Ewa Beach Golf Club will stimulate the senses on Oahu in Hawaii

EWA BEACH, Oahu, Hawaii -- Ewa Beach Golf Club is in an ideal location right across from a sun-splashed beach on the dry leeward side of the island.

The club, roughly a half-hour's drive from Ko Olina and Waikiki, resides just a couple miles from the 27-hole Hawaii Prince Golf Club if anybody is looking for a 36-hole day.

Ewa Beach, which opened in 1992, was the first course in Hawaii to plant Seashore Paspalum. This environmentally friendly grass, tolerant to saltwater, provides prime playing conditions that stay lush and consistent when other courses turn brown.

The first thing golfers will notice is a unique archaeological site -- one of several on the property -- next to the first tee. The "Kauhale" is a reconstructed residential complex that dates to the earliest record of occupation on the island somewhere between 1000 A.D. and 1695 A.D.

The 6,711-yard course by architect Robin Nelson dances around five ponds. These hazards impact eight holes. A huge green, shared by No. 2 and No. 16, remains the only double green on the island. The oddly shaped Kiawe trees and branches pinch the fairways of the first nine holes. The back nine opens up, although the water lurks ominously at the end of the round.