10-Hole Short Course

The 10-Hole Short Course at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Kailua-Kona was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 2003 as a par-33 layout measuring 2,261 yards on the Big Island's Kohala Coast. Fazio designed the ocean-view short course as a guest amenity, with each hole offering dramatic lava rock framing and views of the Pacific from the elevated resort grounds.

The Kūkiʻo 10-Hole Short Course near Kailua-Kona on Hawaii's Big Island was designed by Tom Fazio, Beau Welling, and Dennis Wise and opened in 2003 as a companion to Kūkiʻo's full-length championship course — representing Tom Fazio's only golf design in the state of Hawaii. Fazio, whose prolific American design career produced some of the most celebrated private club courses in the country, described the Kūkiʻo project as among his most challenging: "the execution of building over jagged lava was difficult," and the design team had to carefully evaluate the ancient lava flows to situate both the championship course and the short course in relation to the coastline and the Pacific Ocean. The 10-hole short course plays 2,261 yards with a par of 33, comprising seven par-3 holes and three par-4 holes — a hybrid format that provides more strategic variety than a pure par-3 layout while maintaining the compact playing time of a short-course experience. The layout is located near the Kūkiʻo Beach Club, on land adjacent to the Pacific shoreline where the ancient lava flows of the Big Island's Kona coast create the dramatic volcanic landscape that frames the holes.

The combination of ocean views, volcanic black lava, and the carefully cultivated playing surfaces creates a visual and environmental contrast unique to Kona Coast golf. Kūkiʻo Golf and Beach Club is a private residential community on the Kona Coast approximately fifteen miles north of Kailua-Kona, occupying volcanic land in North Kona District. The community developed as an ultra-private residential destination for members seeking the combination of Big Island natural beauty, Pacific Ocean access, and the complete recreational infrastructure of a members-only beach and golf community. The championship course and the 10-hole short course together provide the full range of golf engagement within the club's portfolio.

Beau Welling, who contributed design work to the Kūkiʻo project alongside Fazio and Dennis Wise, subsequently developed an independent golf architecture career that produced additional work throughout the Pacific and beyond. The collaborative design team's work at Kūkiʻo navigated the technical and aesthetic challenges of volcanic terrain — an environment where the lava flows are not merely a visual backdrop but a genuine construction challenge requiring specialized methods to establish stable foundations, drainage systems, and playing surfaces on inherently irregular volcanic rock. The 10-hole short course serves Kūkiʻo's private membership as both a quick-play alternative to the championship course and as a venue for more casual golf outings — family play, warm-up rounds, and the kind of informal competition that short courses facilitate. Its beachside location near the Beach Club connects the golf experience directly to the ocean amenity that defines Kūkiʻo's identity as a Pacific shoreline community.

Culturally, the Kūkiʻo property sits on land that carries deep significance in Hawaiian history, with the Kona coast having been a center of Native Hawaiian civilization for centuries before European contact. The development maintained archaeological protocols during construction, and the club engages meaningfully with the cultural heritage of the property. The short course, set within this culturally layered landscape, offers visitors not only golf but an immersion in the extraordinary combination of geological drama, Pacific horizon, and human history that makes the Big Island's Kona coast a distinctive setting in American golf.