To walk the greens of the two championship golf courses within the Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection, is to walk in the footsteps of Hawaiian royalty. Set along the spectacular Kohala Coast on Hawai‘i Island, the fairways kiss the edges of history, where ancient Hawaiians first mastered the art of aquaculture. In early years, the land was a retreat for royals, where King Kamehameha’s private fishing ponds still remain, and petroglyphs etched in the volcanic stones lining the resort hint at stories embedded in the land.

However, it was golf royalty that graced the land in most recent years, when Hawaiian golf legend Francis Hyde I‘i Brown—a.k.a. “Hawai‘i’s Mr. Golf,” and a descendant of ali‘i—purchased 1,359 acres for a secluded fishing retreat at Kalahuipua‘a in the late 1930s and began planning his dream golf resort. Brown envisioned a retreat that would preserve the land’s sense of place, and he soon began laying the foundation with the help of Tokyo businessman Noboru Gotoh.

The duo met at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where their shared passion for the environment and the game of golf drove their vision for what would soon become one of the most sought-after resort retreats in Hawai‘i. Brown sold his property to the Mauna Lani Resort in 1972 to begin making their dream a reality and allowed the Hawaiian elders to rename the place Mauna Lani, which means “Mountain Reaching Heaven,” a fitting homage to the five volcanic mountains that surround the historic grounds.

The first golf course at Mauna Lani opened in 1981, just five years after Brown’s passing, where designers Homer Flint and Raymond Cain honored Brown’s legacy and vision by creating a space for people to come together to relax and play golf in an atmosphere of total harmony. The original 18 holes on the property are known as the “Classic Course,” and, between 1990-1991, nine additional holes were added to each side of the original course to create two separate courses, the North Course and the South Course.

Both of the courses are now part of the Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection, a reimagined 3,200-acre luxury hotel that debuted on Jan. 15, 2020, where golfers can choose between the kiawe-forested rolling terrain of the Mauna Lani North Course or the challenging Mauna Lani South Course that winds through a stark, rugged a‘ā lava landscape.

Built on a lava bed of pāhoehoe lava flow, the North Course encompasses everything that is great about golfing on Hawai‘i Island. Rolling fairways, lush local fauna and scenic shots give a nod to the island’s history—like the par three at No. 17 featuring a green that peeks out among a natural lava amphitheater at the bot- tom of a deep lava bowl. The landscaping offers a distinct sense of place while the multiple tee positions can mean the difference between a laid-back day on the greens or a challenging round of golf. Holes 9-10 on the North Course are adjacent to the resort’s 230-acre protected archaeological district, called the Puakō Petroglyph Archaeological District. The district contains more than 3,000 separate ki‘i pohaku (petroglyph) designs and is one of the largest concentrations of petroglyphs in the entire state of Hawai‘i.

Golfers play their way toward the shoreline through the North Course’s grove of twisted kiawe trees, where holes 9 and 10 offer stunning oceanside views. The course’s consistent yet challenging terrain includes water hazards and bunkers, but those are the least of concern for many who keep their focus on working around the course’s most unique neutral hazard: a herd of hard-working feral goats that keep the greens trim throughout the year.

The North Course has become popular as a tournament venue in recent years, but it’s the South Course that acted as the home to the Senior Skins Game between 1990 and 2000. The tournament introduced Mauna Lani, and Hawai‘i Island, to the world’s top names in golf, including Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez and more. The South Course now hosts the Hawai‘i State Open and continues to thrill golfers year-round with its exciting layout.

Fine-playing Bermuda grass winds its way around rugged a‘ā lava of the prehistoric Kaniku lava flow throughout the course, where the Kohala Mountains come into view around hole 7 and humpback whales can be seen migrating offshore during the winter months for many of the South Course’s greens. The entire South Course experience can be summed up by one signature hole. Golfers travel from around the world to try their hand at the course’s famous 15th hole—one of the most photographed holes in the world—that features an over-the-ocean par 3 that’s equal parts mesmerizing and challenging.

The two championship layouts at Mauna Lani are complemented by the WikiWiki nine-hole short course that was added in recent years, bringing the total hole count at Mauna Lani to 45. The WikiWiki course is great for corporate meetings, incentives and family get-togethers, and was designed with the multi-tasking golfer in mind, where it’s possible to play a quick (wikiwiki) game of golf in less than an hour and have plenty of time left in the day to enjoy other activities throughout the Mauna Lani resort.

The resort is part of the prestigious Auberge Collection of Resorts, where guests can spend the day lounging poolside with a wood-fired pizza, fresh from the oven, or relaxing at the full-service Auberge Spa with a lā‘au facial or a lomi lomi massage. Activities on the water and on the land focus on celebrating the history of the area, where guests can paddle an outrigger canoe, join in on a cultural program like lei making or coconut frond weaving, or even head to the ocean floor for an intro into underwater rock running. Hiking, surfing and stargazing are parts of the weekly programming and offer a great immersion into this slice of Hawai‘i Island, but it’s the Talk Story experience with the resort’s kahu hanai (knowledge keeper), Danny Akaka (a.k.a. Uncle Danny), that really offer guests a sense of place.

Uncle Danny leads educational tours of the resort’s ancient fishponds and walks guests through the fields of petroglyphs while regaling with stories from the early island ancestors. During each full moon, Uncle Danny and his team gather with hotel guests and residents for “Twilight at Kalahuipua‘a,” an evening of music, story-telling and celebration.

The setting sun is an event at the resort, especially on the golf course, where a guided sunset tour takes guests along for a scenic ride on the South Course. The tour begins an hour before sunset, when parties of two load into their private lithium battery-powered golf carts—powered with speakers and GPS—and head off on a historical tour through holes 1-7. After three scenic stops, the tour group parks along the iconic 15th hole of the Kohala Coast, where a band of Hawaiian musicians serenade the sunset and viewers can try to catch that illusive “green flash” as the sun makes its final descent.

Only at a place like Mauna Lani would stepping foot on a golf course be as beautiful and beguiling in the warmth of the sun as it is during the cool of the night air, but, with history grounding the greens, there’s no end to the amazing experiences possible at the Mauna Lani golf courses.

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