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BrianZ's Golf Course Design Resource


Mai Nui 'ekahi Hole Descriptions

Hole: 1
Architect: Pyecraft
Date: 1/10/09
Comments: "Knowing the extreme terrain awaiting golfers up ahead here at Kapalua, I felt it fitting to use the helpful, untouched landscape and aim for a gentle, introductory hole.

From naturally elevated tees, you can take aim directly at the flag and just let her rip. A long and accurate drive will leave you with a simple short-iron flop onto a receptive green, and you’re off and running with a comfortable birdie. The rocky outcrop guiding the straight-shooter’s shot offers an expectant flavor for later holes. But, should prevailing winds or courage levels be working against the gamble, playing for par is an option when tackling the hole as a dog-leg left. Although there is little roll to be gained, a regulation-length drive will reach an ample, hazard-free fairway with unobstructed views to an unprotected green; save for a scattering of trees narrowing in to help out.

Choosing the safe route drops your drive below green height. It thus requires a longer iron, uphill approach to a slightly sloping-away green, a stroke which if miscalculated, either pulls up short leaving a downhill pitch to the pin, or long and through the green altogether – to be gratefully collected by a gulley to the green’s rear, or maybe even one of the two side-bunkers. The three pin placements reflect each of these placid predicaments.

Hopefully here, we have designed an inviting, opening hole whereby the golfer, standing upon his first tee box, is excited about exploring the challenges ahead. If we get him started with a birdie, then we have served him well. He will surely need it as he plays through Kapalua."

Hole 1 From Behind

 

 

Hole: 2
Architect: Adam Brandt
Date: 12/11/08
Comments: "After downloading the finished plot, I designed this hole on a piece of note paper at work. Since the hole plays uphill, I thought it would be quite a challenge to give a split fairway and a green that's pretty hard to hit in regulation. Par here is a great score.

A fairway wood off the tee over the ravine will keep the ball in the first section of fairway. Staying short of the traps, hit a long iron into an elevated, two-tiered green that slopes away from the player. There is a collection area left of the green and a bunker behind. Any shot right has a chance of ending up on the putting surface."

Hole 2 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 3
Architect: Robert@
Date: 12/5/08
Comments: "This Par 3 sits on top of a rock or lava foundation on the edge of a cliff with a creek below. It's a 167 yard shot from the back tee's to a 2 tiered green. There are 4 bunkers protecting the putting surface that slopes from right to left. Anything left of this hole is out of play, and any shot right of it will be in danger of landing in 3 bunkers to that side. Playing from there will leave you a shot to a green that runs away from you towards the cliff. There is a run up area in front of the green, with anything long possibly being out of play. A perfect shot from the tee is needed for a chance at birdie. From tee to green there is little elevation change."

Hole 3 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 4
Architect: Alan Wells (PingKing)
Date: 12/22/08
Comments: "The 4th hole at Kapalua is a 412 yard, uphill Par 4. Off the tee there are two palm trees on the left that guard the opening to a spacious fairway. Keeping your tee shot to the left offers a clean view of the green, but could land you in a fairway bunker. A tee shot too far to the right could force you to play from the deep rough. 3 large bunkers can come into play as you go for the green on your second shot. Making birdie is most probable on this short par 4, but if you don’t land your shot close to the pin, the rolling green could cause you to lose a stroke."

Hole 4 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 5
Architect: BKFIN
Date: 1/18/09
Comments: "This hole is up hill all the way. There are 2 options off the tee. The safe route will leave you about 125 yards to the hole but presents a 45 foot uphill shot into a somewhat blind green. The risky tee shot will leave you around 80 yards into the green with a slight elevation of 15 feet. There are bunkers guarding the front of the fairway if you choose to go with the risky tee shot. Coming up short into the green will leave you with a big uphill chip shot. I tried to route this hole as close to the original routing with minimal ground work. I wanted to use the lay of the land as it was when the plot was designed."

Hole 5 From Behind

 

 

Hole: 6
Architect: heavyputter
Date: 2/19/09
Comments: "Hole number six is the longest of the par fours on the Kapalua Course playing at 478 yards from the Tournament tees. There is approximately a 45 yard elevation drop from tee to green. Because of the length, the fairway is wide with very little slope. The first bunker on the left and the second on the right of the fairway are placed to collect errant tee shots. A drive of over 320 yards will run out of fairway and end up in the ravine.

A good drive of 300 yards will leave a mid to long iron shot of about 180 yards to the center of the green. This is a blind shot over the ravine to a large relatively flat green.

There is a fairway run-up of about 20 yards fronting the green and a deep bunker to the left. A safe approach shot is right or front."

Hole 6 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 7
Architect: Brian Zager
Date: 2/16/09
Comments: "The 7th hole is a par 5 measuring 605 yards. It is downhill 80 feet tee to green. It is reachable in 2 but requires 2 perfect, risky shots to pull off.

From the tee two large bunkers dominate the view on the right side. The player can play safe short or left of them or try to carry them. If trying to carry them, further right requires a longer carry but also results in a shorter second shot.

If the player successfully carries the bunkers he's faced with the decision of how much he wants to bite off when crossing the ravine. If he's really bold he may even try for the green. But beware, the back left side of the green falls off into the unplayable ravine. The front bunker protects balls from falling into the ravine but is no easy up and down either.

Playing safe off the tee makes for a legitimate 3 shot hole. The large ravine cutting through the middle of the hole forces the player to decide whether to carry it with his 2nd or 3rd shot. Carrying it with the 2nd shot is more difficult but gives a better angle to the green.

The undulating green makes putting no easy task. The fall off on the back/left side makes the aggressive putter think twice when the pin is back there."

Hole 7 Approach Shot

 

 

Hole: 8
Architect: DC1
Date: 3/7/09
Comments: "I didn't want too difficult of a hole. You had better hit a solid tee shot but don't come up short. It's about 10 feet up to the green from the bunker. The green is sloped back to front to help receive shots. The green has pretty good movement especially on dry. I put a lava bed off to the right which is just for looks and shouldn't come into play."

Hole 8 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 9
Architect: Alan Wells (PingKing)
Date: 6/22/09
Comments: "Hole #9 of this beautiful course is a 531 yard, downhill Par 5. The tee shot may be hit long and straight, but be careful as bunkers are placed on each side of the fairway, one in front of the other. The large fairway bunkers and rolling platform style fairway make for an interesting 2nd shot. Out of Bounds could come into play if you use too much club and fly the green. Water to the left of the green could also come into play if your 2nd shot is poorly hit. The green is fairly large with a slight tier rolling away from you toward the back of the green

Making birdie or par would be a great end to the front 9… On to the Back 9…"

Hole 9 Approach Shot

 

 

Hole: 10
Architect: Doron (Bryce)
Date: 12/17/08
Comments: "Number 10 is the shortest hole on the course at 92 yards. You need no more than a sand wedge, but you had better be careful where you put it. There is a steep drop from the tee box of 40+ feet, so expect some spin. The green is protected by a large bunker to the right and a false front that surrounds the front and left of the green. This is a birdie hole, but could lead to trouble with a misplaced tee shot"

Hole 10 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 11
Architect: Pablo
Date: 3/14/09
Comments: "The 11th hole is around 420 yards long, par 4, but it plays much longer than that because of the split fairway around 260 yards away from the tee. This makes it not advisable to use the driver from the tee due to the rough and bunkers awaiting you. The hole runs some 25 yards uphill up to the green. The green slopes from back to front but the slope in the front of the green is daunting so aim carefully or your ball will go a few yards short of the green. The green is really moving and features three different tiers so the putter here must be in good shape to get a good score."

Hole 11 From Behind

 

 

Hole: 12
Architect: AJG2008
Date: 1/28/09

Hole 12 Approach Shot

 

 

Hole: 13
Architect: Stan Nehilla
Date: 2/18/09

Hole 13 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 14
Architect: 3puttwilly
Date: 2/26/09
Comments: "If the wind is in your favor, you can reach this green from the tee. There are a lot of traps waiting on your shot if you come up short. The safe way to the green has many options to place your shot depending on where you want to hit your approach from. The green is guarded by 3 bunkers in the front, 1 on the right, and 1 in the back from the approach. I envisioned this hole to give the player different choices. Risk it and go for the green or play it safe for the best chance to score on the hole."

Hole 14 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 15
Architect: Stefan Højgaard
Date: 5/4/09
Comments: "The 15th is a heck of a hole par 5 – unreachable in two for sure. To compensate for the length I've made the fairway quite wide, but don't be fooled – most of the fairway slopes to your left so aim right if you want to stay on the short grass. Oh, did I mention it's severely uphill! Nope, you can't reach it in two.

The water isn't in play – it's just an eye pleaser. If you want to carry the bunkers from the tee it'll be about a 200 to 240 yard carry. The more you cut off the shorter your next shot will be.

Given you've placed your tee shot in the fairway you should be far enough ahead to carry the unplayable area in the middle of the hole. It's another quite long carry. The area itself is about 110 yards wide, but depending on the placement of your tee shot you'll probably have a 160-200 yard carry (uphill). If your tee shot didn't find the fairway there are two little spots of fairway you can try to place a layup shot on.

If you've gotten this far without being in trouble you should have a chance of a good score here. Though still uphill the green is pretty big and not too sloped, so it should be possible to place the approach close to the pin. Watch out for the drop-offs though."

Hole 15 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 16
Architect: ezmny2001
Date: 3/29/09
Comments: "The tee shot is a blind straight away drive with two options. For the short hitters, it's best to drive straight and avoid the two bunkers. A lay up would work best to give you a good view of the uphill green. This will leave you with approximately 160 to 120 yards to the pin. The second choice is for a long drive and the best angle to the green would be to drive to the left side fairway.

The green is medium size and surrounded by three bunkers. There are four pin placements with all fairly easy locations. The green could be fast, rolling from the back to the front, with dry conditions."

Hole 16 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 17
Architect: Terry Grayson
Date: 3/23/09
Comments: "This is a 240 something yard par 3, driving over a huge valley to the green! Do not be short; there is a huge drop off in front of the green, telling you to be sure to make the green. Also be leery of a false front on the right front of the green, it's small but its there none the less! The green is a two tiered green, with the false front mentioned, also, there is a gathering area on the back right toward the bunker.

There is about a 229 yard carry to the front right of the green. I figure in this locale we will play in either gusty or strong winds. I added more fairway to the front right, for a bailout, just in case the wind is howling! There is a risk-reward feature there. Do we want to pull out the 2 wood or driver and go for a 229 yard carry in a 35 mph headwind? Heck yeah I say! If you decide to layup right, you will be chipping up at least 20-25 feet, and if you got a back pin on the back left tier, you better be spot on! Hit it too long, bye bye golf ball off a huge drop off. Short and you will hit the collection area, and back off the green you go!"

Hole 17 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: 18
Architect: KSBC6499
Date: 1/2/09

Hole 18 Tee Shot

 

 

Hole: N/A (Original Plot)
Architect: Brian Zager
Date: 11/28/08
Comments: "With the routing I tried to create a wide variety of length, direction, and elevation change in the course. I also wanted to bring the ocean into play on the back nine to heighten interest toward the end of the player's round."

Routing Overhead

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