Big Island Golf

[RainShadow]

Headed to BI tomorrow for 6 days. 

Playing Makani Friday afternoon.

Looking at Waikaloa Beach/King or Hapuna on Monday. 

Which of this two would be recommended by the WRX crew?

Old retired guy on a bit of a budget.

Thanks

[Springsteennut]

3 hours ago, RainShadow said:

Headed to BI tomorrow for 6 days. 

Playing Makani Friday afternoon.

Looking at Waikaloa Beach/King or Hapuna on Monday. 

Which of this two would be recommended by the WRX crew?

Old retired guy on a bit of a budget.

Thanks

If you could post your thoughts on Makani. I’ll be there in the beginning of November. We already booked one round at Hapuna on the recommendation of a friend and we’re looking at maybe a second round at Makani since the price is reasonable and reviews seem very good. If your looking at saving some money we booked our Hapuna tee time at noon when the price dropped $50. There was also a further discount of $72 for our twosome by booking online when i did. So it was pretty affordable. We’re taking a chance of the wind being up but we wanted to play without going broke.

[tad950]

If it’s really windy, I would play Waikoloa Beach/Kings instead of Hapuna. Beach/Kings is more resort style, pretty flat. Hapuna has more elevation changes and I find it the more challenging course. I enjoy playing both.

 

Waikoloa Village might be cheaper. More locals. A couple VERY distant views of the ocean. There used to be bunkers with tiny pebbles instead of sand. I haven’t played on the Big Island since Covid. But I’m assuming conditions overall might be the same. And I haven’t played there since Beach/Kings went from 36 to 27 holes.

 

If you want cheap you could go to Hilo or play Volcano. Bit it a drive from Kona, though.

[RainShadow]

53 minutes ago, tad950 said:

If it’s really windy, I would play Waikoloa Beach/Kings instead of Hapuna. Beach/Kings is more resort style, pretty flat. Hapuna has more elevation changes and I find it the more challenging course. I enjoy playing both.

 

Waikoloa Village might be cheaper. More locals. A couple VERY distant views of the ocean. There used to be bunkers with tiny pebbles instead of sand. I haven’t played on the Big Island since Covid. But I’m assuming conditions overall might be the same. And I haven’t played there since Beach/Kings went from 36 to 27 holes.

 

If you want cheap you could go to Hilo or play Volcano. Bit it a drive from Kona, though.

 Thanks. I'm st ill a toss up between Waikoloa and Hapuna. Almost want to do Mauna Kea as I usually like Rees and RTJ layouts.

Not gonna drive over Hilo side. Too far and have a pretty full itenary already

 

1 hour ago, Springsteennut said:

If you could post your thoughts on Makani. I’ll be there in the beginning of November. We already booked one round at Hapuna on the recommendation of a friend and we’re looking at maybe a second round at Makani since the price is reasonable and reviews seem very good. If your looking at saving some money we booked our Hapuna tee time at noon when the price dropped $50. There was also a further discount of $72 for our twosome by booking online when i did. So it was pretty affordable. We’re taking a chance of the wind being up but we wanted to play without going broke.

Will do.  I'll try to post something Friday eve or Sunday. 

Going to Volcano NP on Saturday.

[tad950]

2 hours ago, RainShadow said:

 Thanks. I'm st ill a toss up between Waikoloa and Hapuna. Almost want to do Mauna Kea as I usually like Rees and RTJ layouts.

Not gonna drive over Hilo side. Too far and have a pretty full itenary already

 

Will do.  I'll try to post something Friday eve or Sunday. 

Going to Volcano NP on Saturday.

Mauna Kea is my favorite course on the Big Island. Elevation changes. Elevated greens. Deep green side bunkers. Some quirky holes. Some people don’t like it, because it’s not really resort golf.

 

Volcano GC is just down the road from the park. On the other side of the highway. A few miles off the highway. Maybe go to the park. Play golf. And then go back to the park after the sun sets, and see the glow from the caldera. I think there is activity in the crater right now. It’s a very dark drive back to Kona though. 😄
 

Don’t know where you’re staying. But sometimes the quickest route to the park is through Hilo. Going over Saddle Road. Depends on road construction, though.

Edited October 18, 2023 by tad950

[RainShadow]

1 hour ago, tad950 said:

Mauna Kea is my favorite course on the Big Island. Elevation changes. Elevated greens. Deep green side bunkers. Some quirky holes. Some people don’t like it, because it’s not really resort golf.

 

Volcano GC is just down the road from the park. On the other side of the highway. A few miles off the highway. Maybe go to the park. Play golf. And then go back to the park after the sun sets, and see the glow from the caldera. I think there is activity in the crater right now. It’s a very dark drive back to Kona though. 😄
 

Don’t know where you’re staying. But sometimes the quickest route to the park is through Hilo. Going over Saddle Road. Depends on road construction, though.

 Staying at Sea Village just north of Kona

[tad950]

2 hours ago, RainShadow said:

 Staying at Sea Village just north of Kona

Heading South from your location is probably a faster route to the park. Punalu’u Bake Shop is a good place to stop. Maybe half way there. Ka’u coffee is grown down south also. I prefer it to Kona. But you can buy it anywhere. The village of Volcano has some shops and places to eat. 

[nolayup]

14 hours ago, RainShadow said:

 

Which of this two would be recommended by the WRX crew?

Old retired guy on a bit of a budget.

Thanks

Hapuna over waikoloa all day. 

[Springsteennut]

Anyone played Volcano or Hilo municipal. We’re staying near Pahoa in a house on the ocean and hope to play a round somewhere when we stay on that side of the island our second week. . 

[tad950]

4 hours ago, Springsteennut said:

Anyone played Volcano or Hilo municipal. We’re staying near Pahoa in a house on the ocean and hope to play a round somewhere when we stay on that side of the island our second week. . 

 Played Volcano a couple times. Just did a drive by at Hilo Muni. The name speaks for itself. Mostly locals and kind of busy at Hilo. And it rains a lot in Hilo. More visitors at Volcano. But still a local feel. Nothing fancy. No ocean views. But I enjoyed it. I’m always happy to play golf anywhere in Hawaii. I’m not that picky in Hawaii. Neither course is a budget buster.

 

i used to visit my buddy in Pahoa a lot. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago. There used to be some nice snorkeling spots around there. But the last lava breakout wiped out some of those areas. Who knows though, others might have been created.

Edited October 19, 2023 by tad950

[Lexicographer]

Hapuna.  Was fairly unimpressed with Waikoloa.  But it's all good.  You're in Hawaii and playing golf!  Enjoy!

[Springsteennut]

Played Hapuna back on Wednesday. Very nice. Not right on the ocean but plenty of views. Staff treated us great. Need balls beside the half dozen they already gave us. No problem here’s more. Tees, take what you need. Forgot your divot tool, had one but they gave me one anyway. Fun elevation changes. Next we’re going to give Volcano a shot. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Springsteennut

[Springsteennut]

Played the Volcano course last week while we were staying near Pahoa. Different experience than playing at Hapuna the week before. It’s at 4000 ft so much cooler. Lots of tree lined fairways. The course was closed for a couple of years. Not sure when it reopened but parts of are coming back slowly. Fairways were fine and the greens putted well. A few of greens had small bare spots but again even the couple of putts I had over bare spots still rolled true. I wasn’t in the sand but the traps looked okay. I really liked the layout there was a nice combination of challenging and fun holes. The staff treated us very well. New carts and nice rentals. Titleist T300 irons and the driver, woods and hybrid I think were TSR2. A nice surprise was the Scotty Cameron putter which worked very well. Unfortunately the weather was not typical Hawaiian. It was more typical Scotland. Sideways rain and 30/40 mph winds. Despite the weather my brother in law and I really enjoyed the course and actually shot below our normal scoring averages. Troon golf is running the course now so it will be interesting to maybe go back and see what they have done with the place in a couple of years.IMG_0533.heicIMG_0529.heic

[sac_rob]

Anyone know if Mauna Lani is still doing the three day all you can play golf package for $600ish bones? Can’t find it online so will have to call I guess. 

 

 Any other known golf packages like it on the BI?

[ilikegolf26]

On 11/12/2023 at 2:16 PM, Springsteennut said:

Played Hapuna back on Wednesday. Very nice. Not right on the ocean but plenty of views. Staff treated us great. Need balls beside the half dozen they already gave us. No problem here’s more. Tees, take what you need. Forgot your divot tool, had one but they gave me one anyway. Fun elevation changes. Next we’re going to give Volcano a shot. 

Hapuna is great and the staff is great also. Glad you enjoyed that one!

[Bonneville85308]

Is Mauna Lani worth $295 compared to the other courses within 45 min? And if only one round at Mauna Lani, South course instead of North?

[tad950]

3 hours ago, Bonneville85308 said:

Is Mauna Lani worth $295 compared to the other courses within 45 min? And if only one round at Mauna Lani, South course instead of North?

I’m probably in the minority, but I prefer the North course over the South course. The South has more ocean views, more resort style, and more popular. I think the North is more interesting to play. I usually try to play both courses the same day. A little discount for a replay. 
 

Mauna Lani is certainly better conditioned than the less expensive courses in that area. But I have no opinion about whether it is worth the price.