Round Played: with Josh and Beth Strukoff –
By Wayne Halm –
Josh’s last chance at redemption on Kauai
On December 13th 2016 I played The Club at Kukuiula with my golfing buddies, Josh and Beth Strukoff, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This was the last round of their vacation and Josh had a lot on the line.
(Click on any picture for a larger view – then use the browser ‘back’ button.)
Josh and Beth
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Josh wanted to get there early … he felt the need to warmup. And Kukuiula does have a very nice practice area.
So we all warmed up a bit.
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Some of us finished warming up and just watched.
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But Josh kept on practicing.
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“Is Josh finished practicing yet?”
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“Nope, he is still at it.”
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Only after Beth suggested, “Josh you can probably catch up with us” did he agree to get out on the magnificent course with us.
Josh also agreed to play the white tees with me.
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The white tees made two of the par4s reachable for Josh … and made a couple of the par5s doable in two.
I warned Josh about the hazard crossing the fairway just beyond the bunkers. He hit the big stick anyway … and cleared the worst of it.
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Below is Josh’s second shot on this par5. You can be sure Beth was watching to see if he grounded the club in the hazard.
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For Josh the Eagles circled on this day … but they refused to land. Rule 9 was sorely tested, see below.
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The Club at Kukuiula is indeed a “class” operation. And it had a pleasant surprise for Josh and Beth. (A ‘surprise” because I distracted them while the starter talked about it.)
The on-course “take what you want” snack shop
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Yeah, Josh liked this.
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And Beth absolutely loved it.
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Great snacks aside, Kukuiula has some other surprises … it has some tricky illusions.
It is not so evident from the tee, but this hole plays considerably uphill … we were all short on our approaches.
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The illusions work the other way too. The lake is much larger and farther away than it appears in the video below.
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But as the course plays down toward the ocean it is readily apparent that not all of the sand in Hawaii is on the beaches.
To Josh’s credit … All of the practice paid off … he drove this green.
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Yeah, Josh was kind of happy on the green.
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The shadows were getting long when we played the par5 18th hole. But there was plenty of drama.
The approach shot on 18. Well, Josh’s approach anyway, Beth and I both laid up and parred the hole … Perhaps the dark cloud over the green was a premonition.
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Beth did have to lend old “Tin Cup” a ball so he could finish 18. But Josh did have more birdies than splashes … so she conceded the round to him.
This was a great wrap-up round. We ate and drank and absolutely enjoyed our time on this beautiful golf course. It was the way golf should be.
Josh writes a golf blog called Golf is Mental – he should post about this round soon. Check it out … Compare his experience to mine.
Josh, Beth, and I have played before – read about our previous rounds below:
The Manele Bay Golf Club — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
The Kiahuna Golf Club — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
The Makai Golf Club — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
The Wailua Golf Course — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
The Poipu Bay Golf Course — my post about it is here
The Ocean Course at Hokuala — my post about it is here
As for my 2016 goal of playing golf with 100 people I haven’t met – I’m still at 42. Want to be in that number?
Come play golf with me.
The Club at Kukuiula 808-742-0234 https://kukuiula.com/the-club/
Return to Golfing on Kauai Home Page and read about other rounds played
Return to Golfing on Kauai Home Page and read about other rounds played
Golfing on Kauai 
Aloha Wayne,
Kukuiula is one special place and that was one FUN afternoon on the links. I think that extra practice time helped reward me with some birdies but I clearly ran out of steam on the 18th! Thanks again.
Cheers
Josh
Aloha Josh,
“Ran out of steam”, I don’t believe it. You just wanted a dramatic finish.
A Hui Hou,
Wayne