"Plantation" Course at the Kapalua Golf Club
This golf course is bigger than life. It's over 7,400 yards long and has a par of 73. The USGA rates it at 75.2 for scratch golfers. It has assigned a slope rating of a whopping 142, making it one of the most difficult course the touring pros face all year. Still, its field has hosted Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. The course was designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, and it features pineapple fields and natural formations.
"Plantation" Course at the Kapalua Golf Club
300 Kapalua Dr
Lahaina, HI 96761-9041
Toll Free Phone Number: (877) 527-2582
Fax: (808) 669-0507
Koolau Golf Club
The magnificence of Hawaii is on display at the Koolau Golf Club in Kaneohe, Oahu, less than 20 minutes from downtown Honolulu. This is a deceptively difficult course that is only 6,800 yards long from the championship tees, but it has a slope rating of 158, one of the highest in Hawaii. If your game's not up to that degree of difficulty, there are three other tees that will definitely suit you. End you day turning a bogey into a par at the outstanding par-4 18th hole, the most difficult on the course with its two long carries and 22 sand traps
Koolau Golf Club
45-550 Kionaole Rd
Kaneohe, HI 96744-4506
Phone: (808) 236-4653
Fax: (808) 235-8295
Waialae Country Club
Waialae Country Club is one of the oldest golf courses in the islands having opened in 1927. This man-sized golf course measures over 7,000 yards from the back tees and has a slope rating of 133. Only a stones-throw away from the Pacific Ocean, you'll marvel at Koko Head off in the distance. This golf course is home to the Sony Open each year, the first PGA Tournament each year in January. More than $1 million each year is raised for charity by that event.
Waialae Country Club
4997 Kahala Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816-5471
United States
Phone: (808) 734-2151
Fax: (808) 734-4791
http://www.waialaecc.com
"Palmer Course" at the The Turtle Bay Resort and Golf Club
If you had time for only one round of golf while you're in Hawaii, you have to play this one. It's the home each year of the LPGA Tour's SBS Open at Turtle Bay; and until 2008, it was a stop on the Champions Tour. This golf course can stretch out to over 7,200 yards from the championship tees; but from the closest of the five tees on each hole, it measures less than 5,000 yards. This course was designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay, and its front nine will remind you of Scottish links courses while the remainder of the course wanders through a jungle of pines as well as a avian sanctuary. The signature hole is the 17th with its nine sand bunkers leading to a green only 100 feet from the Pacific.
"Palmer Course" at the The Turtle Bay Resort and Golf Club
57-049 Kuilima Dr
Kahuku, HI 96731-2143
United States
Toll Free: (800) 203-3650
Fax: (808) 293-9094
http://www.turtlebayresort.com
The Challenge Course at Manele
This course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1993 to rave reviews. It is slightly over 7,000 yards from the back tees, though progressively shorter from four other tees on every hole. At the Challenge Course, you will be able to see the Pacific Ocean from every hole, as it meanders through lava fields with breathtaking colors made by the blue seas, white sand bunkers and flowers springing forth from lava rock throughout the course. Prepare yourself for the 12th hole, the course's signature hole, where you must cross Pacific waves to get to the fairway.
The Challenge Course at Manele
One Challenge Drive
Lanai, HI 96763
United States
Toll Free: (800) 321-4666
Fax: (808) 565-2229
http://www.golfonlanai.com
About The Author
Bill Herrfeldt specializes in finance, sports and the needs of retiring people, and has been published in the national edition of "Erickson Tribune," the "Washington Post" and the "Arizona Republic." He graduated from the University of Louisville.
