For all the signature holes in golf, only a few courses actually begin with one. The Prince course in Kauai , is one of them. It is gorgeous to look at, and treacherous to play.
Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed The Prince in 1987. The routing flows naturally through dense jungle, with many memorable holes, but players will always remember that first hole!
From the tee, the blue tee 425 yard hole plays significantly downhill, sweeping right, and then left through the jungle, with a forced carry across tropic wetlands into the green. The entire fairways rumples, with nary a flat spot for your second. Factor in the ever present wind and you begin 18 holes of guessing distances and shots.
Its 170 yards to reach the fairway and 265 yards to the jungle, again downhill and with a normally right to left wind which can be strong.
Once you reach the fairway, the 2nd shot requires a forced carry over a ravine of water and jungle to the putting surface. The architect provides ample room to bail out right which allows a chip to the narrow but long putting surface.
All in all its a memorable hole.