Hawaii Golf on Cruise..... suggestions

[05LMBVette]

My wife and I are taking a cruise to Hawaii from L.A., which stops at Hilo, Maui, Kauai and Oahu (each for 1 day).....

 

I have been trying to decide what i want to do and where I want to golf - I've done some research, but not a ton, so excuse me if I get some of this wrong...

 

My wife wants to take a tour of the grand canyon of the pacific, so that kind of screws me out of playing at Kapalua Plantation - though, i have to be honest, i'm not sure i'd have been willing to pay nearly $300 for a round of golf, no matter how good it is....

 

Also, i would really like to see the Pearl Harbor related things on Oahu, so that rules out the one Palmer course that i think many people suggest.....

 

So, that information laid down, i have 2 islands left...from the little research i've done, it seems like my best bet would be Princeville - Pince or Kauai Lagoons.......

 

I am a 4 handicap, typically looking to for a good challenge - usually the harder/longer the course, the better i play - most enjoyable round i've ever had was from the tips at Orange County National @ 7500+ yards...

 

What do you guys suggest would be the best course for me to play?

 

I'm also open to playing with anyone on here if they're interested, i'm from Pittsburgh - I won't have swung a club since October, so it should be interesting... I"ll be on Kauai on March 16th (which so happens to be my birthday) .... I'll be at Hilo on March 14th, if there's something there that's a better option.

 

Thanks in advance!

[WestCoastHacker]

[quote name='05LMBVette' timestamp='1359029585' post='6287761']
My wife and I are taking a cruise to Hawaii from L.A., which stops at Hilo, Maui, Kauai and Oahu (each for 1 day).....

I have been trying to decide what i want to do and where I want to golf - I've done some research, but not a ton, so excuse me if I get some of this wrong...

My wife wants to take a tour of the grand canyon of the pacific, so that kind of screws me out of playing at Kapalua Plantation - though, i have to be honest, i'm not sure i'd have been willing to pay nearly $300 for a round of golf, no matter how good it is....

Also, i would really like to see the Pearl Harbor related things on Oahu, so that rules out the one Palmer course that i think many people suggest.....

So, that information laid down, i have 2 islands left...from the little research i've done, it seems like my best bet would be Princeville - Pince or Kauai Lagoons.......

I am a 4 handicap, typically looking to for a good challenge - usually the harder/longer the course, the better i play - most enjoyable round i've ever had was from the tips at Orange County National @ 7500+ yards...

What do you guys suggest would be the best course for me to play?

I'm also open to playing with anyone on here if they're interested, i'm from Pittsburgh - I won't have swung a club since October, so it should be interesting... I"ll be on Kauai on March 16th (which so happens to be my birthday) .... I'll be at Hilo on March 14th, if there's something there that's a better option.

Thanks in advance!
[/quote]

Unfortunately I can't be of much help regarding golf on Kauai or the big island as alll of my Hawaii rounds have been on Oahu or Maui. On Oahu, I've played the Palmer course at Turtle Bay. It's good, but it is definitely not worth missing Pearl Harbor for especially if you can fit your golf in elsewhere. My suggestion would be to tell your wife that the Haleakala Crater, while cool to see, is best viewed early in the morning at sunrise and that you might want to save it for your return to Maui when you're not on a cruise. That would free you up to play Kapalua Plantation. It isn't cheap but it can't be that much more expensive than Princeville - Prince.

[KSI]

[quote name='05LMBVette' timestamp='1359029585' post='6287761']
My wife and I are taking a cruise to Hawaii from L.A., which stops at Hilo, Maui, Kauai and Oahu (each for 1 day).....

I have been trying to decide what i want to do and where I want to golf - I've done some research, but not a ton, so excuse me if I get some of this wrong...

My wife wants to take a tour of the grand canyon of the pacific, so that kind of screws me out of playing at Kapalua Plantation - though, i have to be honest, i'm not sure i'd have been willing to pay nearly $300 for a round of golf, no matter how good it is....

Also, i would really like to see the Pearl Harbor related things on Oahu, so that rules out the one Palmer course that i think many people suggest.....

So, that information laid down, i have 2 islands left...from the little research i've done, it seems like my best bet would be Princeville - Pince or Kauai Lagoons.......

I am a 4 handicap, typically looking to for a good challenge - usually the harder/longer the course, the better i play - most enjoyable round i've ever had was from the tips at Orange County National @ 7500+ yards...

What do you guys suggest would be the best course for me to play?

I'm also open to playing with anyone on here if they're interested, i'm from Pittsburgh - I won't have swung a club since October, so it should be interesting... I"ll be on Kauai on March 16th (which so happens to be my birthday) .... I'll be at Hilo on March 14th, if there's something there that's a better option.

Thanks in advance!
[/quote]


[color=#282828]the grand canyon of the pacific, waimea canyon, is on kauai not on maui, so you should be able to play kapalua plantation. if you are talking about haleakala crater, see it in the morning as the above poster suggested and then play kapalua in the afternoon.[/color]

[color=#282828]kapalua plantation has twilight fees available, so it should not cost you $300 to play it.[/color]

[KSI]

On Kauai, the Prince course will be a lot more challenging than Kauai Lagoons, which is more of an easier resort style type course. The advantages of the Lagoons course is it is about 5 minutes away from where your ship will dock and you can usually get low green fee rates on ezlinks. The Lagoons course also has more holes on the water (i think 4 total) than the Prince course which is mostly inland if that matters to you.

You could also play Poipu Bay GC where they used to play the PGA Grand Slam every year. they also have twilight fees.

For me, the must plays are the Prince Course on Kauai and Plantation on Maui.

[05LMBVette]

Thanks guys... i'm trying to figure out if i can manage playing 2 rounds while i'm there... its tough, b/c there's a lot of things we want to do, but I don't wanna pay the airfare to get my clubs there to only use them once...

I"ll keep throwing around some ideas... not sure what all we can fit in, but i don't want to ruin the trip for my wife by playing... so i'm going to try and balance it all

[05LMBVette]

The days are getting closer to my cruise.... My plans as of today are:
Friday March 15 - go to Pearl Harbor first thing in the morning, and then play Luana Hills around 12:30 - 1pm... i'm hoping it'll be a fairly quick round, as i'll be expected back in Waikiki for dinner at 6pm. I can play 18 holes in just over 2 hours if i'm playing well but i'd like to take my time and take in the sights...

Sunday March 17 - play the Plantation course at Kapalua.

[05LMBVette]

Well, i had a good time on my trip..... ended up playing 2 courses, and didnt play that bad, considering i hadn't even swung a club in 4-5 months...
1.) Ko'Olau - nice course but the greens were eaten up... some guys there said that they've gotten so much rain that some disease was eating the greens... they didnt roll very true, and weren't very fast. But overall it was an enjoyable round - luckily i drive the ball pretty accurately, as i can see why some people loose so many balls on the course..

2.) Kapalua Plantation... definitely a gorgeous course... i thought it was a nice variety of holes. Where i play at home, either everything is short, or everything is very long... I prefer very long courses, but around here those courses feel the need to make par 3's in the 230+ yrd range, and that's just silly to me... I thought the par 3's were very fair at Kapalua.... Regardless, i thought the course was very fair with HUGE fairways and lightning quick greens.... i can't complain - i drove the ball average, my iron play was very rusty and i putted OK - shot an 80 from the Championship tees... in mid-summer, i could definitely do much better...

I must admit, Kapalua is probably a once-in-a-lifetime course... WAY too expensive... i haven't played golf in a ton of places, but just last year i played in Florida and there were several courses that were NEARLY as nice, for $50, not $280. Best bang for the buck, there's definitely much better out there. But i'm glad i did it once - it was a very memorable and enjoyable experience.

[Peterson]

I've played most of my Hawaiian golf on the Big Island and Kauai. On Kauai, I love playing Poipu Bay, the staff treats you like a VIP, the conditions of the course were great and it is an extremely beautiful location. However, the winds will have an effect on your game in the afternoon. In my opinion, the Hilo side has no courses worth playing and it is a 2 hour drive to the West side of the island where there are many very interesting courses.