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RAPTURE ON THE BIG ISLAND by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski © 2002 BIG ISLAND, Hawaii It was the bowl of chocolate chip cookies that moved me from infatuation to outright rapture. Perhaps I should explain. When you make the turn at the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, on Hawaii's Big Island, you'll come to a shelter protecting a jar full of fresh chocolate chip cookies. Who can resist a treat like that, coming as it does in the middle of a gorgeous, nearly empty course. Hualalai isn't the most difficult course in Hawaii, nor is it the most dramatic. But it happens to be exquisitely maintained, as beautiful as they come with its emerald green fairways contrasting with the black lava. And perhaps best of all, since it's open only to some 100 members, property owners and hotel guests, the course is likely to be sparsely populated with other duffers. Not a bad centrepiece for a resort that Conde Nast Traveler rates as the No.1 spa resort in North America and the Caribbean. The Hualalai complex includes the 243-room Four Seasons Resort Hualalai and a private residential community. In three years Hualalai has sold over US$200 million in real estate -- expect to shell out up to US$ 3.5 million for a beachfront property if you want to schmooze with other Hualalai residents like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Wall Street brokerage baron Charles Schwab. What makes a resort worthy of an almost embarrassing string of awards? The AAA gave Hualalai Five Diamonds, Zagat declared it Number 1 Resort in the United States, Travel & Leisure magazine called it the Number 1 Spa in the United States, and Golf Magazine lauded it as one of the top 20 golf resorts in the United States. First, it doesn't feel like a hotel. The 36 low-rise bungalows are set among meandering, vegetation laden paths. The guest rooms are elegantly simple, what one journalist has called "haute Hawaiian", with dark wood, stone flooring, a CD player and views of the ocean. As in all great hotels (and in golf, for that matter) it's the details that count. I had never before been to a resort which realized that even if guests can afford expensive laundry services they might nevertheless prefer to just pop a few sweaty golf shirts into a washing machine. The Four Seasons has several well-camouflaged washing machines and dryers (yes, of course there is free detergent). In your bungalow you'll find not just one type of bathrobe but two -- thick terry cloth and lightweight cotton Noa Noa kimonos. Somehow the staff learns your name and addresses you personally, perhaps not surprising since, as Dean Hyry, resort manager, explains "Each job applicant undergoes five job interviews." And the fact that Hualalai is the only hotel on the Kona coast with a profit sharing scheme certainly enhances the aloha welcome. Hualalai has joined the trend throughout Hawaii in promoting Pacific Fusion cuisine, one of numerous buzzwords created to describe cooking that uses fresh local ingredients, and combines tastes and textures in an "anything goes" approach. Chef de Cuisine "Moku" Keali'inohomoku, born and bred on the island of Maui, prepares what he calls "Island Grown Cuisine" in the Pahu i'a Restaurant (Pahu i'a is Hawaiian for aquarium; the restaurant's main feature is a huge display of tropical fish). Moku is an avid free diver (underwater spear fishing without SCUBA gear), so trust him with anything fishy. He makes a simple fish taco with pineapple salsa a dish to remember. I particularly liked the way he prepared seared ahi (yellowfin tuna) with shitake mushrooms, basil and lobster, folded over a compote of orange and flying fish eggs, and finished off with a soy and wasabi drizzle. But back to the golf. Among the friendliest people you'll meet at Hualalai is the starter, Brown Bear. Brown Bear has a real name, but nobody uses it. He's been the starter at Hualalai since it opened in 1996 and has seen many changes in the perpetually sunny Kona coast. "The coastal highway was built in the mid-1970s, before there were many hotels here," he notes. At that time visitors had a choice of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, which boasts the first lava golf course on the Big Island, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., and the obstinately simple, but nevertheless expensive thatched-roof Kona Village, which adjoins the Hualalai property. And his name? "I met Jack Nicklaus when he built the course. He said 'I'm Golden Bear'. You're obviously not blonde, so you must be Brown Bear.' And the name stuck." The course is in immaculate shape and you'd be hard pressed to find a more generous rough - miss the fairway and chances are your ball will be sitting up nice and proud on top of the Tiffway Bermuda grass. The first hole is a short par-4 with a wide, wide, wide fairway. The target line is the summit of Hualalai, a dormant volcano that rises 8,171 feet from the parched scrub of the Kona coast, one of five volcanoes that combined to form the Big Island. Nicklaus is unapologetic about the easiness of the hole. "Even though we always build a top-rate practice facility (Hualalai's driving range is elegantly simple, with 20 neatly shaped pyramids of brand new Strata range balls). I know that most golfers don't warm up enough before a round," the Golden Bear says. "Even if they do, there are those first-tee jitters. Nobody wants to lose their first shot of the day. My philosophy is to start out with just about the easiest hole on the course. The challenge can come later." You can select your degree of challenge. For a start, if you hit off the back tees you'll play a course that is almost a full mile longer than it is from the front tees. Choose to bite off as much lava as you want to chew. Visitors soon learn that lava is the domain of Pele, the powerful and fickle volcano goddess. She's responsible for the lava mounds that make golf on the Kona coast so challenging. You could do worse than pay her proper respect. On the par-5 7th hole you hit your tee shot towards a narrow gap between walls of pahoehoe (smooth) lava. With a bit of luck you'll have a clear shot through. Consider what Jack Nicklaus has done with the par-3 12th. Genius or senseless whimsy? From the elevated tee you'll cross lava and a large bunker in order to get to the green, 167 yards away. But in the middle of the large green is a sand bunker, nicknamed the "Bear Trap". It's the first such "donut" green I've come across, and it's not uncommon for a player to land on the side of the donut away from the pin and be faced with the choice of putting by triangulation or chipping (yes, according to the rules you're allowed to chip on the green, but if you take a divot you risk the ire of the greens keeper). On the par-4 15th, a lava pile guards the left side of the fairway. Clear it and you might wind up in one of the three bunkers just behind it. Best to aim for the right side of the fairway. On the par-3 17th, Hualalai's signature hole, your tee shot crosses a jumble of aa (stony) lava and large bunkers to reach an ample green that is surrounded on two sides by a fringe of lava and, twenty yards below, the Pacific Ocean. It's not quite as dramatic as the other classic par-3 ocean holes in Hawaii, but you'll nevertheless be quite pleased with yourself when you reach the green safely. Play the hole in late afternoon, when the setting sun enhances the black of the lava, the white of the bunkers, the emerald of the green, the turquoise of the ocean and the cornflower blue of the sky. With the ocean now at your back, your tee shot on the par-4 18th must carry over ancient Hawaiian fishponds to a fairway protected by extensive bunkers up the left side. One complaint is the disconcerting amount of construction going on around the golf course. This is due to a new exclusive residential community which will feature a Tom Weiskopf golf course that is being constructed on the foothills of the Hualalai volcano with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and the Kohala coastline. But of course man does not live by golf alone. This is a spa, after all, so indulge in a lomilomi traditional Hawaiian massage or a jet lag rejuvenating massage. Try a myofacial release (relieves pain and stiffness caused by faulty posture), or experience a reiki or shiatsu session. Too tame? Indulge in a Hualalai hot rock massage (hot and cold stones are placed under and on the body to open the body's energy centres, then a slow, deeply warming and penetrating massage is done with heated basalt stones. Perfect for the superstressed, they say. Want something more exotic? Choose the spirulina body masque, the rehydrating aloe wrap, the Hualalai salt glo, well, you get the idea. The gym is first class, with top-notch equipment, open air aerobics machines, new Cannondale and Trek mountain bikes, and your choice of music on the closed-circuit audio system (you attach a receiver to your belt, put on headhphones and dial the channel you want).. After golf and a workout I passed a delightful afternoon lounging by the beach. Every 15 minutes or so someone passed by to refill my glass with cool water. Life was good. Then, seeing I wasn't asleep, Amondo approached. "Have you seen the turtles?" he asked. There, just a few steps from my lounge chair, in the tidal shallows, a group of green turtles stuck their heads out of the water, looking at us strange creatures on the beach. I figured curiosity like that should not go unreciprocated and I grabbed my swimming goggles and set off to join them. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Unlimited Golf Package. end main article
Richard Albrecht, senior vice president, explains the history of the stewards of the shoreline. "Back in the '30s and '40s - the era when people would come to Hawaii, to old Waikiki, via Matson steamship and stay for a month - the Alaka'i Nalu were glorified recreation leaders, and they were great watermen, and some were playboys, too. But they were respected, and always had integrity and honour. They would take you out surfing, and they were strong, great swimmers. The most famous of them all was Duke Kahanamoku - the Olympic gold medallist who introduced the Hawaiian water man around the world." "They're all professional surfers, wave riders, paddlers," Albrecht explains. "But they are primarily educators, not lifeguards. Their spiritual component is very important and always present. The powerful things are the emotional things. Their desire is to create meaningful experiences for the residents and guests." A Hawaiian phrase comes to mind - E 'ike na hoku o ka nalu - behold the stars of the wave. That's why there are no plastic pink kayaks or laser boats at the Four Seasons. Instead the Alaka'i Nalu teach surfing, canoe paddling, canoe surfing, and canoe sailing. The Alaka'i Nalu also help guests to snorkel intelligently in the King's Pond, a man-made snorkelling haven subtly carved into the lava. It's a living swimming pool/aquarium, fed by natural springs and ocean water that enters through underground channels. Guests can feed the rays, and swim amidst 3,500 tropical fish - white puffers, yellow tangs, green parrotfish and three spotted eagle rays. It's a marvellous way to come face to face with the island's marine biodiversity without leaving the comfort of your spa.
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