72. Hawaii & California---5 Day Trip---March 26-31, 2017

Hawaii & California---5 Day Trip---March 26-31, 2017

On the road again after being in Pinehurst for the last six weeks.  This is one of two short trips I am taking to the west, the second planned, booked and ready to go April 10-15.  If all goes well, I will play 6 new courses on this first trip (2 in HI and 4 in CA) and then 10 on the second trip (5 in AZ, 2 in CA, and 3 in NV), and that would bring me to the following status on my bucket lists:

--Total courses played lifetime to date:  now 904, projected at 920 if both trips go as planned;  shooting to reach at least 1000;

--USA Top 100 ever—28 to go as of 3/26/17…two trips scheduled to knock off 11 (Golf Magazine, now 3…projected to 1; Golf Digest, now 18, projected to 11; Golf Week, now 9 projected to 7;

--PGA Championship Venues—17 to go as of 3/26…2 trips projected to bring that to 16;

--Four courses on the trips were on Golf Week’s Top 100 Modern Courses list but did not make my “merged” GW list.

However, as my flight last night from Charlotte to LAX was cancelled (equipment issues) I had to stay near the Charlotte airport last night (3 hours sleep) and am now flying the first leg of  my revised schedule (CLTàPhoenixàKauai).  I know I can get in one of the two courses in Hawaii and have to make several calls during my layover in Phoenix to see if I can get in the second.

Here is my hopeful itinerary for this week in the order of play:

--3/27—Hokuala—Ocean Course located near southeast corner of island of Kauai (formerly known as Kauai Lagoons—Kiele Course), a Jack Nicklaus design completed in 1989.  In 1993 Golf Digest had it as #88 in the USA, and in 2000 Golf Magazine rated it #82 the USA.  Interestingly, it never appeared again on either list.  Kauai is where “South Pacific was filmed and is the most northwestern of the major Hawaiian Islands.  My only visit there was in late 1987 when I played the courses at the Princeville resort located on Kauai’s northern coast.

--3/28—Royal Kaanapali—located on the west coast of Maui (about 20 miles south of Kapalua) opened in 1962, originally designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and remodeled by his son RTJ, Jr. in 1976 and Robin Nelson in 2006.  Golf Digest included it on both the 1966 and 1967 “America’s 200 Toughest” (which were listed alphabetically), in the #61-70 bracket in its 1969 USA “Most Testing” courses list, and in the #51-100 bracket on its 1971 and 1973 USA “100 Greatest” lists.  It has never been on a Golf Magazine or Golf Week USA list (note that these did not start publishing until 1991 and 1997 respectively).  Playing Royal Kaanapali is dependent on my sorting out about 5 logistical questions later today.  Prior to this trip I had played 3 courses on Maui (all in 2014) and a total of 9 on the Hawaiian Islands

--3/29—Sherwood Country Club—located about 25-30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.  A Jack Nicklaus design completed in 1989, Sherwood is a very exclusive club that has hosted Tiger Woods “post season” event a few times (as well as its predecessor).  One of its better known members is Wayne Gretzky, the father-in-law of the current world #1 player, Dustin Johnson.  In 1993 and 1995 Sherwood was # 79 and #95 respectively on GD’s USA Top 100.  It was never included on a Golf Magazine list or my Golf Week “merged” list but was on GW’s initial Top 100 Modern list in 1997 as #80.

--3/29--Rustic Canyon—a public course located about 5 miles north of Sherwood, and designed by Gil Hanse, this course has a growing reputation among golf architecture devotees.  Never on Golf Magazine or Golf Digest Top 100 and never on my GW “merged list”, but ranked #61, #75, #100, and #99 respectively on GW’s USA Top 100 Modern courses 2005-08.

--3/30—La Costa-Championship—a regular on the PGA Tour in the 1970’s-80’s as La Costa hosted the Tournament of Champions year after year after year, with TV announcers forever talking about the length of its last four holes.  As the T of C was always played during California’s rainy winter season, the course was often very wet for this event (now held at Kapalua on Maui).  Located near Carlsbad, CA, it was designed by Dick Wilson & Joe Lee in 1964 and renovated by Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley in 2006.  La Costa was ranked in the #71-80 bracket of GD’s1969 USA “Most Testing” courses list.  Then in 1971/73/75/77/79/81/83 it was included in GD’s #51-100 bracket.  In 1985, GD started numerically ranking all #1-100, and La Costa was ranked #84, #87, and then a “swansong” #100 in 1985/87/89.  It never was included on GM or GW.

-3/30—Pauma Valley Country Club—a virtual kissing cousin of La Costa on GD’s list.  Designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1960 and renovated by Ted Robinson in 1983.  Located in the Escondido foothills north of San Diego, it was ranked in the #61-70 bracket of GD’s1969 USA “Most Testing” courses list. Just like La Costa, in 1971/73/75/77/79/81/83 it was included in GD’s #51-100 bracket.  In 1985, when GD started numerically ranking all #1-100, it was ranked #70 for its “swansong” appearance in 1985.  It never was included on GM or GW.  I remember seeing it on the GD list all those years and wondering about it…am looking forward to the opportunity to finally play and see it.

We are now about an hour out of Lihue airport on Kauai.  This is a long flight, especially with no upgrade (upgrades to and from Hawaii are tough to get).  I am pleased to report that I was able to sort out all logistical questions regarding Hawaii generated by last night’s flight cancellation.  Next post should hopefully be in a couple of days after I have played the two Hawaiian courses.