Mauna Kea Golf Course

Robert Trent Jones Sr. pioneered the Kohala Coast's outstanding array of resort courses with his innovative solution to the challenge posed by Laurance Rockefeller in the early 1960s: could a stellar golf course be built atop an unlikely topography of foreboding and barren lava rock. The answer was to crush the lava rock and import tons of topsoil for the tee boxes, fairways, and greens. When the Mauna Kea Golf Course opened in December 1964, it was quickly recognized as the grand dame of all Hawaii golf courses' title she will likely never surrender.