The Prince Course @ Princeville: A Pictorial!!! (15th hole added)

[Kyle Henderson]

Generally speaking, Hawaii does not offer the variety of golf that is favored in the tree house. The shortcomings have been discussed ad nauseum on this website.

Some of the chief complaints:
-It’s quite expensive for visitors
-The Bermuda grass is too sticky to accentuate the ground game.
-The courses are often designed around residential and resort developments, with the desire for a cohesive and walkable routing for the golf course falling well down the priority list.
-The routings are often gerrymandered to create a post card par 3 near the ocean at the expense of several subpar connector holes coming to and from the coast. The Prince Course could be used as an example of this, to some extent, with the 7th hole providing the “signature” coastline experience while the 6th and 8th circle a housing development.




-etc., etc.

Nonetheless, Hawaii’s landscapes are simply astonishing and quite unlike what golfers experience on the mainland. Exploring those landscapes should be a priority for any Hawaiian course, in my opinion. Thus, for all its strengths and weaknesses, I appreciate that the Prince Couse immerses golfers in one of the world’s most spectacular rainforests, and it does so while also offering a healthy share of engagingly strategic golf holes. Mind you, average golfers are sure to lose more balls than they might in a more golf-friendly environment (e.g. Pinehurst), and the poor suitability of the course for walking does rob some majesty from the journey (who explores the Grand Canyon in a speedboat?). Still, I enjoyed my round and I found several holes worth highlighting, particularly on the inward 9.  

Here are the holes I found noteworthy:

10th hole: 456-588 yards.
Staying down the left off of the tee will bring the green into range for the second shot.


From this angle, a carry of 200 yards over the chasm will dance.


Layups involve some decision making. This bunker 150 yards from the green’s center marks the inside of a very sharp turn in the fairway.


The ground is very uneven for the last 100+ yards of the approach.


A dedicated pro will make mincemeat of this hole, but hacks are likely to stage some fun matches over the length of this par 4.5


More will follow…

[Jim Franklin]

Looks great. One of the two I need to play to finish the Golf Digest 2010 list.

[Bob_Huntley]

Kyle,

Didn't you think that No1 was as testing a first hole as can be found?

Bob

[Dan Kelly]

Didn't you think that No1 was as testing a first hole as can be found?

It's just plain NASTY!

I played it once, 14 years ago, with some of my relatives who aren't really golfers; they play on vacation, wherever we are.

I'm not sure any of them finished No. 1.

The holes I remember liking best were a long par-3 over a chasm (on the front side, I think), with a bailout area short right, and an uphill par-4 somewhere in the middle of the back side.  Plus there was a great-looking "infinity green," with the Pacific filling the background.

[Kyle Henderson]

Kyle,

Didn't you think that No1 was as testing a first hole as can be found?

Bob

It's pretty stern. In general, the course is without the forgiving nature found on most "resort" courses. It's not a course for novices.
I'm glad it was calm when I played.

[Kyle Henderson]

Didn't you think that No1 was as testing a first hole as can be found?

It's just plain NASTY!

I played it once, 14 years ago, with some of my relatives who aren't really golfers; they play on vacation, wherever we are.

I'm not sure any of them finished No. 1.

The holes I remember liking best were a long par-3 over a chasm (on the front side, I think), with a bailout area short right, and an uphill par-4 somewhere in the middle of the back side.  Plus there was a great-looking "infinity green," with the Pacific filling the background.

The 6th has the infinity green and the 7th,over the chasm, is pictured above. The uphill 16th will be featured later.

[Dan Kelly]

the 7th,over the chasm, is pictured above....

Well, I *thought* it was ... but your most recent label was talking about the 10th hole ... which I didn't remember.

[Sean Leary]

Kyle,

Didn't you think that No1 was as testing a first hole as can be found?

Bob

I have never played a harder one...

[Kyle Henderson]

Just so others can see why the 1st is such a tough opener, and to really get this thread out of sequence (and confuse readers), here is a brief tour:

#1:365-448 yards.

A fade around the forest is preferred from the tee, then a draw over the swamp. The hole isn’t all that short either, though it plays downhill and downwind.


Golfers that rely on worm burners can tack their way around if needed…


Looking back we can see that the fairway is heavily contoured, adding to the difficulty of holding it with a drive and finding a level stance for the approach.

Range balls are included with the greens fee, so warm up well and embrace the challenge.

[Kyle Henderson]

#11: 134-187 yards.

The quality of the back 9 is sustained with number 11, a mid-length par 3 with wind quartering in off the right. Obviously, short and left are bad misses.
   

[DMoriarty]

I remember the first as being much harder than it looks in those photos.  Or perhaps they have widened the landing area it a bit to the left over the years?

The 10 is a very odd hole.  Shaped like a question mark, and that is a very appropriate shape for the hole.  Very difficult to figure where to lay up.   You wrote:

A dedicated pro will make mincemeat of this hole, but hacks are likely to stage some fun matches over the length of this par 4.5

That may be true for the "dedicated pro" on this hole, but my guess is that for the "hacks" the hole is often decided by tallying lost balls.

Nice photos.

[Kyle Henderson]

I remember the first as being much harder than it looks in those photos.  Or perhaps they have widened the landing area it a bit to the left over the years?

RTJ2 did renovate the course recently, and he did widen some of the playing corridors, but I'm not sure of the specifics.

In this photo, you can see that the fairway cut is not all that wide and the rough on other side is pitched toward the gunch. So the hole still has some pucker factor

[Kyle Henderson]

#13: 351-432 yards

The “baker’s dozenth” hole is eminently memorable, akin to something fabricated for a video game, but also quite penal for those that spray anything off piste.

Not only must the tee ball avoid the jungle left and right…


…It must also stay short of (or boldly carry )  a crossing stream.


Big hitters may be able to cross the gap if they hug the right side where the carry is shortest, but a slight miss will equal a lost ball.


The greenside bunkers are more easily circumvented from the right side as well.


The green sits nicely inside another bend in the stream. If you look carefully, you will also see a small natural waterfall pouring out of a lava tube in the background.

[Tom Yost]

My wife and I played the Prince Course on our visit to Kauai in April.   It was an enjoyable round with a great deal of beauty and spectacular vistas.  The afternoon rate of ~$130 was very reasonable.  We played on our departure day, which works out perfectly when one has to check out of the condo at 10AM, but the flight is not until 8PM.  You can't go to the beach and you can only look at so many gift shops.  Solution.  Lunch at the wonderful Tavern grill on property.  Tee off around 12:45.  Following the round, make use of the very nice locker room facilities to shower up and change clothes.  Head to town for a nice dinner before dropping off the car and heading to the airport.

I have some photos and will add some comments as I have time to remember which hole is which.

As for the first hole.  Some have said a course should greet you with a warm handshake.  The Prince course welcomes you with a swift kick to the nuts.

[Kyle Henderson]

My wife and I played the Prince Course on our visit to Kauai in April.   It was an enjoyable round with a great deal of beauty and spectacular vistas.  The afternoon rate of ~$130 was very reasonable.  We played on our departure day, which works out perfectly when one has to check out of the condo at 10AM, but the flight is not until 8PM.  You can't go to the beach and you can only look at so many gift shops.  Solution.  Lunch at the wonderful Tavern grill on property.  Tee off around 12:45.  Following the round, make use of the very nice locker room facilities to shower up and change clothes.  Head to town for a nice dinner before dropping off the car and heading to the airport.

I have some photos and will add some comments as I have time to remember which hole is which.

As for the first hole.  Some have said a course should greet you with a warm handshake.  The Prince course welcomes you with a swift kick to the nuts.

Is the course record intact, Yost With The Most?

[Kyle Henderson]

#14: 144-211 yards
The last par 3 is another looker, though the short/left trouble is unfortunately similar to the challenge presented by holes 7 and 11. Here, the solitary bunker makes life quite difficult for anyone who bails out to starboard.


The view looking back over the 14th and 13th holes.

[Tom Yost]

...As for the first hole.  Some have said a course should greet you with a warm handshake.  The Prince course welcomes you with a swift kick to the nuts.

Is the course record intact, Yost With The Most?

Safe to say!  I did escape with a 7 after two in the gunch on the first.  I settled down after that and managed an 84 (~my average) with only one other lost ball.

With the opener, to play safe to the fat part of the fairway left is a long iron or hybrid from the tee to stay short of the gunch on the far end.  Problem is, that leaves 160-170 to the green across another expanse of junk.  To get closer to the green one has to find the diagonal part of the fairway to the right with just the right carry to cover the gunch short and not too much to go thru into the gunch long.  Definitely a cheek squeezer to start the round!

As I mentioned, the course is scenic and spectacular, with a mix of holes routed through natural jungle terrain, some through a residential area and some with seaside vistas.

To judge the course design, the phrase "proper ground for golf" comes to mind, as there must be a lot of long cart rides, and crazy elevation changes up and down to fit a golf course on this property. Not to mention lots of perimeter of impenetrable jungle. Two holes feature bluffs at the end of the fairways (quite surprised as I arrived to the edge of the drop on #13 - You could easily drive right off a vertical cliff of 40-50 feet!  My wife freaked out as I pulled up to survey my next shot.  The 15th with a similar but not so abrupt drop.

I suppose my biggest knock would the number of forced carries from the forward tees.  Normally, I wouldn't notice but as my wife was playing with me this time, I could see how difficult it could be.   No bargain there for the ladies or short hitters.  I also had a bit of a trouble choosing tees.  Normally my comfort zone is around 6500 yards, but when presented with a higher difficulty (73.0/130 in this case), I usually move up a tee box. But at 6100, that resulted in a whole lot of layup holes.  So I ended up just sort of picking and choosing as I went along.
 
Overall though, the course does present a wide range of interest and variety and overall a pretty fun albeit challenging experience.  

[Tom Yost]

The entrance to the Princeville resort features this Trump-esque fountain that was sadly, undergoing some maintenance during our visit.



The "infinity" sixth green mentioned earlier:



I believe this is the seventh hole:



The grotto-like green setting of the 13th features a real waterfall!



Not golf but just sharing a bit of the beauty of Kauai.  This was the evening view from our condo patio.

[Kyle Henderson]

#15: 410-576 yards. Par 5.

The tees offer a glimpse of the green way off to the left, but the task at hand is to find the fairway, preferably its left edge.


Finding a position near this steep drop-off will yield a 250-yard, downhill approach for keen ornithologists.


But running approaches will have a tough time finding the putting surface, given the intervening bunker and surrounding jungle.


There is plenty of room to lay short with the second shot, as most should, but a tricky pitch remains to raised green with obstacles all around.


Looking back, we see that long or right = serious $h!te.

[Mark Provenzano]

We're here at Princeville now, though we hadn't booked golf yet due to iffy weather. But when we checked in we were greeted with this:
Prince Golf Course

The Prince Course will be closed for renovations beginning January 1, 2015. Currently, plans are calling for the facility to be re-opened in a private capacity in mid to late 2016.



Adding links w/more details. http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/farewell-to/article_67defca4-8f20-11e4-96b3-c7a87b460611.html

http://thegardenisland.com/business/local/private-prince/article_1cf55b48-6bd5-11e4-a4d3-d726cd16b77b.html

I asked staff here at the Westin if guests of this property (or the St. Regis) might have limited access after re-opening, but no one knew (or thought it unlikely)

[Tommy Williamsen]

Wow!  What a shame, I love the course.  It is just stunning and fun, albeit pretty penal, to play.  My wife and I enjoy a few enjoyable rounds there a few hearts ago.