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Local Kauai Golf at Kukuiolono Golf Course

Kauai is probably best known in the golf world for hosting the Grand Slam of Golf at the Poipu Bay Golf Course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. But recently I discovered a fantastic little nine hole course that made my day. It’s called the Kukuiolono Golf Course in Kalaheo.

For a green fee of $9, you get to play the 3000 yard par 36 course located on the top of a hill with views stretching all the way to the ocean. Although the greens aren’t the most consistent or true, the fairways are well taken care of. In between fairways, you can tour an old garden and some artifact looking fountains and rock wall. It’s really a beautiful setting. The course is mature and has a few challenges, but it’s pretty wide open and not the most difficult course I’ve ever played.

The wealthy landowner Walter McBryde built the course in the Kukuiolono Park for the public to enjoy. Even municipal courses are more expensive than this course. They are around $32 for 18 holes on weekdays and $44 on weekends. You can play Kukuiolono twice if you really want to finish 18 holes and the price is still a dollar a hole.

Maybe the best part of this course is the chickens running around the grounds. They are all over and you can even buy chicken feed. They’re very friendly. Bring a camera!

A rooster on Kukuiolono Golf Course
A rooster on Kukuiolono Golf Course
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Putting Distance Control

This weekend I played the Gold Course at Camp Lejeune. I hadn’t played there in awhile and it was fun. This round I really wanted to concentrate on my putting and especially my distance control. My last few rounds have been riddled with three putts. I’ve been hitting greens, but my long lag putts have be difficult for me to get close. These are strokes I’m giving away! So this is what I did…

Longer putts require longer strokes. Shorter putts require shorter strokes, especially the backswing. I’m a pretty intellectual player so I took this to heart a few years ago. I actually started quantifying how long I want my back swing based on how long the putt was. For example, if the putt was 10 feet, I may take a 1 foot backswing. Then if I have a 20 feet putt, I’d take a 2 foot backswing. I would then adjust my stroke depending on the speed of the greens each day. The result was closer lag putting and less three putting.

I had moved away from that recently and was putting more based on feel. However, many times I would focus on the line and forget about distance. The result was more three putts.

So this weekend I started quantifying my backstroke again and it worked. I was taking a foot backswing for about 12-14 feet on flat ground. If the putt is downhill or uphill, I would add or subtract. It’s like my own personal stimp meter. If I knew the stimp meter measurements, I’m sure I could use that in my calculations. In any case, I had no three putts and made an 8 and 13 footer. Gotta be happy with that!

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Myrtle Beach Grande Dunes Golf Course

A few friends and I went to Myrtle Beach this weekend to play the Grande Dunes golf course. Driving into Myrtle Beach was interesting for several reasons, including the abundance of tourist paraphernalia and shops, almost Vegas style lights and billboards, and strip clubs. In addition, it wasn’t very crowded because it’s still winter and the weather was terrible all weekend. We were supposed to play one of the three courses at the Legends, but got rained out.

But regarding the golf, there were so many golf courses to choose from! We chose the Grande Dunes after checking out all the various packages available. There are really an abundance of golf packages to the Myrtle Beach area. If you do a google search, you’ll find numerous websites and vacation companies to serve you. Call a few and see what the deals are in your price range. You can find packages at all different prices. We ended up staying in a three bedroom condo-style room at Long Bay. Despite the terrible weather and winter season, there were a good amount of people roaming the halls of the hotel. The room was nice and clean. The staff were very nice, although busy. And we had a beautiful view of the beach. There were people on the beach even in the cold, rainy 45 degree weather. It was a plus that the pool was indoors. All-in-all, I would recommend this hotel and stay there again.

The Grande Dunes was gorgeous. The people were nice and very helpful. It’s a nice layout that is kept in very good shape. The course is forgiving with a only few trouble spots where you’ll be hitting over a waste bunker or water. The fairways are wide with the exception of only a few holes. The distances are good and tees go all the way up to 7,618 yards from the back tee and has a rating of 77.3 and slope of 142. It’s also won several awards such as Golfweek Magazines Americans Top 100 Residential Courses in 2005. The locals all know it and some said they thought it was the second best course in Myrtle Beach. Given the rain that we saw that weekend, I can say with certainty that the drainage on the course is fantastic! We were expecting cartpath only conditions, but were told to scatter and were able to drive to our ball on all fairways! That was very helpful, especially with the GPS machines installed in our carts.

We had a great time in Myrtle Beach, despite the weather. We would’ve liked to play more, but we had a great time regardless.

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Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course

Being back in Hawaii was fantastic, but getting to play golf made it even better! This trip I had the pleasure of playing the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course on the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. I had wanted to play it for awhile, especially since I had read about how good everyone thought it was. Some even call it the best course in the Department of Defense! I’ve played a lot of DOD courses since I first got my Reservist ID card and I’m not sure if K-Bay is the best, but it’s definitely up there.

The scorecard says the 13th hole is the best hole in the DOD. We teed off at number 1 for twilight and had 12 holes to get through. The first twelve holes were ok. There was a backup at the par three 4th and 6th, plus the 5th is a short par four that is potentially drivable and less than 300 yards. While we were waiting for that, we got really worried that we wouldn’t make it to the 13th. Through the 6th and on to the rest of the front, we weren’t that impressed. It was a relatively flat and open course with only a few greens that posed a real challenge. But we could hear the roar of the ocean waves in the background…

Finally we got to the par 4 13th hole and it was well worth the wait. We had about 25 minutes until the sun went down so the lighting was fantastic. The tee box is elevated over a fairway that runs


along the ocean with picturesque waves breaking on the shore. There were even a few surfers. Bring a camera! The 14th also runs along the water and towards a small lighthouse that juts out into the ocean on a small portion of land.
The Kaneohe Klipper was a nice course, but the 13th was definitely the highlight of the afternoon. If you’re out in Hawaii and can get on base, definitely check it out!

The amazing 13th at Kaneohe Bay Klipper Golf Course
The amazing 13th at Kaneohe Bay Klipper Golf Course
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The Painted Desert Golf Course Las Vegas

I’ve golfed Las Vegas several times and it is always a treat. This trip we played at Painted Desert. The course was very well taken care of, the fairways were narrow, and the price was right. Las Vegas golf can be expensive, but this was a good bargain. It wasn’t a long course, but fun with some challenging tee shots nonetheless. The greens weren’t the truest I’d seen, but they had some decent speed and you must approach them fairly high to keep the ball from running off the back.

The drive was a short 20 minutes off the strip and not too confusing. We pulled up and saw a surprising amount of people on the practice tee and putting greens for a supposed off season. Of course, we all know that spring and fall are perfect times to play golf in Las Vegas. We were paired with some nice playing partners although one was a definite betting man and really wanted to take someone’s money.

One of their signature holes was the very nice 187 yard par three #8 with water on the left, which makes it challenging as well as aesthetically pleasing. On the 277 yard par 4 #14, I drove the green, which is always fun…yeah, like I do that all the time…whatever

Anyway, I liked the course and I liked playing in Las Vegas as always. I wasn’t even hungover from the night before…