Hawaii's Signature Holes

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM The par-4 18th at the Ewa Villages Golf Course.

Closing in on Ewa Villages

The 392-yard, par-4 No. 18 is one of the
best closing holes among municipal courses

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By Randy Cadiente
rcadiente@starbulletin.com

When it comes to closing holes, the Ewa Villages' No. 18 has to rank as one of the best among municipal golf courses.

The par-4 hole measures a modest 392 yards from the back tees, but it's deceiving.

An accurate tee shot to a tight fairway, a fairway with a hazard that runs along the left side, is a must here. Hit your drive over the hazard and you're out of bounds; a long one can reach the gully 120 yards away from the green.

"The ideal shot is to the right side of the fairway," said Kerry Moyer, a starter at Ewa Villages for almost six years.

The second shot is uphill to an hourglass-shaped green protected by two strategically-placed bunkers. An errant approach to the right will put you on a hill.

Anything over the green and you're either on the practice putting green, or worse yet, on the No. 1 tee.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM The par-4 18th is deceivingly long because the second shot to the hourglass-shaped green plays uphill and into a stiff wind.

And if all that isn't enough, every shot plays into a stiff wind.

"You're probably going to need a couple more clubs (on the second shot)," Moyer said.

If golfers are lucky enough to hit the green, getting the ball in the hole will be just as tough. The slope, and grain, on the putting surface runs from back to front.

"If you walk away with a bogey you should be happy," said Moyer.

The 18th is just one of many challenging holes on the newest municipal layout on Oahu.

Opened in 1996, the course was constructed in a storm drain basin to catch the runoff of nearly two billion gallons of water and provide flood control to Ewa residents. There are six water retention basins intergrated into the fairways and hazard areas to slow floodwaters from Makakilo and Kapolei, according to Ewa Villages Golf Course Superintendent Heidi Madrigal.

Architect Richard Bilger used his vision and designed the course with a park-like atmosphere, incorporating 3,000 trees -- including coconut palms, royal palms, eucalyptus and monkeypod -- with nearly 9,000 aquatic plants and several lakes into the 240-acre layout.

Bilger's vision is evident from start to finish on the par-73 course that can play anywhere from 6,400 to 7,000 yards.

There are palms near the green at the 483-yard, par-5 opening hole and more on the 141-yard, par-3 second, which also features a lake fronting the green. The same lake is the focus on the par-3, 169-yard No. 7, where golfers hit from an elevated tee to a small green with a bunker in the back.

Water is almost extinct on the back nine with Bilger making good use of the landscape to pass the course through residential areas, a graveyard and even the highway that leads motorists into Ewa.

All of it culminates to the challenging 18th.

"I think our closing hole is as good or better (than the rest) because of the wind and the bunkering," Moyer said.