COURSE REVIEWS
The Jewel of the
Wailea Golf Club:
The Emerald Course
By Diana Rowe Martinez,
Regional Staff Writer
Wailea, Maui, HI-When planning a business trip to Maui recently, I was told emphatically that I must do what the natives do. Golf. Made perfect sense to me, and who was I to argue with local customs? The weather is perfect, the courses are perfect, and the scenery is excerpted directly from those fantasy golf courses listed in all the golf magazines. You know, those exotic golf locations that you tell yourself you’re always going to travel to, but never quite can fit it in? Wailea Golf Club is definitely another must-play course to put on that list.
Those that live here take all this perfection as par for the course, if you’ll excuse the pun. However, I stood at the first hole of Wailea Golf Club’s Emerald Course with a sense of reverence. I’m from Colorado where majestic mountain sceneries edge most courses, or at least can be seen in the horizon. Oceans, on the other hand, are not a part of the Colorado package.
Seventeen miles from the airport is a slice of Maui,
an approximately 1,500-acre slice known as the award-winning Wailea
Resort, which includes residential homes and the 54-hole golf course.
Wailea is one of just two Hawaii resorts (the other is Kapalua) that
offers 54 holes of golf at the end of your club. Nestled along 1.5 miles
of Maui’s spectacular southern coastline, Wailea G.C. is one of
the largest and most acclaimed golf facilities in Hawaii. It features
three championship courses, the Gold, Emerald and Blue Courses, two
full-service pro shops and the finest outdoor training facility in the
Pacific.
Architect Robert Trent Jones designed the Gold and Emerald courses, while Arthur Jack Snyder had a designing hand in the Blue course. Four sets of tees on the Gold and Emerald and three sets on the Blue really create a different game depending on your choice of tees and skill level. The Grand Lady of Wailea, the Blue Course, was the first course built in Wailea and celebrated its 28th anniversary this year. The Gold Course, Wailea’s Rugged Beauty, opened in December of 1993, and the Emerald followed a year later, chalking up a final expansion bill of $80 million. You bet they’re proud of this course.
The Emerald is labeled Wailea’s Tropical Playground, an appropriate name for a round of golf on a jewel of a course. Rated one of the best new courses by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest, as well as one of North America’s most women friendly courses by Golf For Women, the Emerald course lives up to its name. Tropical flowers flourish in great abundance and bright colors are splashed throughout the course like an opulent oil painting. Native blossoms include plumeria, bird of paradise, alamanda, gazenia, bougainvillea, beach morning glory, “firecracker” plants and more.
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Fortunately, the worst hazards are the visual ones: the Pacific Ocean, the rolling hills with surprise valleys, the wide and deep bunkers, and the towering palm trees. The other hazards will be the distracting scenery and the beverage cart.
The Emerald Course begins with an elevated tee, driving onto a green only about 380 yards away. A grove of palm trees flutter on the right and the fairway is a rolling hill to the left. Left isn’t necessarily trouble, if you don’t mind your second shot being straight up, well over your head and onto the green. The glittering turquoise ocean provides the backdrop for the green, something you’ll see quite often, as there is an ocean view on virtually all the holes.
Jones is the master of minimalist strategy, and you’ll experience this first-hand at the 7th hole. On the right side of this 411-yard par-4, two large and wide limbed trees are one of the most strategically placed and irritating obstacles on the course. You can see it from the tee and you know it’s there, but mastermind architect Jones must have placed a golf ball magnet there to suck a slice in that direction, quicker than the beverage cart can provide solace.
Two unique holes on the Emerald
Course are #10 and #17. These holes share a large double green.
Fronting the green is the only lake on the course. If you want to see
more of the Maui native’s world, Hole 18 has a spectacular view
of the neighboring islands and the ancient volcanic cinder cone. And
you’ll get to see plenty of it, as this is a long par 5 at 553-yards.
To complete your Maui experience, the Wailea Golf Club ends at the clubhouse with one last look at the course and the ocean. The ebb and flow of the ocean’s surf in the background, along with a cold drink, are the perfect compliments to a grand day of golf.
The Wailea Golf Club recently hosted the Senior Skins, and the 2002
game is scheduled to return to the Gold Course. The Senior Skins Game
is televised nationally on ABC-TV and stars an elite handful of the
greatest players in golf history in a one-day pro-am and two-days skin
competition. Last year’s play featured Arnold
Palmer, Jack
Nicklaus, Gary
Player and Hale
Irwin, the latter who claimed victory when Nicklaus birdied the
18th hole to force a playoff that ultimately handed the championship
to Irwin. One of the Senior Skins fans was the architect of the course,
Robert Trent
Jones. The 2002 Senior Skins Game at Wailea is scheduled for January
25, 26 & 27, 2002. Spectator tickets are available now. For more
information, call 1-800-332-1614 or visit: http://seniorskinswailea.com.
Fares are inexpensive and the weather is perfect in Maui. There’s still time to check the Wailea Golf Club off your must-play list and get the opportunity to watch some of the Senior PGA’s most legendary players golf’s in action.
Wailea Golf Club--Emerald Course
100 Wailea Golf Club Drive
Wailea, Maui, HI 96753
1-800-332-1614 General Information
1-888-328-MAUI to book tee times
Phone: (808) 875-7450
http://www.waileagolf.com/
Emerald
Course: Par 72, 6,825 yards, 130, slope, 71.7 rating.
Green Fees: Resort guests, $125, Public $140
Wailea Golf Resort
161 Wailea Ike Place
Wailea, Maui, HI 96753
1-888-328-MAUI to book tee times
http://www.waileagolf.com/
Gold
Course: Par 72, 7,087 yards, 139, slope, 73.0 rating.
Green Fees: Resort guests, $135, Public $160
Blue
Course: Par 72, 6,758 yards, 130 slope, 71.7 rating.
Green Fees: Resort guests, $115, Public $140
Where to Stay:
Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel & Spa
3850 Wailea Alanui
Wailea, Maui, HI 96753
Reservations: 866-702-9177 (Toll-free)
http://www.grandwailea.com
A first class, five star resort, hotel and spa with everything you could possibly want and then the added extras! A short distance from the Golf Club, the Grand Wailea concierge can arrange transportation to the golf course of your choice. Huge rooms, classy restaurants, regal pools and cabana facilities, all beachfront, are just some of the perks. At the Grand Wailea, guests are pampered and treated like royalty. Through January 28, 2002, a special rate of $310 is being offered. Call or check the web site for other specials or regular room rates.
Maui Visitor’s Bureau
If you’re looking for what to do and where to go in Maui, check out the Maui Visitor’s Bureau web site: http://www.visitmaui.com. You can even order your free Maui Travel Planner. Aloha!
