, the course moves back inland for the fourteenth before reappearing on the ocean for the signature hole.
Following the signature fifteenth, it becomes time to leave the ocean. The drive over to the sixteenth is a fun final look at the water. We drive along the ocean to our left before turning the corner for the sixteenth. I will often stand on the tee box of the sixteenth and look behind me. The Pacific looks vast as it carries my eyes all the way to the horizon. I steal one more look sliding my driver into the golf bag before heading up the par-4. The sixteenth is another dogleg turning to the right. The uphill slope is gradual without presenting any real challenge in undulation. The only bummer about the hole being its design in moving me away from the ocean. Seventeen and eighteen are not a boring finish. Even coming off a couple holes along the ocean, they don’t present a letting down of mood. Before I know it, I’m back at the clubhouse and the day is finished. Playing the South Course always leaves me feeling satisfied. The feeling of playing golf along the ocean reinvigorates my love for the game. The deep blue contrasting with the well-manicured green grass. With lava rock providing the dark bordering. The unique pictures stir my emotions in different ways. Even feeling different from playing on other islands.
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