Notes on Kauai golf from a Honolulu airport Starbucks

Random thoughts on Kauai as I wait out a flight delay in Honolulu…

- The next time I go to Hawaii, I’m going to make sure I go to a beach or two first before golfing. The problem with a golf-only itinerary is that by the time you do have a minute to go to the beach, your tan lines are so bad it’s embarrassing, especially when all these bronzed surfers with pony tails are strolling up and down the beach. Six days later, my limbs are tomatoes while my chest is ghostly! If Halloween was tomorrow, I’d draw a little leaf on my chest with a red Sharpie and trick-or-treat as the Canadian flag…

- Wind is a factor on the course as much, if not more on a lot of these courses as British Isles links. At Poipu Bay, I hit one solid drive 197 yards according to my cart GPS, then two holes later 375 with the wind at my back. Then again, that’s because I hit a high, spin-heavy ball. Playing with Hawaiian natives is a real treat, because many of them are kings of the low ball…

- Kauai is the only Hawaiian Island I’ve seen, besides flying into Oahu, which is where I am now. I thought Hawaii would be all high-rise hotels and tourist shops - but at least not on Kauai. It’s more of a two-lane, windy road kind of island with little villages along the way and plenty of local flair. I would suggest to those who have been to other islands in Hawaii but felt put off by its traffic and development to consider Kauai next time.

- I’d like the golf courses in Hawaii even more if they didn’t have slower, Bermuda grass greens. But it looks like that is going to change. Most courses are going to be changing their turf to a Seashore Paspalum strain that is very fast and firm. We played one course that already uses it, Kiahuna, and the greens and fairways were nice and firm (they’d play like a links course, if Robert Trent Jones Jr. didn’t like elevated greens so much). It also needs less water, which has become an issue on the islands lately, so look for many courses to make the switch soon, and welcome it when they do.

- I’m surprised at how affordable the golf courses are in Kauai. I was expecting their top-tier courses to be in the upper $200-350 range like Kapalua’s Plantation Course. But Kauai’s two top draws, Poipu Bay and Princeville’s Prince Course top out at $200 - only $140 for resort guests, and even cheapos like myself could get on in the PM for closer to $100. Considering even Myrtle Beach has $200 courses these days, I’m rather shocked. There are other lower-rung courses well under $100 and can offer a good taste of Hawaii golf, like Puakea. - I was curious to see how much “Aloha” is used among locals, especially after our own Chris Baldwin labeled it a tourist-only cliche, which was quickly skewered by a handful of locals. In my assessment, I didn’t hear “aloha” all that often - no more so than “welcome” or “what’s up?” - though I did hear it infinitely more times than “howdy” and “what’s crack-a-lackin?’".

On the other hand, “Mahalo” (thank you) was being dropped like it was going out of style. I haven’t heard a word used so much since Snoop Dogg released that song with “Fo shizzle” in it…

- Fresh Guava juice is awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever had it before this week. It’s a little heavier, pulpier and sweeter than OJ. I don’t think they sell it in grocery stores back home, but then again I’ve never looked. I’ll bet Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s has some.

- Kauai is a favorite spot for Hollywood location shooting. Locals are quick to point out where certain parts of Jurassic Park was filmed (a movie I saw in theaters at least eight times). But I have to wonder if they would be equally enthusiastic to reference certain scenes if Weekend at Bernie’s II had been filmed here instead…

- If I could play one more course I played during the week in Kauai again, it’d be Poipu Bay. That’s hypocritical, because I could have played it at the crack of dawn this morning but the ferocious winds that even knocked down a few trees, mixed with an aching body from 36 the day before kept me in bed…

- Thinking about moving to Hawaii? There are some incredible deals for locals out here, like $9 play all days and $45 monthly passes, and some others even better I haven’t even heard of. Juniors also play for practically nothing - so maybe there will be an army of Tadd Fujikawa’s on Tour one day…

- I just realized that a golf writer i was paired with earlier in the week scored a hole-in-one with us and didn’t offer to get me sloppy drunk that night. It doesn’t matter that we’re on “business", that’s breaking some kind of pact, right? Now, I didn’t buy anyone drinks after my hole-in-one either, but then again I was 16. I think we all just went and played some Sega that night.

That said, I think I’m going to make this coffee “Irish". Stay tuned to WorldGolf.com for more on Kauai.

Kauai Lagoons in Lihue.