Jack Nicklaus was back just long enough for a round of golf last month, but never pulled out his clubs.
The golf icon was on Kauai for 5 hours Aug. 20 to examine the extensive renovations under way at Kauai Lagoons, which he calls "one of my favorite golf courses." Nicklaus, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and one of the sport’s most recognized course designers, worked on the original Kauai Lagoons layout that consisted of 36 holes — the Kiele and Mokihana courses.
"It’s great to be able to go back and redo the golf holes on the former Mokihana Golf Course," Nicklaus said. "With these changes, we will have 27 equal championship holes. We are going to bring these former Mokihana holes up to the level of the Kiele championship holes."
When the renovations are finished, Kauai Lagoons will feature 27 "Jack Nicklaus Signature" holes. There will be a half-mile ocean stretch that starts with the 13th green and ends with the 17th tee. That includes a new hole along the Pacific Ocean — No. 15 — that leads to the signature 16th by the lighthouse.
"The new holes we are building are going to fit in nicely with what golfers have come to expect from the Kiele Course, great golf holes with beautiful ocean panoramic views," Nicklaus said. "We are very fortunate to gain an ocean hole. What an opportunity to build a golf hole that hugs the coastline."
Renovations started in June. The first phase, which includes Kiele’s back nine and the first hole of the course’s "new" nine, is expected to be completed in May. It will feature three new holes and changes on six more.
The two other phases will be a renovation of the Kiele front nine and the Mokihana holes. The entire project is expected to be done in spring of 2013. All three phases will include new irrigation, drainage, greens and bunkers. There also will be a new driving range, practice facility and clubhouse.
The course, adjacent to the Kauai Marriott Resort on Kalapaki Beach, will keep 18 holes open during the changes. Renovations were originally scheduled two years ago, but delayed when the economy went bad.
"We felt fortunate to be able to start again this year, probably a year earlier than we thought," said Scott Ashworth, Kauai Lagoons director of golf. "The Kiele 18 was always known as the famous course and the Mokihana as second tier for a lot of reasons. Part of what we wanted to do was bring it up to 27 championship holes. We did some rerouting and gained an ocean hole."
The rerouting was also necessary because of a resort upgrade that includes new homes and time-share units.
Ideally, the project’s finish could coincide with a new event. Kauai has not had a major tournament since the PGA Grand Slam of Golf left four years ago.
"We’d love to do an event," Ashworth said. "There is not a specific plan, but if you look at the location — right next to the airport — and the course has all the length it needs. … It has the challenge, the beauty, the hotel on site, the timeshares we could use for housing. It would be a beautiful location to do an event.
"Is one confirmed? No. Would we love to have one? Absolutely. When we get the back nine back open and the front done, then we’d love to look."
On Kauai’s South Shore, the Poipu Bay Golf Course closed April 1 for a greens renovation project. The December reopening is still on schedule.
"We have all of the greens cut down pretty good right now and in a month or so they’ll be playable," said director of golf Craig Sasada. "When we open in December, the greens will be absolutely pristine. Our guests will really notice the difference. They will walk off the course amazed at how great the new greens roll."