By Scott Kramer

You first notice the striking green golf course, as you negotiate the main driveway into Kohanaiki, about seven minutes south of the Kona airport on Hawaii’s Big Island. This is a very exclusive private oceanfront residential golf community with high-end resort amenities.

With perpetual brightness and heat — the sun shines here 360 days each year — it takes a lot of water and money to keep courses green and in great shape. That will never be a problem at Kohanaiki. This is just one of a few courses on the island with its own solar power-enhanced reverse osmosis plant that desalinates water for irrigation purposes. That means the course and its Seashore Paspalum grass will perpetually stay green and healthy, and that the property is independent of the island’s water restrictions on potable water which other nearby courses are subjected to.

Irrigation for the course and roadway landscaping is pumped from eight wells on property, into an unassuming, high-tech plant along the course that’s approximately 1,000 square feet in size. This water is brackish due to the proximity to the ocean, so it passes through filters to reduce the salt levels. Filtering takes about one minute, before the treated water moves onto an 8-million-gallon lake on property which is also a habitat for water fowl. This water is supplied to each home in Kohanaiki, so residents may use it to water their lawns. Many of the plants here thrive on brackish water, which is also significantly less expensive to pump than potable water, according to officials, so the community is more financially sustainable as well as environmentally responsible. No drop is wasted.

“The biggest advantages for us is that we can control it, and it frees us from facing restrictions on irrigation,” says Joey Przygodzinski, who spearheads the course’s agronomy. “This type of system is popular in the Bahamas, Florida and even at some places in Asia. On an island, it makes complete sense because of all the salty ocean water. But most courses don’t do it because it’s not cheap.”

I can tell you firsthand that Kohanaiki’s course conditioning is spectacular. The four days I played it, officials were apologizing because the course had been verticut just three weeks earlier. They considered it 70 percent recovered, condition-wise. Compared to any course back in Southern California, it was superior.

This desalination system fits right in with Kohanaiki’s best-of-the-best mantra, according to general manager George Punoose. “Everything we do, we ask if this is the best way to do it, is it top-quality, and is it sustainable,” he says.

The course opened in 2013, and the homes and lot sales are now at roughly 25 percent sold. Mind you, bare lots start at $1.3 million and go all the way up to $14 million. Actors, professional athletes, CEOs and other industry titans tend to make up the membership and residences.

In addition to the Rees Jones-designed golf course — his only layout in the state and the last private course Hawaii will ever allow to be built — there is also a movie theater, bowling alley, game room, 68,000-square-foot clubhouse, beach club and much more on property. And as you would expect from a facility that goes to this extent to keep its golf course irrigated for consistently great conditioning, the attention to detail paid to every aspect is remarkable.

“We are consistently looking at everything to see how to make it even better,” says Punoose. “We intend to be the world’s best private community. Yet there’s no intimidation factor here. Everyone here is very friendly, and the atmosphere casual. We embrace the Hawaiian culture, to give members the truest of experiences.”

 

Scott Kramer is a veteran, Southern California-based writer primarily versed in golf and personal technology. Studying Computer Sciences in college, and then working as a programmer/software engineer for about a decade, triggered my passion for today’s high-end, high-tech gadgets. I can’t help myself whenever I see any kind of cool new personal technology. I feel compelled to further check it out and see what it’s all about. And even if I have no use for it personally, I’m always thinking who it might best suit. There are exciting new innovations emerging daily that are shaping the future and simplifying life. And I hope to be your eyes to that world, through the words of this column.

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