Francis H I'i Brown began acquiring the property in the early 1930s. Kalahuipua'a, as the area is known, has always been considered sacred land by the Hawaiian people. Kamehameha I, the great Hawaiian king who united the islands, was said to have had a small fishing village and canoe landing adjacent to these prized ponds. When he had completed his acquisition of the land in 1936, Brown took special care to ensure that Kalahuipua'a would remain a uniquely "Hawaiian" place forever.

During the years of his stewardship, he restored the ponds, built rudimentary roads and retaining walls and planted many of the of palms that still stand today. He sold the property to Mauna Lani Resort, Inc. in 1972, and his heir, Kenny Brown, was chairman of Mauna Lani Resort and descendant guardian until his death in 2014. Francis Brown was a renowned and gifted athlete. He loved boating and fishing, but his skill as a golfer was legendary. He participated in Bing Crosby's Pebble Beach Clambake--he owned a luxurious home in Pebble Beach--and held the Hawaii golf course record at the Old Course at St. Andrews for many years with a 62 in a practice round prior to the 1924 British Amateur. At one point he concurrently was the amateur champion of Hawaii, Japan and California.

The two courses -- the Francis H. I'i Brown North and South Golf Courses were constructed on vast fields of dark black lava. The original 18 hole course was opened in 1981, with Homer Flint and Raymond Cain as the lead architects. It was a visually spectacular golf course that featured one par-3 hole crossing a wide Pacific inlet, another par-3 playing into a coliseum of lava, and many holes whose primary challenge was to hit the bright green fairways and greens, avoiding the lava formations in the landing areas and on both sides of the fairways. Both courses have received rave reviews from the time they opened.