Every day is a wonderful day for golf on the Big Island and selecting which course to play may be your biggest challenge as there are so many interesting options. Courses here may meander through ancient lava fields, require shots over the crashing coastal waves, encircle an active volcano, or wander through a magnificent ohi’a forest.
There is a course for every day of the week and for every level of play from beginner to professional. Picture yourself on the famed 3rd hole of the Mauna Kea Course where your game may be improved by simply standing in the tee box and feeling the history of the game soaking in through the soles of your shoes. The Mauna Kea Course has just been renovated and reopened in 2009.
The Hapuna Golf Course at the Mauna Kea Resort was named to Golf Magazine’s 1998 list of Gold Medal Resorts and is built on the side of a hill overlooking the ocean. It offers amazing views of the Kohala Coast with a necklace of mountains as the backdrop. Watch those water hazards!
Hole 15 at the Mauna Lani Golf Club South Course requires a tee shot over the ocean and is one of the most photographed holes in the world. If you can concentrate on your game during the winter months in spite of the humpback whales breaching and playing their own games right off shore, you’ll love Hole 7 at the Mauna Lani South Course as well.
Mauna Lani’s North Course offers a distinctly different feel as it winds its way through smooth, ropey pahoehoe lava flows. The emerald green fairways provide a striking contrast to the dark lava and twisted kiawe trees that line the borders. In winter the snow on Mauna Kea sparkles in the sunlight and the whales play offshore. This is paradise, you know.
Enjoy more of a Scottish links style course layout at the Waikoloa Resort’s Kings’ Course, which challenges players with its deep sand bunkers and changing ocean winds. This course is not for the faint of heart!
The most spectacular par 5 in Hawaii is the 12th hole of the Waikoloa Resort’s Beach Course where your concentration will again be challenged by the scenic ocean vistas. The Beach course has been carved into the ancient lava flows along Anaeho’omalu Bay.
If you enjoy a gallery overseeing your game, you’ll want to be sure to visit Makalei Golf Course, located above the airport on the slopes of Hualalai between the 2000 and 3000 foot elevation. Peacocks wander the entire course and have been known to comment on good and bad shots. The misty ohi’a forest reminds you that there is more to the Big Island than lava flows and beach.
And this is only the beginning. Golf courses encircle the island and you are never far from another amazing hole with a spectacular view.
For discounted rates and for tee times, you may want to contact Tee Times Hawaii at 1-888-675-GOLF. This company works with over 50 courses in Hawaii to get the lowest rates and best tee times.
