Whether you’re a professional golfer or you’re trying the game for the first time, you can enjoy beautiful courses in Hawaii. This island paradise also has luxurious hotels, beautiful beaches, and a unique culture. Here are some of the best places to play and stay in the state.
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
The Four Seasons at Wailea has three world-class, 18-hole golf courses, two of which were designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. You can enjoy ocean views and palm trees while you play. The Wailea Blue Course is on the foothills of dormant Mount Haleakala. In the winter, you can spot humpback whales swimming in the ocean while you golf. The course has wide fairways and hazards that are suitable for all levels.
The Wailea Golf Club also has ocean views, and you can play among lava rock and Hawaiian grasses. Strategically placed hazards, bunkers, and changes in elevation make it more challenging. The Wailea Emerald Course is a tropical playground, and a range of tee boxes at the holes lets you tailor the course to your skill level.
The resort offers oceanfront suites with personal assistants who can organize day trips by helicopter, boat, or jet to the landmarks you want to see most. You can even study your favorite golf course from above. You’ll get laundry service, Wi-Fi, breakfast, and a bouquet of flowers to welcome you. The resort also features a salon, a spa, and nightly hula performances.
With an open-air spa treatment, you can relax in a thatched hut next to the ocean and enjoy cooling breezes. An ultrasound treatment is available with a facial. The high-frequency sound waves reduce inflammation, promote good circulation, and stimulate cells to produce collagen, helping you look your best. Enjoy poolside food and beverage services, take scuba diving lessons, and dine at Spago Hawaiian Restaurant, Duo Steak and Seafood, or Ferraro’s Bar e Ristorante.
Turtle Bay Resort
Turtle Bay Resort is on the North Shore of Oahu, and it has two golf courses and an 18-hole putting green. The Arnold Palmer Course, designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay, opened in 1992 and immediately earned Golf Magazine’s award for one of the Top 10 New Courses in America. It also ranked 4th on Golf Digest’s Best New Resort Courses in America list. This par-72 course has more than 70 sand bunkers and five sets of tees designed for players of every level. The black Palmer tees are the most difficult.
The front nine has a challenging Scottish Links style layout, while the back nine meanders through a beautiful tropical jungle and a forest of ironwoods. The course has a horseshoe shape, and it surrounds the Punaho’olapa marsh, a 100-acre wetland and bird sanctuary. Fourteen holes feature water hazards, and the signature 17th hole has panoramic ocean views and nine bunkers.
The 18-hole George Fazio Course winds among traditional Hawaiian palm trees and has beautiful ocean views. It’s better for beginners than the Arnold Palmer Course, but it’s still fun for experienced golfers. It even hosted the LPGA Tour’s Hawaiian Open.
The Breaks Putting Course opened in 2020, and it covers 90,000 square feet. This par-54 course has 18 holes, and its natural mounds remind visitors of the way the surf and the ocean look along the shore. This course opens at 10 a.m. and closes at dusk, and you don’t have to book a tee time to play — simply show up. It’s just outside the resort’s clubhouse and golf shop, near Lei Lei’s Bar & Grill.
Turtle Bay Resort also has a spa, a salon, a fitness center that lets you work out with amazing ocean views, fitness classes, and a gift shop. If you don’t feel like staying in a traditional hotel suite, you can choose a beautiful ocean bungalow with huge windows that let you enjoy the view. Ocean villas are also available as studios or with three or four bedrooms, and they’re only a few steps from the beach. Each includes a private pool, a Jacuzzi, a washing machine and dryer, a courtyard and barbecue area, and a gated parking lot.
Prince Waikiki
Image via Flickr by kaiphalon
The Prince Waikiki resort on Oahu has one huge 27-hole course. Its three interchangeable nines provide a variety of playing experiences for every skill level. Like the Arnold Palmer Course at Turtle Bay, it was designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay and opened in 1992. The long, lush fairways are next to the shores of Ewa Beach and dotted with 90 sand bunkers and 10 idyllic lakes. The course covers 270 acres, and it has beautiful views of the nearby Waianae Mountains. You can rent golf carts, clubs, and balls.
If you want to work on your swing, stop by the Brian Mogg Golf Academy. The Bird of Paradise at Hawaii Prince Golf Club offers casual dining with pupu or appetizer service and lunch. You can also dine at the 100 Sails Restaurant and Bar, the Honolulu Coffee Company, Katsumidori Sushi Tokyo, or the Hinana Bar. The luxurious saltwater pool overlooks the ocean, and the resort is filled with artwork inspired by the area’s natural beauty.
The Naio Bliss spa offers facials, hot stone massages, aromatherapy, deep tissue massages, and soothing coconut body wraps designed to relieve your sunburn after a day at the golf course or on the beach. You can enjoy the Ku i ka wai Bath Ritual in the comfort of your room. It includes local, naturally farmed sea salt, pure Hawaiian plant distillates and extracts, coconut milk, sugar cane, and your choice of fragrances. In 2020, Prince Waikiki received TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Best of the Best award, the travel company’s highest honor.
These are only a few of the amazing golf courses and resorts in Hawaii. What’s your favorite place to play and stay? Did we miss any of your favorites? Contact us, and let us know what you think. We’re open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.