The “Garden Isle” is a floating oasis of carved mountain cliffs; extraordinarily lush rainforests; a verdant Mt. Waialeale, with nearly 500 inches of annual rainfall; resplendent, soft-sand beaches; tumbling, vertiginous, northshore waterfall cliffs; and dolphins and legends; and—gloriously— the natural and overwhelming grandeur of the Waimea Canyon.

Add to that cachet the annual PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which pulls nearly 90 million US homes with its fun in late November, and you have a dream venue. The Poipu Bay Golf Course is set like an Impressionist painting on 210 acres of Hawaiian landscape, bookended by rich emerald mountain backdrops and the pastels of a cobalt-blue ocean.

The Robert Trent Jones, Jr. links design was completed in 1991 and floats for 7,108 yards over the ocean, around four lakes and over (or through) 80 Jones-esque sprawling bunkers (which are currently being replenished with silica sand). It is also a lovely course to walk in the quiet of a late afternoon (holding hands on the fairway would be a romantic interlude) and after 4:00 pm you can bring the kids who play for free if you contribute $10 for the frolic. How do you resist this?

The family experience is even more poetic if you can complete your round and stroll several minutes over to the Grand Hyatt Kaua’i Resort & Spa and check in for a week (at least). Fifty acres of spectacular Poipu beaches, pools, lagoons,
a fetching spa (in the process of a garden expansion to 45,000 square feet), fitness center and pervasive vegetation and statuary—all make this experience as nifty as a hole-in-one.

Craig Sasada, the new Director of Golf after six years at the Kapalua resort on his home island of Maui, smiles for an hour as he discusses the course: “At the correct tee, this is a fair course even for the kids. Don’t discount the tradewinds, though.
This is Hawai‘i and it’s the hardest part of golf here. But the fairways are firm and the ball rolls. The fronts are open so you can run the ball up to the green. You don’t have to be a high-ball hitter to have fun. And the par-3s are not overly long. Be a shot-maker and work the ball.” It’s the wind, he emphasizes, that creates the intrigue. The par-5 2nd measures only 524 yards “but plays the longest because of the prevailing wind. It’s an uphill tee-shot into a crosswind of a dogleg right. The 573-yard 6th is the longest “but will play short. The green is accessible in two here.”

Bunkers, wind and some water (in play on five holes) provide some punishing perils, particularly on the par-4s. The 9th is handicapped 1. The 402- yard fairway twists uphill, with a minicliff drop-off on the right and the real deal set against the ocean in the near distance. Drive between (or past) two bunkers in the landing area, than approach uphill to a 30-yard green with more visual distractions than undulations. The wind is a factor, so adjust your club selection.

A frission of anticipation awaits you at the tee box of the 501-yard par-4 16th hole. Here’s why: “It’s majestic scenery on the edge of the ocean,” says Craig. “You are at 150 feet of elevation looking out at a cliff with waves breaking, hitting downwind and downhill to a firmfairway. During the Grand Slam the pros often use an iron off the tee and a 7-iron in! But they’re a different kind of animal. For us, the key is — what else? — to stay in the fairway.”

Incidentally, the in-cart satellite navigation system, exhaustive practice facilities (separate putting greens, a three-bunker pitching green and 15-bay grass range) and a lustrous (and award-winning) pro shop add more enjoyment to the day(s).

What a marvelous thought during a disconsolate, dyspeptic late autumn afternoon when your golf glove has been replaced with mittens and your titanium driver by a snow shovel:

“All our Spring has changed to November – roaring winds, cold gloomy days, and gray leaden skies have driven away our Favonian breezes, our warm bright noons, and mellow sunshine.”

Here’s the place to change all of that. Leave the overcoat at home and come and revel.