Mauna Kea & Hapuna Golf Courses
Big Island 808/882- 5400 for Mauna Kea Golf Course, 808/880-3000 for Hapuna Golf Course): The Mauna Kea Golf Course, located out on the Kohala Coast, is everyone’s old favorite. One of the first fields of play to be carved out of the black lava, the dramatic, always-challenging, par-72, 18-hole championship course is still one of Hawaii’s top three. The Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay–designed Hapuna Golf Course rests in the rolling foothills above Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and provides a memorable links-style golf experience along with one of the best views of this unusual coast.
Mauna Lani Francis H. I’i Brown Championship Courses
Big Island 808/885-6655): Mauna Lani’s two resort courses, North and South, feature a combination of oceanfront and interior lava-lined holes; both offer wonderful scenery accompanied by strategic, championship-level golf.
Kapalua Resort Maui 877- KAPALUA): Kapalua is probably the best nationally known golf resort in Hawaii, thanks to the PGA Mercedes Championship played here each January. The Bay and Village courses are vintage Arnold Palmer designs; the Plantation Course is a strong Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore design.
Wailea Golf Club (Maui; 808-875-7450): On Maui’s sunbaked south shore stands Wailea Resort, the hot spot for golf in the islands. Three resort courses complement a string of beach front hotels: The Blue Course is a Arthur Jack Snyder design, while Robert Trent Jones, Jr., is the mastermind behind the Emerald and Gold courses. All three boast outstanding views of the Pacific and the mid- Hawaiian islands.
The Lanai Courses
Lanai: For quality and seclusion, nothing in Hawaii can touch Lanai’s two resort offerings. The Experience at Koele, designed by Ted Robinson and Greg Norman, and the Challenge at Manele, a wonderful Jack Nicklaus effort with ocean views from every hole, both rate among Hawaii’s best courses.
Poipu Bay Golf Course Kauai 808-742-8711
On Kauai’s flat, dry south shore is a 210-acre, links style course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.The course, which for years hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, is not only scenically spectacular, but also a lot of fun to play. A flock of native Hawaiian Nene geese frequents the course’s lakes, and you can often see whales, monk seals, and green sea turtles along the shore.
The challenging course features undulating greens and water hazards on 8 of the holes. The par-4 16th hole has the coastline weaving along the entire left side. You can take the safe route to the right and maybe make par (but more likely bogey), or you can try to take it tight against the ocean and possibly make it in two. The most striking (and most disrespectful) hole is the 201-yard par-3 on the 17th, which has a tee built on an ancient Hawaiian stone formation. Facilities include a restaurant, a locker room, a pro shop, a driving range, and putting greens.
Princeville Golf Club
Kauai 800/826-1105): Here you’ll find 45 of the best tropical holes of golf in the world, all the work of Robert Trent Jones, Jr. They range along green bluffs below sharp mountain peaks and offer stunning views in every direction. The 18-hole Prince Course, one of the top three courses in Hawaii, provides a round of golf few ever forget—among 390 acres of scenic tableland bisected by tropical jungles, waterfalls, streams, and ravines.