[Richard Choi]

I've been meaning to do this for over a year, but Scott's post inspired me to finally do this today.

Challenge at Manele is located in the island of Lanai in Hawaii. It is an amazingly beautiful place. I have never seen colors so vibrant anywhere. The course is located above the Four Seasons resort overlooking the Hulop'e Bay. It was designed by Nicklaus.



First, some numbers:

Course Length (all Par 72)
5,024 yards from red tees
5,874 yards from white tees
6,310 yards from blue tees
6,684 yards from gold tees
7,039 yards from black tees

Men's Course Rating
Red White Blue Gold Nicklaus
64.6 68.3 70.4 72.1 73.7
Slope
115 123 126 130 135

Woman's Course Rating
Red White
68.8 73.2
Slope
119 129

And here we go...

Hole 1
Par: 4, Handicap: 13
   Nicklaus   Gold   Blue   White   Red
Yardage   373   362   312   298   228

It is a fairly benign resort opener. The main distraction is the stunning view of the bay below. The day I played I saw a pod of dolphins frolicking in the bay from the tee box. Unbelievable.





Hole 2
Par: 4, Handicap: 3
   Nicklaus   Gold   Blue   White   Red
Yardage   442   424   395   380   305

Fun hole, the landing area is quite wide, but you want to be close to the hazards on the left for the best approach.






Hole 3
Par: 3, Handicap: 17
   Nicklaus   Gold   Blue   White   Red
Yardage   171   158   137   118   109

The first of 6 par 3's on the course. This is one of the better ones with a huge front bunker that dictates play.





Hole 4
Par: 5, Handicap: 11
   Nicklaus   Gold   Blue   White   Red
Yardage   506   499   489   474   426

To reach this in two, it is best to drive it over the center bunker as the slope on the right side may stop your shot short.







Hole 5
Par: 5, Handicap: 7
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    506    499    489    474    426

This is where it starts to get really fun. This course is quite unlike the other Nicklaus courses that I have played. Many of the holes openly invite bump and run shots. Many of the fairways (like this one) runs down to the green so you can land it short and let it run up to the pin. The overall course feels much like Kapalua Plantation course, albeit with smaller scales.

This hole was my favorite on the course, a genuine risk/reward hole. The tee shot is blind. The fairway rises then falls dramatically towards the green. Although it is 499 yards from the gold tee, you can get it very close to the green because the last 200 yards is all down hill and the fairways run. If you can bomb a drive down the left side, you may have a 30 or 40 chip to the green (or maybe even closer). But there is a hazard the juts in about 250 out from the green on the right that will eat up any ball near it. Since the tee shot is blind, this is a very tricky proposition. Of course, you can avoid all that and just put a 3 wood on the top of the ridge and hit a long iron (because of the elevation change, it will play a club or two less) to the green. Fun fun hole.





Hole 6
Par: 5, Handicap: 9
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    544    531    509    476    426

Another reachable par 5 with a mesmerizing view. You really need to stay to the left side to have a good angle to the penninsula green.

[Rory Connaughton]

Richard

 Thanks for posting.  You mentioned bump and run options. Is the course reasonably firm?
Looks like a great place.

[Matthew Petersen]

When I played there, the course was in excellent condition. I found if I chose to hit a high shot I could stop it rather quickly but if I tried tohit a low shot (and with the wind you find you want to quite often) that I could expect some bounce and roll.

Love the photo tour so far, Richard. Such an out of the way place, many don't know about it. I have not played many top courses, but this course is certainly at the top of my list. Not just an astounding setting but I was so happy to find a quality golf course as well.

[Richard Choi]

Hole 7
Par: 3, Handicap: 15
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    172    152    143    133    121/57

A figure 8 shaped green with a big spine in the middle. Reminds me of the #17 at Bethpage Black.




Hole 8
Par: 3, Handicap: 5
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    210    194    185    166    153/70

A back-to-back ho-hum par 3.




Hole 9
Par: 5, Handicap: 7
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    556    544    525    497    434

A solid par 5 with a cross hazard that dictates play. The green invites a run up.





Hole 10
Par: 4, Handicap: 14
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    400    374    358    332    254

A tough blind tee shot. Again, the fairway rises in the middle and falls away to the green.





Hole 11
Par: 5, Handicap: 10
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    589    559    531    510    431

A long par 5 that heaves around the left. There is more right to left slope than it looks. You can bump and run to the right side and feed the ball to the green.






Hole 12 (aka The Money Shot)
Par: 3, Handicap: 8
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    202    185    153    103    65

This is the hole that is featured on every ad/article for this course. Absolutely breathtaking in view and a beast of a par 3. Bill Gates got married on it.

[Richard Choi]

Hole 13
Par: 4, Handicap: 18
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    345    314    302    279    260

A great short par 4. The fairway rises up again to give you a blind shot if you are trying for the green. The slope on the right side allows you to run the ball in. A lot of fun to play with many options.





Hole 14
Par: 3, Handicap: 16
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    195    182    154    131    102

Sort of a downer of a par 3 after #12.





Hole 15
Par: 5, Handicap: 12
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    538    518    496    479    419

Must carry two hazards on the way to the grenn - a more typical par 5 from Nicklaus.







Hole 16
Par: 5, Handicap: 12
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    538    518    496    479    419

A cool hole that you don't expect from a Nicklaus course. A tee shot has no easy target area, a wide fairway, but dangers lurk as you must negotiate a center bunker in the fairway. The the green is a true saucer with closley mowed areas running away from the green in every angle. You must be accurate with your yardage on a downhill hole with the wind in your face.
 




Hole 17
Par: 4, Handicap: 2
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    444    392    373    347    320/220

My favorite hole in the back nine. A drop dead gorgeous tee shot (the tee area is shared with #12) where you can gamble to the right as much as you can handle. Watching your drive flying majestically over the Pacific ocean is something you soon forget. The fairway runs down towards the green and the recommended shot is a runner to the left side of the green which will feed to the middle.





Hole 18
Par: 4, Handicap: 6
     Nicklaus    Gold    Blue    White    Red
Yardage    432    413    395    341    310

A tame finish to such an exciting and gorgeous round. A straight forwad par 4 straight to the clubhouse.

[Richard Choi]

P.S. If you are planning a trip to Maui, a golf trip to Lanai to play Manele and Koele is a must. You can get quite a good deal booking the rounds through the ferry company. The ferry leaves around 6 AM in the morning and it takes about 45 minutes to get to Lanai. There will be a shuttle to take you to Koele and shuttle you back to Manele afterwards. It is a very cool experience.

[Carl Nichols]

Thanks for the tour Richard.  I've played several Nicklaus courses, but IIRC, only one other resort course (Great Waters at Reynolds Plantation), unless you also count Harbour Town.  Do you think he changes his designs depending on the kind of play expected?  The resort courses seem different from the (newish) private courses I've played, but I can't really put my finger on how exactly.

[Matthew Petersen]

P.S. If you are planning a trip to Maui, a golf trip to Lanai to play Manele and Koele is a must. You can get quite a good deal booking the rounds through the ferry company. The ferry leaves around 6 AM in the morning and it takes about 45 minutes to get to Lanai. There will be a shuttle to take you to Koele and shuttle you back to Manele afterwards. It is a very cool experience.

I agree 100%. The whole day is a very unique experience. My wife, who does not golf, went with me for the entire day and talks about it as much as I do.

One of the strengths on the Manele course that is not mentioned here is its routing. You have to see the course to understand how well the course is routed, because the aerial pictures actually just make it seem sort of odd. But the way each hole is stacked above another hole ensures that you have truly unbroken views of the ocean from every hole on the course. And yet, while that seems to have been a goal, most of the holes turn out to have a good deal of interest (with the exception of a couple of the par 3s and the 18th).

[MHiserman]

Thank you for all the work put into this post.

I have the chance to play here in January.  The Challenge at Manele is a very fun golf course.
The biggest challenge was taking in the Zillion dollar views.

A ferry ride across to Lanai'i, the whale watching and the really fun course made for a day that our group will never forget.

We were out on the 7am ferry and back on the 2pm ferry.  What a great day.

Thanks again for sharing.

[Brad Fleischer]

Rich

I beg to differ in regards to "vibrant" and I am so going to copyright that line .

Brad

[henrye]

I've enjoyed the place on a few trips.  I prefer Manele to Koele.  The golf course is on one the best pieces of land for golf, but somehow just doesn't quite make it as outstanding.  Don't get me wrong.  It's great fun, but the resort is better than the golf.  The one thing I liked about Koele is that the last 2 times I've been there, the place was empty - not sure how they can make a buck.

As for those spinner dolphins, the last time I was there they hung around the beach area for about a week.  You can swim right up to them.  Poolside bar is great.  I recommend if you travel all the way to Lanai, at least stay one night at the Hotel.  Enjoy the Dolphins (hopefully they still hang around), the pool bar and you can even have dinner outside at the tables by the pool bar - the menu is pretty much the same at all the restaurants (except for the fancy restaurant, which is expensive and isn't a standout, regardless).  You wont regret staying there, just one night.

[Richard Choi]

Thanks for the tour Richard.  I've played several Nicklaus courses, but IIRC, only one other resort course (Great Waters at Reynolds Plantation), unless you also count Harbour Town.  Do you think he changes his designs depending on the kind of play expected?  The resort courses seem different from the (newish) private courses I've played, but I can't really put my finger on how exactly.

I think Kapalua Plantation had a some influence on this course. I don't think it would be unusual for Jack and especially his associates to look for similar courses in the area and learn from those course. I feel like there is strong Kapalua influences (heaving fairway elelvations, run-up greens, etc.) in several holes here which gives very unique feel for a Nicklaus course.

[John Moore II]

Is it just me, or is the routing for the back nine seem really funky? I mean, I understand the need to get the holes down on the ocean front, but was there no better way to route it? The walks/rides from 11 to 12, 13 to 14 and 16 to 17 seem to be pretty long. Was there not a better way to get the holes down on the ocean but keep the distance between holes short? Other than that, it looks like a good course, certainly with exceptional views.

[Bart Bradley]

Is it just me, or is the routing for the back nine seem really funky? I mean, I understand the need to get the holes down on the ocean front, but was there no better way to route it? The walks/rides from 11 to 12, 13 to 14 and 16 to 17 seem to be pretty long. Was there not a better way to get the holes down on the ocean but keep the distance between holes short? Other than that, it looks like a good course, certainly with exceptional views.

John:

Very perceptive.  I don't want to rain on any parades.  But this course is not as good as these pics make it look.  The routing is a mess and one of the par 3s has a 40 foot retaining wall to the right of the green.  Any course in HI will have exceptional views.

Bart

[Scott_Burroughs]

A couple of shots of Manele from the water:

par 3


#17, I think

[John Moore II]

Is it just me, or is the routing for the back nine seem really funky? I mean, I understand the need to get the holes down on the ocean front, but was there no better way to route it? The walks/rides from 11 to 12, 13 to 14 and 16 to 17 seem to be pretty long. Was there not a better way to get the holes down on the ocean but keep the distance between holes short? Other than that, it looks like a good course, certainly with exceptional views.

John:

Very perceptive.  I don't want to rain on any parades.  But this course is not as good as these pics make it look.  The routing is a mess and one of the par 3s has a 40 foot retaining wall to the right of the green.  Any course in HI will have exceptional views.

Bart

I think this course is probably good/above average. And it seems to have some good strategy on some of the holes. The par 5's don't look like anything special, but the par 4's look pretty good, I think. And I think the views present on a site have a lot to do with the overall quality of the architecture. This course is probably a little better than most on here might give it credit for being, because its designed by Jack.

[Richard Choi]

But this course is not as good as these pics make it look. 

Dang, I must be a better photographer than I thought!

John you are right. This course is definitely above a typical resort golf course grade, even without the views. I have played almost all of the resort courses on Maui and this is definitely 2nd best behind Plantation. The par 4's are definitely strong and more interesting that most you will find around Hawaii. There are some good par 3's, but some very weak ones as well. Par 5's are as you have guessed very average.

[Matthew Petersen]

I liked a couple of the par 5s on the front-4 and 6 if I remember correctly. Didn't think much of 9. The par 5s on the back were fine but nothing special.

Again, the routing is strange looking without an understanding of how the course sits on the slope. Not a walking friendly course, but I imagine it could be walked as easily (perhaps more so) than Kapalua. I don't remember the distance between 13 green and 14 tee, but I do recall that the routing is strange in the 11-12/16-17 area.

[William_G]

great work Richard!

Matthew, you are right the routing is strange in there 11/12/ 16/17...tha's because 12 was meant to be 16 but they had problems puuting a green near the 17th tee so Nicklaus re-routed it and turned a planned 16th green into a 12th tee..


Bill Gates may have been married on the 17th tee, but we had our honeymoon there! LOL
thanks

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