At Hualalai, Golf Defines One Of Hawaii’s Finest Resort Communities

Aerial view of Hualalai, together with the 18th gap of the resort course.

Erik Matuszewski

Unfold throughout practically 1,000 acres on the base of Mt. Hualalai on the Large Island, golf is the core of a spectacular oceanfront property that ties collectively an expensive 4 Seasons resort, a prestigious non-public membership and probably the most coveted residential enclaves within the Hawaiian Islands.

Hualalai has a setting that’s merely unforgettable. After driving by means of a seemingly inhospitable lava panorama from the airport exterior Kona, rugged rock provides solution to probably the most dramatic settings on the Kohala Coast. Impressed by coastal villages from historic Hawaii, the low-rise structure of the Four Seasons alongside the Pacific Ocean is surrounded by an intimate group of customized houses, villas and residential websites the place costs for oceanfront estates can climb into the eight figures.

The visuals are placing, a distinction of black lava, lush greenery, and deep blue ocean. It’s not exhausting to see why the highest professionals on the senior tour return to Hualalai each January, why the resort is commonly booked out by friends throughout peak season, why residents “purchase up” within the space after they’re ready, and why some aspiring householders will bounce on a property sight unseen when the chance arises.

Hualalai has probably the most completely picturesque spots on what is probably the best stretch of shoreline in all of Hawaii.

With two 18-hole programs – one for resort play and the opposite for members – Hualalai’s golf can even rival every other property within the islands.

The Resort Course

The namesake Hualālai course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, has been the scenic stage for the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electrical Championship since 1997.

The format winds by means of historic lava fields, with holes framed by rugged black rock, pockets of kiawe timber and coconut palms, and boasts sweeping ocean views. The course advantages from a salt-tolerant grass – Paspalum – that thrives in tropical situations and permits golf balls to take a seat up cleanly – offering a relentless “excellent lie” really feel – quite than nestle down in Bermuda grass.

Enjoying corridors are pinched in locations by lava outcroppings, forcing gamers to assume strategically – enjoying extra conservatively or taking tougher (and probably harmful) strains. The design stays welcoming, as an excellent resort course ought to, with contours that may kick or funnel barely errant pictures again towards security. And whereas the jagged lava rock surrounds are unforgiving to wayward golf balls, pleasant bounces again into the golf green are extra frequent than you may count on.

Selection and creativity are layered in all through the routing. There are risk-reward, probably drivable quick par 4s and picturesque par 3s, together with the twelfth, which has a bunker in the course of the inexperienced alongside the strains of the well-known sixth gap at Riviera Nation Membership. The ending stretch at Hualalai is highlighted by the signature par-3 seventeenth, the one one which sits immediately on the water. The 17^th is considered one of Hawaii’s most photogenic holes, with a inexperienced perched towards a wall of lava with the Pacific crashing simply past.

Hualalai’s Golf Hale

A part of the resort’s current renovation was the addition of the Hualalai Golf Hale, a 3,000-square-foot state-of-the-art instructing and becoming middle that has a nine-acre driving vary, short-game space and placing inexperienced.

Outfitted with Trackman expertise and indoor-outdoor hitting bays, the power helps non-public classes, group clinics and household programming, permitting members and friends alike to hunt enchancment and deepen their relationship with the sport, whether or not they’re critical gamers or newcomers.

Your entire golf expertise is unmistakably 4 Seasons: pristine situations, first-class service, and considerate touches resembling inclusive meals and drinks on the observe facility and heading in the right direction.

Ke‘olu: The Personal Facet

The members-only Ke‘olu Course at Hualalai is a extra secluded and possibly much more serene counterpart.

Designed by the late Tom Weiskopf, Ke‘olu occupies increased floor, rolling throughout undulating terrain with greater than 200 ft of elevation change and lengthy, panoramic views again towards the water.

Weiskopf totally embraced the volcanic panorama, routing holes by means of corridors of lava, native grasses and sandy waste areas, and incorporating pure options resembling lava tubes, blisters, caves and arches. Whereas it lacks the postcard oceanfront gap of its resort course counterpart, Ke‘olu is a gem in its personal proper, a course outlined by motion of the land, the wind and the huge open ocean views.

Entry to Ke‘olu, together with the resort, the Golf Hale, tennis, spa, Hualalai’s Canoe Membership and different facilities, comes by means of membership within the Hualalai Membership, which is accessible solely to property house owners and in addition unlocks full privileges on the adjoining 4 Seasons Resort Hualalai.

Past the Fairways

Golf could be the cornerstone at Hualalai, but it surely’s the broader resort expertise that makes for an unmatched keep.

The 4 Seasons Resort Hualālai persistently ranks among the many world’s high luxurious resorts, with not too long ago refreshed rooms and suites, a plethora of oceanfront eating places, and a constellation of eight swimming pools, together with a saltwater lagoon the place friends can swim and snorkel alongside tropical fish and an eagle ray.

Eating places resembling ‘Ulu and Seaside Tree showcase native seafood and island-inspired delicacies, whereas the newer NOIO sushi lounge provides extra of a recent contact. For membership members and residents, the Residents’ Seaside Home, set beside the eighteenth gap of the Nicklaus course, provides informal lānai eating, sundown views and a relaxed ambiance that outline the Kohala Coast.

Hualalai Residing

An intimate residential group units Hualalai other than many luxurious properties on the Large Island, with possession yielding membership privileges and a way of life centered on resort residing, ocean actions and golf.

Stock could be exceedingly scarce. When properties do promote, they achieve this on the very high of the Hawaiian luxurious spectrum. Latest years have seen four-bedroom condominiums command costs north of $8 million, smaller two-bedroom townhomes round $3 million, and single-family residences incessantly within the $8 million-plus vary, with premier estates and ocean-view parcels stretching effectively past $20 million.

Customized houses of 6,000 sq. ft or extra, notably these overlooking scenic holes, have set data on the market costs, and new releases of tons — usually with elevated sightlines to the ocean — have offered out in days, usually effectively above asking. A notable portion of consumers are repeat house owners, selecting to commerce up inside the group quite than look elsewhere – actor Ed O’Neill (Fashionable Household) amongst them – a strong endorsement within the international luxurious market.

Roughly a 3rd of the houses take part within the 4 Seasons rental program, giving Large Island vacationers a special solution to expertise a lot of what Hualalai has to supply.

And with its contrasting however complementary programs – to not point out its barefoot luxurious — golf is certainly a foundational piece of Hualalai’s ethos and a key element of what a contemporary life-style golf resort group could be.