The Challenge at Manele
So the blog thing has me really remembering the courses I’ve played and confirming (or not) where I had ranked them in my head. Manele is up close to the top ten and as I recall it, I’m not wondering why I ranked it so high but why it’s not even higher. This has all the attributes that make a course “spectacular.” Views. Location. Uniqueness. Conditioning. Strategy.
The only way to get here on Lanai – unless you happen to have a helicopter – is to take a ferry. Here the ride is part of the experience unlike Streamsong, Bandon or Cabot where the drive makes you wonder why the hell anyone would put a golf resort out here.
So remembering Manele and holding it up against the ten or so courses I have ranked higher I think to myself, self I think, “The water is bluer here, the weather is nicer, the ocean-side, cliff-hugging holes are just as dramatic, the conditioning is better, the Four Seasons treatment is better. And I played well here so the course was fun for a bogey golfer. So what gives? That’s when I realize that I am a golf design nerd. History, course design and a sense of traditional Scottish/Irish linksdom do separate the courses in my mind.
The top courses in my opinion are Pebble (the majors/PGA pedigree and history), New South Wales (history and mystique), Pine Valley, Oakmont, National and Oakland Hills (all with their exclusivity, course design, history, championship golf pedigree). Can’t touch these! Should Manele outrank Cape Kidnappers? Here’s where everything I just said about Manele is ramped up a degree or two. Kapalua is just such a marvel to look at and how the hilly terrain works with the design is awesome. So that leaves me with Pacific Dunes and Cabot Cliffs. Why in my head do I keep going back and thinking if given a choice of only playing one of the courses again and again I would choose those over Manele? It could be recency bias, I played Manele in 2013 the others much more recently. I said all the other stuff above which favors Manele. All of these have no history to speak of and no tournament pedigree. So it just comes down to the experience of playing and for me what is more like a Scottish links course with traditional hole designs versus a more modern version thereof pushes Manele just slightly below these (but slightly above the other Bandon courses and Cabot Links). Regardless, this is a course you should experience.
I think at one point they had another course on the island (or maybe still do) but I didn’t play that. This was part of a convention trip but not an “official” convention round. I took my daughter and this is a place that a non-golfing spouse and/or child (young or grown) would enjoy the scenery and experience.
To the course, the 12th is as beautiful as any cliffside hole anywhere – Cabot, Pebble, Bandon. The 17th is one of my absolute favorite holes (kind of Pebble Beach’s #8 in reverse). The front five or so holes climb up a gentle mountain giving you unbelievable vistas as you climb and then descend. We didn’t grab eats here and I can’t remember if there was a cart girl or not slinging drinks. With the boat ride out and back you’ll need to dedicate a day here unless you’re staying at the Four Seasons.
Golf Scrapbook 