Mauna Kea Golf Club 2020 Beta

[SLucey]

Just uploaded the beta version to Andy for posting.

Please leave feedback on your playing experience here in this topic. Your feedback is always useful for updating to a
final version. Thank you and enjoy!

[Duglis]

Don't have much to say , it's really great, now...about the 3rd hole. Everything else looks great.

The 3rd Hole..I was there in 2015..See pix and a video I took. Pix ..I did not take.

The lava is not so thick around the green there. You can see all of the green from every tee with your eyes. Nothing is hidden. The entire green and all the bunkers are very visible. I also think the green is a little bigger irl. Also, the rocks are not so thick in front of the green. There are a lot above the sea but only a teeny amount up near the green and that's probably why the entire green is so easy to see from the tees.

The earliest reproduction of MK back in Links shows the way it looks almost perfectly.

Thanks so much for doing this and you did a great job on 17 holes. The attempt on 3 is very appreciated!!! Thanks!

Link to the video i took.......in 2015
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rnhwg09oejo30m0/MK.mp4?dl=0

and yes, that's my voice. lol.
Also, that vid was taken from our rented car on a car friendly small road so you can see how close cars can get to hole 3 :D There a great lunch place called the 3rd Hole right across that road. Great food. The entire place is much more quaint than you would think. It was a very serene quaint place when my wife and I were there.

[Duglis]

Two last things....Since we got a private tour of parts of the course and didn't play, I can't tell you about the OB. Some of the areas of your course seem terribly penal if you get in the trees. Perhaps they are OB rather than areas to play from. I do not know.

and finally, there had been a lot of rain on the west side of the island (unusual) when when we were there. The brown tall grass/brush that you have was very green when we were there. So again, I can't say if it is usually as brown as you have it or sort of half way between green and brown. I'm sure it usually isn't as green as it was when we were there.

Ok, Course is challenging due to elevations and high wind and trees. Well done. That's all my input. Thanks so much for recreating one of my favorite courses. I have many but I have seldom seen that many in person. Be well!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Douglas

[ChuckH]

I have also been there but I have not played it. Many superlatives so far, too many to mention yet but since this is a beta, I have to go with Duglis. Number three is the iconic, signature hole and I don't think you have it just right. The view of the green from the back tee is especially obscured by the lava in front of the green and the bushes in front of the tee obscures the ocean. This is from using the close up golfer view. Looks better from the panorama view. Just my opinion as someone who has seen it in person. Thanks for doing the course.

[Weeler]

I'm adding a few comments because you wanted some feedback, of course. I completely agree with both Duglis and ChuckH on their assessment of hole #3. ( Please note, that I, personally, have never seen the course IRL, but have seen several photos. ) It seems that there is way too much lava rock piled up in front of the tee. ( I played from the blue tees ). Much of it could be removed and leveled off to view a clearer sight-line to the green. Since number 3 is the course's signature hole....it would be good to make it the best it can be.
In addition, i noticed "floating houses" near the 6th green. Also, the trees near the green on #8 looked a tad "out of place". Instead of palms, they were a smaller style that didn't seem right. ( maybe they're correct, I don't know ).
Last, but not least, the color of the ocean doesn't seem to look right, either. It seems a little too greenish / blue. The color of the ocean in the Splash Screen looks right. Maybe you could adjust the color to be a deeper blue, and less green ?? The color you used looks a little more "Caribbean", instead
of Pacific ocean.
Otherwise, all the updated plantings , fairways and greens look SO much nicer than the old 2001 Microsoft version, which is a very welcome change !
I kind of did a "Beta" test round, hitting into bunkers and heavy rough in order to test ball striking and distance as well. No problems there. Overall...I think it's great re-do.....but it still could use some tweaking ! Hope you don't mind the candid review ( hey....I'm nowhere near the scorching reviews that Ben Bateson used to dish out !!! )

Thanks for taking on the job!

[SLucey]

Couple of modifications made with regard to line of sight from back tee and blue tee:

[Duglis]

perhaps just an itty itty bit more off the top of the lava wall below the green to see an itty bitty bit more of the green.

But this looks good I must admit! :D


-Doug

[ChuckH]

Much better.

[Duglis]

Any final release or 2nd beta expected shortly?

[Weeler]

The changes to hole #3 look much better, Steve. I think another reason it looked like a lot of lava at first to me, is that I always play with the golfer view in the "close-up" setting, which seems like a more natural view of the course as you play. It's sort of like " who views a course like you're standing on a 20 ft. ladder while playing". Just a matter of preference, I guess. Looking forward to a new beta or final.