Kauai and Maui in a month!

[southpaw72]

So I’m about a month out from first trip to the islands. Planning on one round each island. Possibly more dependent on the fiancés schedule lol. I feel like I have to play the plantation course and leaning towards the ocean course on Kauai. Maybe princeville instead? Thoughts? Thanks fellas

[Springsteennut]

If you’re staying up by Princeville definitely play there. If you’re staying more toward Poipu the Ocean Course is much closer. It’s a good hour getting up to Princeville from Poipu but it is worth the trip. Your fiancé could spend the day in Hanelei while you golf. My wife did that while I golfed a few years ago. Both courses are very enjoyable. One bit of advice for Kapalua is try to play in the morning it can get pretty windy as you move into the afternoon. 

[southpaw72]

16 hours ago, Markrip said:

If you’re staying up by Princeville definitely play there. If you’re staying more toward Poipu the Ocean Course is much closer. It’s a good hour getting up to Princeville from Poipu but it is worth the trip. Your fiancé could spend the day in Hanelei while you golf. My wife did that while I golfed a few years ago. Both courses are very enjoyable. One bit of advice for Kapalua is try to play in the morning it can get pretty windy as you move into the afternoon. 

We’re staying at wailua just north of the airport in Kauai so not far fine the ocean course at all. I’m not opposed to a drive at all but I’m trying to limit the regrets I’ll have in the future wishing I would have played certain courses all while making the most of our time there. We’re at each island for 4 days but unfortunately I can’t make it solely a golf trip lol. 
 

I think the plantation course is a lock for sure and great advice on the round time. I’m very used to playing in the wind where I live but I would absolutely love to not have to do that on vacation lol. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by southpaw72

[Springsteennut]

The drive is not as bad from where you’re staying to get to Princeville. That’s where I would go. If you can sneak in an extra round on Kauai the Wailua Golf course is an excellent inexpensive option. It’s rated one of the top 30 munis in the country and it’s a lot of fun.

[ThermalDan]

Plantation is so good, I would play it 2x.  I haven't played Princeville, but of the 10'ish courses I've played in Hawaii, the only one I would skip a day at the beach to play is Kapalua.

[vandyfan]

I am going to Maui as well at the end of April, will be there for 4 days with my clubs. I was really torn between choking down the cost of Kapalua since I will likely never be there again or just playing the Wailea courses which are right near where we are staying (Kapalua is on complete other end of island). Lucky/unlucky me, it will be in post aeration period so probably not the best time to go. It does allow me to revisit this decision of "do I play the insanely nice/expensive golf course" while on vacation. I am a cheap person so I am probably more impacted by the cost of things and if I play poorly it is going sting that much more. 

 

- I went to Kiawah a few years back and balked at the price of the Ocean course. I played Cougar Point instead and thought it was very forgettable and was still $250+ for the round. That was a mistake. Would not do that again. Would probably just play the Ocean Course.

 

- I went to Hilton Head last year and (with the Kiawah example in my mind) played Harbour Town. It was cool but probably not "worth" $500 to play as a single with a group (nice) randoms. Also, I think HT is a great test for tour players and a "different" style golf course than they normally play, it is quite tight and penal for people (like myself) who are not excellent drivers of the golf ball. It's just not the most fun "style" of course for me. I don't know if I would say I regret playing HT but I doubt I would do it again. 

 

So it seems aeration has saved me from this anguish in Maui. $527 is a huge amount of money to spend on one round where my feeble ego would be facing (1) tons of uneven lies (2) potentially high winds and (3) probably a slow round? Maybe this is just a "know thyself" situation but the spread between the Wailea courses (cost wise) is ~$300. Could you say Kapalua is 2x better than Wailea? Probably and you might be right but I'm not sure if I would enjoy myself 2x as much. 

[nolayup]

Candy fan posting on the hawaii page, with that profile pic 🤣🤣🤣

[sharkiesj]

On 3/6/2023 at 7:48 AM, vandyfan said:

I am going to Maui as well at the end of April, will be there for 4 days with my clubs. I was really torn between choking down the cost of Kapalua since I will likely never be there again or just playing the Wailea courses which are right near where we are staying (Kapalua is on complete other end of island). Lucky/unlucky me, it will be in post aeration period so probably not the best time to go. It does allow me to revisit this decision of "do I play the insanely nice/expensive golf course" while on vacation. I am a cheap person so I am probably more impacted by the cost of things and if I play poorly it is going sting that much more. 

 

- I went to Kiawah a few years back and balked at the price of the Ocean course. I played Cougar Point instead and thought it was very forgettable and was still $250+ for the round. That was a mistake. Would not do that again. Would probably just play the Ocean Course.

 

- I went to Hilton Head last year and (with the Kiawah example in my mind) played Harbour Town. It was cool but probably not "worth" $500 to play as a single with a group (nice) randoms. Also, I think HT is a great test for tour players and a "different" style golf course than they normally play, it is quite tight and penal for people (like myself) who are not excellent drivers of the golf ball. It's just not the most fun "style" of course for me. I don't know if I would say I regret playing HT but I doubt I would do it again. 

 

So it seems aeration has saved me from this anguish in Maui. $527 is a huge amount of money to spend on one round where my feeble ego would be facing (1) tons of uneven lies (2) potentially high winds and (3) probably a slow round? Maybe this is just a "know thyself" situation but the spread between the Wailea courses (cost wise) is ~$300. Could you say Kapalua is 2x better than Wailea? Probably and you might be right but I'm not sure if I would enjoy myself 2x as much. 

None of the courses at Wailea are as good or memorable as The Plantation.  If you didn’t play the Plantation you’d be doing the exact same thing that you did by not playing the Ocean Course.  It wouldn’t bother me in the least if the greens at Plantation were coming out of aeration.  So what. BFD. It wouldn’t detract from my experience at all. But that just me.  If it does bother you then realize that the next time you probably can tee it up at Plantation the green fee will be higher than what it is right now.  

[sodak77]

My last trip to Hawaii about 10 years ago I played Plantation, Popui and Princeville.  All of the courses were awesome but the Plantation course was by far the most memorable.  This was despite the greens being recently aerated and sanded but in no real way did it diminish what an awesome experience it is playing the course.  Easily in my top 5 ever. 

 

Princeville was a close second in terms of the course and views but wasn't nearly as fun to play as the Plantation.  No clue as to the next time I will get back over there so like others have mentioned you don't want to leave without any regrets.

[southpaw72]

I booked times for the plantation. Course and ocean course at hokuala…. Ideally this vacation wouldn’t be spread over two islands since for first timers there’s so much on Maui we won’t get to see but oh well. Playing the bay/plantation would have been my best bet I think. 
 

looking forward to it. I have 7am tee times for both. What are the odds they let a single go off first? I imagine zero but I’ve never played a true “resort/vacation course” like these. 

[Mullenboy]

On 3/11/2023 at 6:24 AM, southpaw72 said:

What are the odds they let a single go off first? I imagine zero but I’ve never played a true “resort/vacation course” like these. 

Show up early (likely before the people who work there do) and ask nicely when they do arrive.  It can happen.  I've done it several times at each of these places.  And as you are thinking... this turns a 4 hour plus round into less than three hours (if you want to go that fast) which means back to the fiancee (wife in my case) before she gets up and going... which on trips like these is like gold.

 

One other thing.  I think it's brilliant you are setting the tone for the marriage early.  They get more nasty about these things later but... you are getting it grandfathered in.  🙂

 

 

[vandyfan]

Played all 3 wailea courses this week and I must say they were all great. Blue had the best views of the ocean but was the least interesting course. Gold was maybe the most challenging course with its plethora of bunkers. Emerald was the best of all worlds, to me. Emerald has good views, great conditions but what I found interesting was it allowed you some ground options coming into most greens. You could flight balls in short and have them run up and could do bump in runs into the greens as they were typically not fronted by bunkers. Emerald was a delight and playing golf in Maui is truly a spiritual experience.