Wailea Old Blue Golf Course: A Truly Grand Lady
By Albert Fontenot
“No one will ever have golf under his thumb. No round ever will be so good it could not have been better. Perhaps this is why golf is the greatest of games. You are not playing a human adversary; you are playing a game. You are playing Old Man Par.”
~Bobby Jones
If you are going to test your mettle against Old Man Par, there is no better place to do so than on the course known as the "Grand Lady of Wailea”, the endearing and affectionate sobriquet given to the Wailea Old Blue Golf Club. The Old Blue is the oldest of the three courses on Wailea, but as is true with every great lady, time can place no claim upon her.
She remains one of the most visually stunning venues on the planet, with a jaw-dropping view of the ocean and neighboring islands on one side of you, and a 10,000 foot dormant volcano on the other, Mt. Haleakala. The black volcanic lava rock is permanence at rest, and the more-blue-than-blue water is permanence in motion. Wailea, on Maui, has been called “Paradise Plus”, and that natural perfection is in glorious evidence all around you, as the course winds its way through one of the finest resorts in Hawaii. It is small wonder that Golf Digest has ranked Old Blue as one of America’s best resort courses.
History
Fervently dreaming of being able to bring resort golf to Wailea in the 1960’s, Maui Mayor Elmer Crahvalo and other visionaries were able to attract VIP investors and developers, eventually persuading them to invest the 2013-equivalent of $95 million in the development of the Old Blue’s front nine holes.
Even though he developed more than sixty award-winning golf courses all over the world during his lifetime, famous architect Arthur Jack Snyder always kept a special place in his heart for the Old Blue. Although his accomplishments were significant—President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and simultaneous membership in the Golf Course Superintendants Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects, he always considered the Wailea Old Blue Golf Club to be his defining signature course.
During his lifetime, Snyder designed and developed six golf courses in the Hawaiian Islands, and was very busy early on as a pioneer of golf in Hawaii, with an eventual result of the state becoming one of the world’s premier golfing destinations. It is not an exaggeration to say that the success and worldwide popularity of golf in the Islands helped the growth of Hawaiian sports as a whole.
In a touching display of his love for his favorite course, upon Snyder’s death, his ashes were dispersed in the bunker behind the green of the 18th hole of the Old Blue.
The Course Specifics
The Old Blue can be a harsh mistress; at times fickle and demanding, challenging you with daunting distances over her Championship tee 6765-yard, par-72 length. She will beguile your senses and attempt to distract to with her unexpected charms. Truthfully, on how many other golf courses might you realistically lose your concentration at the 12th hole tee box because you are enraptured with delight at the sight of humpback whales cavorting in the ocean?
For those who aren’t quite up to the challenge of the blue Championship tees, the Old Blue also offers 6397-yard white tees, and 5208-yard red tees. The course has a rating of 72.2, and her slope is 129.
On other occasions, she is accommodating and forgiving, with wide Bermuda fairways, generous Tifton greens, and few hazards on the longest holes. The weather is never an issue, except when the warm breezes and sunshine make your face ache from smiling. At the end, she invites you to return, teasing you with an unusual par-3 on the 18th hole.
Best Hole
The best hole on the course is Number 13, an imposing 425 yard, par-4 left dogleg that demands accurate drives because of the presence of the street on your right. That street and the immense bunker on the right side mean that a player must tee off strongly and accurately, taking special care to stay left.
Events
The Old Blue has played hostess to many top events throughout her history, including the LPGA Women’s Kemper Open and the Asahi-Kyosen Pro/Am Celebrity Golf Tournament, from Japan.
With many golf courses of today, the emphasis seems to be on the technical aspects each hole, and what measures have been taken to effectively negate the power of the current professionals. The Wailea Old Blue Golf Club remains a tangible and relevant reminder that once upon a time, a golf course could also be celebrated for her grace, beauty, and charm.
For more information, you can visit their website, located here: http://www.waileaoldblue.com/