The great bucket list goal of playing all 194 of the courses that have ever been ranked in the Top 100 Public Courses by Golf Digest is about to become reality. This final big trip to Northern California and Hawaii will not only complete the quest, but it is also a personal celebration of 50 years of being married to the girl of my dreams. Marilyn and I had an unforgettable family celebration earlier this year at Sedona. Now we get to put a little icing on the cake with this trip as well. We have been traveling the United States for the past several years, seeing this great country, meeting wonderful people and experiencing the joy of playing many of the greatest golf courses available to the great majority of the golfers in this country.
This brings me to an another point that I have not discussed before. I do not understand the importance that many publications put on ranking the Top 100 courses. Not the Top 100 Public access courses, but The Top 100. The last Golf Digest ranking of this type, 85 of the 100 courses are private. Golf Week and Golf Magazine do the same. This may make for a good article but how many of their readers have access to these courses. They talk about these mainly unplayable courses in detail but I think that 80% of the golfers today are public course golfers and have no chance and probably no desire to play these courses.
Even golfers that I know that are members of private clubs have little chance of playing other private clubs like Augusta National, Seminole, Pine Valley, Cypress Point, National Golf Links, etc. I believe that if they want to reach the majority of golfers, they should concentrate more on the public access courses and provide more stories about these great facilities. But I digress. Let’s talk about this wonderful, final golf trip.
We began with Spyglass Hill (#11 on current Rankings). Like Bethpage Black, Spyglass Hill has a wonderful pedigree as a championship golf course. It may only have four holes on the ocean compared to eight for its more famous sister course, Pebble Beach, but the interior holes that wind through the Del Monte Forest are better than the non-ocean side holes at Pebble. The conditioning is superb, the rough is long and thick and the bunkering is beautiful. The par five holes in particular were a favorites of mine and they stand out both in beauty and strategic decision making. The par threes are outstanding as well with a nice mix of yardages, elevation changes and water hazards.
The course tends to play longer than the stated yardage as most par four holes run uphill to the green and there are very few that you can hit short and run the ball onto the green. For a course of this stature, the clubhouse is nice but understated. I prefer this type of golf setting, by the way, as this course can speak for itself. The staff was very helpful and friendly. Spyglass Hill is an outstanding course but there are a couple of negatives. At $425, it is not a good value but then again, I do not think any course should cost $425. Also, if you come to Spyglass, I would suggest walking with a caddie. Not only are they a big help, Spyglass is normally cart path only which means a longer round, just as much walking and too much uncertainty when it comes to yardages and club selection.
Also located in the Pebble Beach area is Poppy Hills (#62 on Current Ranking). Poppy Hills is not part of the Pebble Beach Resort courses as it is owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association. It is truly a public course that is very busy with locals as well as visitors. A good value for the locals at $80, it is a little pricey for visiting golfers at $275. Once beyond that fact, there is nothing negative I can say about this fine course. Robert Trent Jones, Jr. was brought in to remodel this course in 2014 and he changed it in many ways, all which are positive.
There are wide fairways and no rough, but fairway bunkering and waste areas to challenge all golfers. There greens are large, undulating and very difficult to read the first time around this worthy track. A unique feature about Poppy Hills is that there are no poppies. The deer eat the plants off so the only poppies you see are the one painted on the tee markers, doors and signage around the clubhouse. Playing Poppy Hills is an enjoyable walk in the Del Monte Forest whereas Spyglass Hill is a challenging test of golf that can wear you down without the right attitude.
Poppy Hills is like a ride at an amusement park, thrilling to experience but four hours of fun. The holes have a nice flow to them and nice variety. That is not always the case when you have no water hazards which is unusual in this age of golf design. Jones made this course interesting enough that you barely notice that there are no water features.
The first course we played in Hawaii was Turtle Bay Palmer (#78 Last Ranked 2015). Located on the north shore of Oahu, this is one of two courses at Turtle Bay Resort, the other being the Fazio course. Turtle Bay Palmer was in very good shape, although not pristine. The greens putted well but were somewhat spotty and they also had some crabgrass issues in their rough. The front nine was open and reminded me me of Camp Creek near Panama City, Florida. Once on the back, the holes moved through the trees and vegetation which gave the holes more definition but Palmer still gives you quite a bit of room off the tee. The greens were large and I thought they were very fair as there was nothing tricky or deceiving about reading your putts. The bunkering was well done and strategic but we found that the amount of sand from one bunker to the next was inconsistent.
Unfortunately, only one hole played near the ocean but overall, I enjoyed playing Turtle Bay Palmer. I think that it is an excellent course and is a perfect design for a destination resort. I agree with the Golf Digest panelist in saying that it is no longer Top 100 worthy but it certainly is in the second 100.
My Oh My! What a day it was when we played Ko’Olau (#82 Last Ranked in 2013) on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. This course is located at the base of a mountain and has been cut out of an actual rain forest. Dick Nugent was hired to create this challenging design and he did a magnificent job. I can easily see how this course at one time was in the Top 100 Public Courses. The holes are dazzling and can create a little trepidation as you stand on the tee trying to decide how to play the beauty before you.
When the slope rating is over 150, you know that the course in front of you may create many photo opportunities but also overwhelm you before you reach the final hole. Unfortunately, because of its difficulty, Ko’Olau not only has very little local play, even visitor play is lower than most top rated courses because of its tough reputation. Right now it is not just the difficulty that has hurt the play on this great course, it is its woeful condition.
Because of its location in a rainforest, it gets tremendous amount of moisture, which meant that when we played it, the fairways had not been mowed for two weeks and the rough, well, it could have been two months since the last mowing. Between my wife, my friend Daryl and myself, we lost 19 golf balls and most of them were in either the rough or the very wet, soft and mushy turf. It is very sad to see a beautiful and interesting golf course to be in this condition. The staff was very friendly and helpful but seemed almost apologetic over the conditions of the course. If dry, and in good condition, the course would certainly merit its $155 green fee but is greatly overpriced now because of the troubles you encounter. The have a local rule that says if you lose a ball in the high grass you get a free drop. That may save you a stroke but not the time you spend looking for it or the cost of losing a half dozen golf balls.
Ko’Olau is one of a kind. It is a journey through and around a jungle and rainforest at the base of the Ko’Olau Mountains. It really is an amazing golf design. If you a true fan of golf course architecture, I would recommend that you play this course. If you are a casual golfer, I would suggest you ask if you can pay for only a cart rental and just drive around the entire course to check out this beauty, but save your time, green fees and many lost balls by not actually playing it. I have a feeling though, if you did this, you could not resist teeing it up.
After a three night stay on Oahu at a special resort, Turtle Bay, it was on to Kauai. I had previously played three courses on Kauai that are the Top 100 Public lists, but still needed to play the Ocean Course at Hokuala (#56 Last Ranked in 2007) which was known as Kauai Lagoons when rated in 2007. We had just played the soggiest course ever at Ko’Olau, so it was a delight to find the Ocean Course at Hokuala to be dry, firm and in wonderful condition.
Jack Nicklaus originally designed this course in 1988 and then with a change in ownership, he was brought back to renovate it in 2010. The clubhouse, pro shop and practice facilities are all top notch. The staff was great and eager to help. In a touch of class, the pro made a visit during our round with a tray of fresh pineapple samples. This the first time that has ever happened to me in all my travels and rounds of golf. The front nine of Hokuala gave you plenty of room off the tee with wide fairways and Bermuda rough that was manageable. The bunkering was strategic and not overdone.
The challenge on the front side of the course are the greens and the green surrounds. They were large and undulating and to us flat-landers, difficult to read on the initial playing. It was a very enjoyable nine holes and the par three 5th hole was especially beautiful and a challenge as well. The back nine played completely different than the front as most holes played along the Pacific coast line. The holes became shorter, the fairways narrowed and the beauty increased exponentially. Hole #12 is a very tough par three and just a gorgeous hole which plays over the ocean.
Hokuala is a diverse, interesting course with some outstanding views. When playing courses that have been in the Top 100 for a few years, you are ready for surprises —some good and some bad. This course over delivered! Hokuala could find itself back in the Top 100 some day and is now on my Top 50 Most Enjoyable Courses that I have played.
Kapalua Plantation (#21 on Current Rankings) was another very tough golf course but a real beauty as well. This is a famous course as it is featured on national television each January during the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions. The Coore and Crenshaw design is built on the side of a mountain which translates into gorgeous views of the Pacific and the island of Molaki from almost every hole. There is a wonderful mix of long and short holes, a few blind tee shots, some forced carries over deep ravines and greens that are a challenge to read. The par three 8th hole is magnificent. It is amazing what the wind, hills and grain will do to your shots. I had an uphill 3 hybrid into the wind which I hit 160 yards and then on hole 7, I had a downhill 3 hybrid with the wind that I hit a career high 270 yards.
When you play a course like Kapalua Plantation, you are either going to love it or you will be beaten down by the challenges that this course throws at you. It is certainly worth playing although at $299, I would not call it a good value. The staff was terrific and the facilities are all top notch. It certainly belongs on the Top 100 Public Course list and even though it is very the difficult, it still makes my Top 50 Most Enjoyable courses that I have played. When I put together my Top 25 Most Beautiful Courses, Kapalua Plantation will be included for sure.
