Koele & Manele - Fantastic golf on a tiny Hawaiian island

- A hidden gem among the smaller islands of Hawaii, Lana'i plays host to some amazing golf. Located nine miles from Maui, Lana'i is considered one of the most beautiful and unspoiled islands in the whole of the Hawaiian chain. And despite its tiny size (thirteen miles wide by eighteen miles long), the island offers not one but two world class courses.

Nestled in pine-laden forests above Lana’i City (the island’s only city and where most of the 2800 population live), the Experience at Koele is considered one of the world’s best golf courses. At an altitude of 2,300 feet, you need to be prepared for longer tee shots, and with the temperature remaining 10-15 degrees cooler than at sea level, you need to dress accordingly. In addition to the temperature, golfers will also have to adjust to the trade winds that often blow across the wooded ravine.

In its first year of operation, the Experience at Koele received numerous awards, including "Best New Golf Course” by Fortune magazine and Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report, and a ranking in the top ten best new resort courses awarded by Golf Magazine.

The Experience at Koele was designed by professional golfer Greg Norman and course architect Ted Robinson. The par-72, 7014 yard (from the tournament tees) course is definitely one of their best, with a mountain layout boasting panoramic views and several dramatic elevations that drop from tees to greens.

The course was built on 163 acres, leaving untouched as much of the island flora as possible while at the same time taking advantage of the island’s natural terrain. The opening hole is just one example of this. This beauty begins on a high plateau nearly 2000 feet above sea level with views looking out to Maui and Moloka’i, directly across the deep blue channel.

The first seven holes in general meander through forested hills and steep gorges, while the signature 8th hole plays from a 250 foot elevated tee to a fairway bordered by a lake along its right and tees and dense shrubs along its left. It’s been said that you’re shooting down into an exquisite, mile-long valley filled with mist raising over the trees. This stunning par-four hole is one of the most spectacular in Hawaii.

The course’s back nine, by contrast, drop dramatically through old pineapple fields and ravines that are wooded with pine, koa and eucalyptus trees and culminate in a bracing par five finishing hole with a green that’s edged with waterfalls all flowing into a large lake.

Water is a major hazard on this course and if truth be told, it seems that water is everywhere. There are seven lakes, flowing streams with cascading waterfalls and the 17th green is completely surrounded by a lake.

The Challenge at Manele is the island’s other championship course. It opened in December 1993 to rave reviews, including Golf Magazine’s “Gold Medal” award. It’s not hard to see why. Designed by Jack Nicklaus and reminiscent of famed Pebble Beach, Manele is set on the dramatic cliffs that hug the coastline and overlook the Pacific Ocean. Every hole guarantees the golfer an ocean view-- provided he doesn’t mind being distracted by the whales and dolphins that often frolic in the ocean, that is. This is the only golf course in Hawaii, if not the world, that can claim to give the golfer an unencumbered ocean views from every hole.

The course is target style and has been built around acres of natural lava outcropping set amidst kiawe trees. Challenges are provided by narrow fairways placed between expenses of natural vegetation, and deep natural gorges and ravines which you have to tee off over. Three holes are constructed on the cliffs of Hulopo’e Bay which use the Pacific Ocean as a dramatic water hazard.

A unique attribute of the course is the fact that the seaside par-3 12th hole and the par-4 17th hole share back-to-back championship tees on a handkerchief sized peninsula. Also noteworthy is the par 3, number 12 “signature hole” which plays from a cliff 150 feet above the crashing surf, requiring a demanding 200-yard shot across the sea.

In spite of this, however, the Challenge at Manele is amenable to all playing levels. The five-tee concept on the par 72, 7039 yard (from the black tees) course provides challenges for the best golfers with its requirement of precise tee shots over the natural gorges and ravines. Yet the average golfer can still enjoy the beautiful vistas without suffering limitations on distance and accuracy.

The courses on Lana’i are certainly aptly named – they are certainly a “challenge” and an “experience”– and not to be missed by golfers who make it to the Hawaiian Islands with their golf bags in tow.