The Mauna Kea course is one of the most dramatic and challenging ever designed by noted architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Built in 1964 on a 5,000 year-old lava flow from Mauna Kea (mountain), the piece de resistance is the magnificient third hole, which is one of the most challenging and most photographed over-the-water shots in the world. This renowned par-3 features an opening drive over a surging Pacific inlet.
Mauna Kea is an 18-hole championship course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. The course opened in 1964, and is consistently ranked as one of America's 1000 Greatest by Golf Digest.
Featuring palm-lined fairways, rolling hills, and ocean vistas, you're sure to enjoy the Mauna Kea Golf Course.
To build this rugged beauty, rolling over 170 acres of gently sloping terrain, Jones had to clear away tough indigenous vegetation. Then, using crushed lava and coral reclaimed from the area, Jones developed fairways and greens that resemble a lush carpet, studded by flowers and trees amidst a volcanic desert.
Mauna Kea is ranked among "America's 100 Greatest" by Golf Digest andhas received the coveted "Gold Medal" award as one of the 12 "Best Golf Resorts in America" from Golf Magazine. Photographed in the late spring by the Links Design Team, this digitized version of world-renown Mauna Kea captures the stunning beauty of Hawaii's flora and fauna in their full bloom and most vibrant colors.
Mauna, in hawaiian, means, "power from the spirit world". Mauna Kea is said to be the
tallest mountain in the world, starting 18,000 feet below sea level, and rising almost
14,000 feet above it. This was the first course (1964) to be built on top of black
lava-rock, on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii. The course is full of palm, monkeypod,
and Chinese banyan trees. Lots of blind tee shots here. If a dogleg, bends left or
right, then the first hole here is a broken dogleg, very severe. The Par 3 3rd hole
is over lava and water, just beautiful. Way back in the woods on this hole, there is
an abandoned tee, requiring a 260yd tee shot to the green. During a practice round with
Nicklaus and Palmer just after the course opened, Gary Player couldn't make the carry.
"It's not used anymore", according to Joe Root, director of golf, "except for wedding
photos." The 8th is one of the most difficult Par 5's in Links. Tough drive, and mean
green. #11 is a 247 yard Par 3, tough just to get it on the green. Probably the most
difficult default pin positions in LS are here. Signature hole is the Par 3 3rd, which
carries 182 yards of ocean.
Number 3 is a 210-yard par 3. This is one of the most beautiful and demanding holes in
all of golf. There are several ways to play the hole depending on wind and flagstick
locations. I'm always happy to get the ball on the green!
Movie Clip of Hole #8: AVI 4.0MB
