Braving the Elements

When it comes to Kauai, don’t leave your umbrella at home because they don’t call it the Garden Isle for nothing. Considering the wettest spot on earth is in Kauai, you have to believe it when I tell you to bring all your waterproof gear if you plan to hike Mount Waialeal, take a catamaran tour to the Napali coast or to play golf at one of seven championship courses.

When I went to Kauai last month, I swapped out my windshirt for a good, heavy duty rain jacket with a hood. If I haven’t experienced a downpour in Kauai before, I would have just brought my normal golfing attire that consists of golf shirts, shorts and a light wind shirt. But experience served me well (when we were caught in a downpour last year) so to prevent history from repeating itself, I made sure I had all the waterproof gear stuffed in my golf bag.

On our first round, we played the municipal course in Kauai. It was a nice sunny day with a little breeze off the ocean. There were some clouds in the sky but they were offshore and far away. After we finished playing the first hole, Mike (a local resident) said to me that he thinks we’re going to get rained on. The clouds that were offshore, were now coming right for us. Mike said it will take a few minutes to hit us and he was right. In a couple of minutes, the clouds opened up and it poured on us. I scrambled to get my rain jacket out of my bag and luckily because it had a breathable lining, my upper body stayed dry. My shorts on the other hand, because it was exposed to the elements, was soaked right through. I didn’t bother to take out my storm pants and put it on. I was too concerned on getting my rain jacket on as soon as possible to keep from freezing in the rain. With the rain and wind coming off the ocean, it was actually quite cold. I had also wished I had a golf umbrella to keep my bag and clubs dry but stupid me, I didn’t want to lug a silly umbrella with me to Hawaii.

After five minutes, the rain stopped and we moved on to the next tee box. I took my rain jacket off and wrapped it around my golf bag to let it dry. My shorts were made out of micro fibre and were wet most of the day. The lessons I learned that day were:

1. Bring a good sized umbrella that is capable of taking wind gusts and can cover you and your golf bag.

2. Bring a waterproof storm pants that you can wear on top of your shorts.

3. Bring an extra pair of golf gloves, seal them in a zip lock bag to keep it dry.

4. Wear a golf shirt and shorts that are dri-fit or can easily dry if wet.

5. Don’t wear golf sandals in Kauai or if you do, don’t wear socks underneath.

I hope these tips will help you make your trip to Kauai more enjoyable. I know I will remember to follow them next year when we go again. I’m yet to get a dry round in one day at a place that gets over 460 inches of rain in a year.