Golf at Ko 'Olau

Looking up at Pali lookout

On Sunday, I took a day for myself and drove over to Kaneohe, to play some golf. The course was at the base of the Pali lookout. It was a great course, carved right out of the jungle. If you missed your shot left or right, the jungle was so thick, you weren't going to find your ball. From the tips, the course is listed as the most challenging in the world. I didn't play the tips, but I can see where it's very difficult. There are a lot of holes where you have a forced carry over a ravine. In other cases, a driver would put you too far, into a ravine, so you had to lay up then hit over.

The views were outstanding. Lot's of great golf. I played pretty well on the front 9, only 11 over, but fell apart on the back. Wound up shooting a 101, with 6 lost balls.

I was paired up with 2 guys who were in the military. Nice guy's, they play there a lot, so it helped me on what to hit, or not to hit on a lot of holes. We aw lot's of wildlife, mostly birds, but did see some mongoose. They were crafty little suckers running all over the place. Too fast to get any pictures. The guys called them Velociraptors. They'd pray on any food you left in the cart. At the turn, they warned me to not leave anything int he cart, as they'd run up and grab it out of the cart and run into the woods with it. Sure enough, I saw them attack the cart, but I had already eaten the sandwich.