Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Golfing in Paradise | November 2000

Golfing in Paradise
By Marcus Ocean

Waikele Golf Club

The slick Bermuda greens and strategically placed water hazards and sand traps make O'ahu's Waikele Golf Club a challenging experience

The most prominent feature of the par-3 17th hole is the lake on the left side.

Talk about hitting two birdies with one drive. Going to Waikele could mean either of two things: a great day of shopping at the Waikele outlet mall or birdie opportunities at the Waikele Golf Club.

According to the golf course's head professional, Gordon Tsujimura, being convenient to the nearby shopping outlet means he sees both sides: "We get locals and visitors who drop off their spouses at the shopping center and then get in 18 holes."

Today, my friends and I opt for the links rather than the shopping aisles.

This par-72 course in Central O'ahu was designed by renowned golf course architect Ted Robinson. He used unique water features and strategically placed bunkers to make this a challenging 6,663-yard layout. The Bermuda greens are undulating and slick, adding to the toughness of this experience.

For the Hawai'i visitor setting up on the elevated first tee, the view of Waikiki and Diamond Head makes it worth the 30-minute drive from town. It's a vista that comes into view several times during the round.

After a couple of easy starting holes, the next hole gives you an idea of the rest of the round. There's a twisting fairway. A blind green. A severely sloped, and deeply pitched, slick green, protected by two wide bunkers. However, a good drive here will leave you with a short iron in and a chance to avoid all the hazards.

Then comes the first water hole, the course's signature par-4 layout. Although only 300 yards, this hole requires that every shot be well placed, or the result is a watery grave or a buried-in-the-trap lie. Driving down the right side is the only possible entrance to this green. One guy in our party tried to attack the green off the tee, missed it from the blues and got wet. Moving to the white markers, he reached the front portion of the green.

Two holes later, you're confronted with what I consider the most difficult of all the par-4 holes on O'ahu under 400 yards. The elevated tee box gives a view of Pearl Harbor, which on this day was staging maneuvers with ships from around the world. When you get your attention back to the hole, you see a narrow landing area down the left side with out-of-bounds markers, and on the right side a severely sloped, tree-lined hill. To even come close to par here, you must deliver a straight shot up the left side. You then face an uphill green that rejects anything short of the center point. It's a true test of nerves.

The front side finishes with a par 3 and a par 5, both of them short on yardage but long on substance.

The course is gentle until the 13th hole. The next three layouts are against the wind, and you are climbing the entire time. A par on any of these is a big deal.

Water comes into play for the first time on this side at the par-3, 201-yard 17th. The lake goes up the left and leads to a terraced waterfall. Long here is good. However, there's a bailout area short right.

A heck of a finishing hole has an elevated tee, where you're hitting uphill, against the wind. The second shot is into a green sloping back down the fairway, with a water hazard on the lower right side that you can't see. Best here to play the left side the entire way in.

After you putt out, look back toward the tee. The Wai'anae mountains jutting up behind the course will provide a picturesque memory of your experience at Waikele.

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