The $200 million renovation of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii includes an extensive restoration of the resort’s historic golf course. The reopening of the course in December coincided with the 60th anniversary of its original opening presided over by golf’s “Big Three” – Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.
Creating the island’s first resort course, Robert Trent Jones Sr. transformed a black lava field on the Kohala Coast into a stunning seaside layout. Fittingly, Robert Trent Jones Jr., who was on site when his dad built the course, handled the renovation and based his work on his memory of how the course looked and played when it first opened. His main focus was redoing all the bunkers and spriging the course with seashore paspalum, a drought- and salt-tolerant grass that makes for a terrific playing surface.