Mauna Kea Golf Course

About Mauna Kea Golf Course

Links Magazine dates Hawaii golf's "aha" moment to a summer day in 1960, when Laurance Rockefeller and Robert Trent Jones Sr. picked this barren lava field on the Kohala Coast and Jones smashed two lava rocks together to show it could be done. His crews crushed the lava into red dust, spread almost a foot of it over the site and mixed it with coral sand. It opened in December 1964 with a "Big Three" match, shown nationwide in 1965, between Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player; Nicklaus won at 13 under.

The 3rd is why people come. It's a par 3 over the Pacific surf from a tee set in lava rock, 272 yards from the very back, to a big kidney-shaped green ringed with bunkers. Jones called it his "gem among eighteen jewels." The rest of the round moves up and down 300 feet of lava flows, with raised greens and a coastal wind that asks for an extra club.

It's been redone twice. Rees Jones rebuilt it over most of 2007 and 2008 and added about 200 yards, and more recently Robert Trent Jones Jr. led another renovation that put Platinum Paspalum on the fairways and greens. The Mauna Kea Resort Pro-Am has been played here every year since 1973. Keep an eye out for nene, the Hawaiian state goose, which live on the course, and stop at Number 3, the bar by the third hole, after your round.

It's one of 12 courses Yoink watches in the Big Island area, and the closest alternative is The Village Course at Waikoloa, about 4 miles away — handy when your first choice is booked solid.

Booking a tee time at Mauna Kea Golf Course

For tee times and questions, call the golf shop at 808-882-5409. A round includes practice balls and bottled water. The course closes for aeration for two days in mid-May and two in early September, so check the dates before you plan a trip.

How to get a tee time at Mauna Kea Golf Course