Mauna Lani South was very forgiving, but it was a “players” course in its own way. For example, any shot left or right of 50 yards, was bound to be met with hard, black, lava rock. If you are fortunate enough, the Volcano goddess Pele, may just toss your ball back into play. However, once you find your ball it will more than likely have a few lava cuts. I wouldn’t recommend “ball-hawking” at a club like this, as lava rock can be as sharp as glass. Not to mention it is very difficult to walk across. Add in some slight dog-legs and a few large undulated greens and you have a pretty tough little course on your hands.
Mauna Lani can play longer than it looks. Par 72 playing just over 6,900 yards makes this course gettable with good ball striking. As mentioned before, left or right is typically a dead zone. Length of the course has a lot to do with which way the wind is blowing. According to some local players, the trade winds are typically what you’re fighting. However, I played on a day where the trades were not in play, and instead we had 15 to 20 mph winds coming off the ocean. For someone who struggles in wind,it could make for a long afternoon. Most of the course is Bermuda grass, which can be a nightmare. Yet, Mauna Lani is a Troon course, so the grass was perfectly manicured. Greens were large, but unforgiving. They had a lot of false fronts, great bunker deception which gave the appearance that the green was smaller than it was, and large undulations. I watched a few times as my ball would land on the green, only to have it slowly roll off the green into a swell somewhere close to the green.
Overall, the course was a pleasure to play. If you don’t mind shelling out a bit of extra cash to play a course like this, I highly recommend giving the Mauna Lani South Course a try.