Back from my bucket list trip and I am beat! Played a pair of rounds at Hapuna, and Waikoloa Beach. Was supposed to be on Mauna Kea twice but they were over-seeding in-between our rounds, so they moved us to a different course. Ended up playing single rounds on Mauna Kea, Waikoloa Kings, Mauna Lani North, Mauna Lani South, Malakei and Hualalai. Moved to Pebble Beach, playing Pebble, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill. Finished up at Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz. Have to say that it was indeed the trip of a lifetime. Best courses were Pasatiempo, Spyglass, Hualalei, Mauna Lani and Mauna Kea. Pebble was (sadly) pretty over-rated.
Lots of cool things happened on the trip, but the coolest was running into Ben Crenshaw on Spyglass the day before the First Tee tournament on Pebble. Didn't score well at all but hit the ball great the whole trip. Missed my first hole-in-one on back-to-back days. Played a 60* wedge from 105 on #15 at Spyglass. Played it past the hole and backed it up just past the flag. Next day, on the last hole of the trip, I hit an 8 iron from 165 on #18 at Pasatiempo, again playing the backing and pulling it back to the hole. Ended up tracking in but coming up a few inches short of falling in. Pasatiempo has a ton of history to it, but one of the things that the locals are proud to bring up is that Tiger Woods took an eight on hole #16, a hole I birdied thanks to some really great advice from a member we played with. Can't say enough about this amazing Alister MacKenzie designed gem! Will definitely be back again!
|