Nicklaus' Hualalai Resort a perfect start for 2010 Tour
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
Jack Nicklaus changed the landscape of professional golf from the day he burst on the PGA TOUR in 1960 by almost winning the U.S. Open as a 20-year-old amateur.
A half-century later, Nicklaus continues to re-shape golf's landscape, but now with blueprints in his hands instead of a driver.
One of the premier efforts of his 275 solo designs is the Hualalai Golf Course in Ka'upulehu-Kona, Hawaii -- home of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the Champions Tour's first official-money event in 2010 that starts on Jan. 22.
Nicklaus had to deal with more of the unusual hazards in golf -- lava rock left behind by centuries of eruptions of nearby volcanoes. The lava rock is as much as part of Hualalai as the grass and sand.
Nicklaus knows all too well how lava rock can wreck a player's game -- twice he lost the Senior Skins Game, played at nearby Mauna Lani, because he hit balls in the lava lining the 18th hole. He tried to reduce the penalty of the lava at Hualalai, but knew he couldn't eliminate it.
"You want to keep the lava just out of play physically, but in play visually," Nicklaus said. "It's a great visual feature, but it also can be a pretty stiff mental hazard. I don't care how far back you push the lava -- and every time during the construction we kept pushing back the sides of the fairways -- people are still going to get in it."
Nicklaus had to re-route an existing golf course into its current form, using the lava as his defining points. He was on site for every major step of the construction to make sure the blueprints were transferred into the ground.
"The inspiration came from the lava," he said, "to use those natural ups and downs, always keeping in mind that the ocean is the greatest influence here."
Hualalai has been known as one of Hawaii's top resort courses since it opened in 1996. It has become a popular way for the Champions Tour's stars to kick off their season.
"It's one of my favorite places in the world," said Champions Tour veteran Dana Quigley, and not just because two of his 11 career Champions Tour wins came at Hualalai (2003, '05).
"I just love where the 17th green meets with the ocean. (Wife) Angie and I walk out there almost before every round. I've said this is one of the greatest views in the world, a place where I want some of my ashes spread."
It also doesn't hurt that Quigley won his last event at Hualalai in a playoff over Hall of Famer Tom Watson at the 17th hole. But there are some other eye-catching vistas on this course, such as the finishing hole.
But Nicklaus didn't just rely on Mother Nature to complete his design. He built a man-made lake that has transformed the par-3 fifth hole into one of the meanest on the property, requiring a 200-yard approach over water. Nicklaus also has the fourth and eighth holes ending on a double green, which can lead to some, well, interesting putts. He also put a bunker smack-dab into the middle of the green of the shortish par-3 12th hole.
"Every golf course needs a little controversy," Nicklaus says.
This isn't a tournament where par means much. Because of the open fairways and lack of trade winds in this part of the island, the average winning score for the three-round tournament in the last 10 years is 18.8 strokes under par.
Translated, that means a golfer has to shoot three 66s to have a chance to win.
"I'm fine with the low scores," Quigley said. "I honestly think people would rather watch us make birdies than bogeys, and you have to remember this is the first tournament in several months for a lot of the players."
Nicklaus doesn't mind the low scores, either.
"I had to make it pretty wide-open because this is a resort course, and that usually leads to lower scores," Nicklaus said.
The recent winners in this elite event demonstrate the quality of the course: Bernhard Langer (2009), Fred Funk (2008), Hale Irwin (2007), Loren Roberts (2006), Quigley, Fuzzy Zoeller (2004), Tom Kite (2002) and Larry Nelson (2001).
Nicklaus is proud of this course, just as he is of the other 344 layouts his design company has produced.
"It's a very nice golf course on a really nice piece of land," he said. "It has some wonderful views. I'm very happy with how it turned out."
Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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