Cosmic Drive, Hilo’s newest nighttime attraction and golf game, held its soft opening on Thursday night at the Grand Naniloa Hotel’s driving range.
Strobe lights danced across the range as people of all ages gathered to hit glowing golf balls (or swing and miss).
Mayor Mitch Roth was in attendance, and expressed his excitement for Cosmic Drive’s launch.
“I heard from a couple of the partners that they wanted to come here and (start Cosmic Drive),” he said. “I didn’t know what it was, so I looked it up and thought, ‘What a great idea for Hilo — it’ll get people to come out, play a little bit of golf, have a little bit of fun.’
“It’s an activity that you can enjoy whether you’re a young kid or an old guy.”
The interactive golf game is the first of its kind on the isle. It is modeled similarly to Top Golf, which has seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years on the mainland.
Cosmic Drive’s distinctive difference from Top Golf is that it is played in the dark with glowing balls, disco lights and targets that make noises when hit by a ball.
“I had a lot of questions,” Roth said. “But after hearing what they were doing, it seemed like a great idea.”
“I’m very excited for Hilo to have some more things to do.”
Cosmic Drive will be open every Thursday through Saturday, starting this weekend.
Co-founders Keenan Kaleo and Ben Murimoto are even more excited for its launch. For them, the opening of Cosmic Drive is the fruit of 18 months worth of preparation.
The pair launched Cosmic Drive as an impermanent installation on Oahu, but according to Kaleo — a police officer in Puna and a longtime Hilo resident — a permanent setup in Hilo was always the goal.
“This is long overdue,” Kaleo said. “Banyan (Drive) always gets a bad rap, so we’re trying to bring something positive.”
The community pitched in greatly to help Cosmic Drive beautify the range. Kaleo credited HPM Building Supply, Puna Rock, Ola Brew and more for their donations — and said that Puna Rock donated 120 tons of rock for the range’s parking lot.