Golfing Ka'anapali Kai

During our week in Maui, Glen and I had been anticipating his birthday (January 23rd) because my gift to him was a round of golf.  Taking the advice of our friends, George and Martha, we opted to play the Ka'anapali Kai course, the 16th and 17th holes of which we could see from our lanai.  Originally a sugar plantation, both it and the Royal Ka'anapali courses spread up the hillside at the front of the Hyatt resort.

In 2008, the Kai course hosted the reality golf series (ladies only), Big Break Ka'anapali.  A brass plaque with the winner, Kim Welch's name, adorns a locker in the woman's locker room.

More impressive were the Champions Tour winners on the Royal course whose pictures blanket the walls of the clubhouse.  The last Skins game was played here in January, 2011.  Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson won but the likes of Palmer, Norman, Couples, and Crenshaw have also played the course.

With all this hype and George's warnings of how difficult the course was, I was very nervous before our game.  We warned the starter we were duffers as a young Hawaiian loaded our cart with Nike rental clubs.  I had played with Nikes before so my nerves settled a little.  Taking an iron and a driver, we headed to the range to get a feel for these clubs, sharing a small bucket of balls.  When the guy beside me (not Glen) smacked his ball over 300 yards, I began to worry we'd be paired with some hot-shot golfers.

Turns out, the day was slow so we golfed as a twosome.  We kept pace with the 4 in front of us so didn't slow anyone down.  The first hole was pretty straightforward with only two palm trees in my field of vision (see above photo).  Note the frond hanging between them.  Well, my ball hit that.  Funnily enough, I still had good yardage but it took about 3 holes before I settled down and began to enjoy our game.

The bridge in the background allows the golf carts to cross the main highway as the course winds its way along the hill.  The Sugar Cane Train crisscrosses the course so can be a distraction.  But, it's a cute little train and added something to the wonderful scenery.

Golf course are havens of nature where ever you go.  Birds love them and so it was with Ka'anapali Kai.  We saw cattle egrets, myna birds, spotted doves, and red-crested cardinals.  The egrets were quick to take flight when Glen's ball flew through them and it was an awesome sight.

We finished the course in just over 4 hours and although our scores didn't reflect it, we had a great game.  We've never played a championship course before and the last time we did 18 holes, was several years back.  Glen did miss his Taylormade R11 driver and I could not get used to the Nike putter but we still were satisfied with how we played.  I've learned that one can never play a perfect game.

To make his birthday complete, Glen got a text message from Meghan and a phone call from Geoff and even opened birthday cards.  Then it was off to supper with George and Martha who had played The Plantation Course, the site of the PGA Tour Hyundai Tournament of Champions.  They brought us some ball markers which are very prestigious, apparently.

We had booked a table for four at the Mala Ocean Tavern in Lahaina on the recommendation of our friend, Tim.  It didn't disappoint.  Although we were too late to enjoy the lanai, we did have a table by an open window which allowed us to bask in the sea breeze and watch the running lights of passing boats reflect on the ocean waves.  The food was good, too, although very rich.  I had the soup of the day which was a spicy bisque then ate an appetizer of smoke salmon.  Glen enjoyed a huge plate of seafood pasta.  He ordered bread pudding for his dessert while I had Keoki coffee.

After the taxi ride home, we all agreed to call it an early night.  We'd played golf and talked golf and were done.