Kauai Golf Courses
The Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course is a Robert
Trent Jones Jr. links-style course, playing up to 7,000 yards.
Since 1994, this has been the home of the PGA Grand Slam of
Golf, one of the world's most exclusive golf tournaments. Perched
atop spectacular 80-foot cliffs, and weaving gentle green contours
accented by the stone ruins of ancient places of worship called
heiaus, this world championship course is truly one-of-a-kind.
High season is January to May, and golfers can call up to two
days in advance for tee times.
The Prince Course at the Princeville Resort
has been named the Number One golf course in the State of Hawaii
by Golf Digest. It is also included in their prestigious
list of "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses." The
Prince is one of Hawaii's most challenging golf courses, with
a USGA course rating of 75.3 and a 145 slope. But fear not.
Five different tees on each hole allow you to set your own challenge.
The Makai Course at the Princeville Resort has
been listed in Golf Digest's Top 50 Resort Courses,
and has included it in "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses"
for 16 consecutive years. The Makai is really three courses
in one: the Ocean Nine ventures closest to the Pacific, the
Lakes Nine winds its way around serene lakes, and the Woods
Nine is a pleasant diversion through native woodlands. Architect
Robert Trent Jones, Jr. paid fitting tribute to the Makai Course
when he said, "In all the world, I never expect to find
a more spectacularly beautiful place to build a golf course
than Princeville, overlooking Hanalei Bay."
Wailua Municipal Golf Course is a Par 72 pubic
course that stretches for 6,981 yards for 18 holes. Most Hawaii
golfers who have the opportunity to play here would agree that
Wailua, which was rated by Golf Digest in 1981 as one
of the top 10 municipal courses in the U.S., is still one of
the best golf challenges anywhere.
Grove Farm Golf Course at Puakea is a Robin
Nelson-designed course that plays around deep ravines and fresh
mountain streams fed by rainwater. As the islands' only 10 Hole
golf course, Puakea provides both locals and tourists with breathtaking
views of the Pacific Ocean to the side, and Mount Haupu above.
Named one of Sports Illustrated's "Top 10 Nine-Hole
Golf Courses in the U.S.," Puakea is a 'must play,' not
only for its spectacular course, but also for its Kauai-style
service.
Kauai Lagoons Golf Club offers two Jack Nicklaus-designed
championship courses, the Kiele Course and the Lagoons Course.
A truly impressive layout, the Kiele was named by Golf Digest
magazine as "the nation's best new resort golf course"
in 1989. Nicklaus said the Kiele Course "...combines the
natural beauty of a Hawaiian landscape with dramatic views along
cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean. The course provides
many different styles and varieties of golf holes and ones that
should be enjoyable for golfers of all skill levels." The
6,760-yard Lagoons Course is a more forgiving links-style course.
With parallel fairways and undulating greens, it features a
unique design around a network of lagoons and exotic wildlife.
Both courses are Par 72 for 18 holes.
The Kiahuna Golf Course is an 18-hole championship
course at Po'ipu on Kaua'i's sunny south coast. Designed by
world famous golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr.,
the Kiahuna Golf Course was skillfully built on an ancient Hawaiian
village, and the layout preserves the archaeological sites throughout,
with signs identifying each historic location. According to
Golf Digest magazine, "the course offers some
excellent tests for golfers of all calibers. The 187-yard third
hole demands a long and exacting iron shot over a scenic brook
which meanders about the course. And the long, Par 4, 15th hole
features strategic bunkering and a kidney-shaped green which
is not easy to putt."
