A Golfer's Paradise
At Four Seasons Resort Lana’i at Manele Bay, golf aficionados have their choice of two aptly named, world-class courses: the Challenge at Manele and the Experience at Koele. Both offer plenty of unforgettable stories for the 19th hole.
Consider the breathtaking natural aspects of the Challenge at Manele, situated overlooking Hulopoe Bay, where the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean is one of the water hazards. The course’s sheer ravines, deep gorges, ancient lava outcroppings, trade winds, tropical forests and rugged red volcanic cliffs – one of which is home to the famous 12th hole, which features a 200-yard cliff-to-cliff shot – make for the ultimate must-play game of golf, relying on equal parts intellect and skill.
The award-winning, 18-hole, par-72 championship course designed by Jack Nicklaus (with a little help from Mother Nature) has been named one of the top 100 golf courses in the world and one of the top 50 courses for women. It offers the five-tee concept, with courses of shorter yardage mapped out according to a colour system, allowing golfers at various levels of ability to enjoy a thoroughly challenging and exciting game. Each hole has awe-inspiring 180-degree ocean views, with tantalizing glimpses of Maui and Kaho’olawe in the distance and perhaps even whales swimming just offshore.
The Experience at Koele is just as diverse and demanding. Carved from the lush mountain highlands, the landscaped greens curve around old pineapple fields, towering pine forests, swaths of eucalyptus and stands of kiawe and koa. Water features, including cascading waterfalls and seven lakes – one of which completely encircles the number eight green – dot the course.
Designers Greg Norman and Ted Robinson carefully crafted the 163-acre (66-hectare), par-72 course to offer spectacular views of nearby Molokai and Maui from the back nine, which rises 2,000 feet (185 metres) above the thickly forested slopes. The signature hole? The 17th, which has a 250-foot (23-metre) plunge to the deepest ravine on the island of Lana’i.
Seasoned golfers know all about the game’s roller coaster of emotions, but on Lana’i the peaks and valleys are strictly geographical – and the dominant emotion is exhilaration after a memorable game.
