Review: Kapalua Plantation Course (Warning: Lots of pics)

[italianstallion]

This year my vacation plans brought me to the islands of Hawaii. It would be a long journey, nearly 16 hours by air when it was all said and done. But the thoughts of beaches, rainforests, mountain hikes, and of course golf kept me excited for the trip.

 

Time would allow for just one single round this vacation. I had been to Hawaii as many times I had been to the moon: zero. So I knew if I had one round to play that no expense would be too great, no journey too long. I had watched the season’s opening PGA Tour Tournament of Champions year after year, most of the time snowed in and longing for the day when I could play again. I wasn’t planning to be on the same Island as the Plantation Course at Kapalua, but I knew that’s where I wanted to play my one round of golf.

 

The Plantation Course at Kapalua was designed by the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and was open for play in 1991. It is located on the island of Maui, about 10 minutes from a small landing strip named for the resort. I had played the Coore & Crenshaw team’s latest design, Streamsong Red, countless times and was looking forward to seeing one of their early designs as a comparison.

My journey to Kapalua would not be easy. I was staying on Waikiki Beach on the island of Oahu, so I booked a flight to depart Honolulu International and arrive at Kapalua Airport by 7:20 AM, with a tee time at 9:00 AM. A passing tropical storm was looking like a serious threat for my day of play, with 90% chance of showers forecasted even in the hours leading up to the departure of my flight. But because other plans would not allow me to reschedule my tee time, I was either going to be playing in the rain or not at all. I arrived at the airport, boarded the small single-prop plane with two other people, and was on my way.

 

I arrived at Kapalua under cloudy skies, but not a single drop of rain was to be found anywhere. I paid for my greens fee and a rental set of clubs, $350 after all was said and done. The rentals were the latest Titleist woods, AP1 irons, a single 56* Vokey wedge, and a Scotty Cameron putter. While the irons didn’t fit my eye and the woods had shafts weaker than I was use to, I was excited that I had the same putter I had back home. I (poorly) hit balls on the range, and by the time my tee time arrived the sun was trying to poke through the clouds.

 

I was paired with a three great guys from the West cost of the mainland. One was a regular at the Plantation Course and offered the most important bit of advice I would hear all day: “No matter what you see, everything breaks toward Molokai.” I had read variations of this advice on these forums, and based on the sternness in his voice I decided that no matter what I would be playing all breaks toward Molokai.

 

The first hole at the Plantation Course is a monster 520 yard par four. While long, the hole plays entirely downhill and a well placed drive will leave you with a shot in the neighbourhood of 170 yards. I played this first hole poorly. I was left with a 15 foot putt for double bogey which I read based on the slope of the green as being a straight putt. But I remembered the advice offered by my playing partner on the first tee, located Molokai, and played the ball well outside the right side of the hole. The ball poured into the cup for a solid double bogey start, and I threw my conventional thoughts on reading greens out the window.

 

Rather than bore you all with a hole-by-hole description, I will go over some of the highlights and talk to you about course design. While there are plenty of good holes on the course, my favourites were as follows: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 (the most beautiful on the course), 12, 15, 17, and 18. Ocean views can be found on nearly all of these, which is why I liked them so much. They were also all incredibly fun to play and all for different reasons. The 5^th hole is a reachable par 5 that doglegs right. There is plenty of room for your drive but the approach for your 2^nd or 3^rd can be very hazardous and tricky. The 6^th hole is one of the famous short downhill par 4’s at 398 yards. You can drive this green with a favourable wind and a good drive. The 7^th hole is another 516 yard par four which plays at least 100 yards shorter than what is on the card. I hit a good drive and was left with 90 yards to a front pin location. The 8^th hole is a nice mid-length par 3 where the wind makes club selection difficult. 11 is a short par three with the most beautiful view on the course. 12 is another famous short par four which is drivable with a good drive. Don’t lose your tee shot too far right on this hole, otherwise you will lose you ball. 15 is a 555 yard par 5. This green complex is very tricky, and as I found out there is a false front on the right side of the green that will feed balls down a hill to a collection area a good 50 yards from the putting surface. While I was able to get up and down from there, one of my playing partners pitched three times before he finally threw in the towel on making it to the green, each time the ball rolled right back to where he had just hit from. 17 is another downhill par 4 that is over 500 yards on the scorecard, but plays significantly shorter with a helping wind and extreme downhill grade. 18 is nearly identical in appearance as 17, but plays as a 663 yard par 5. I hit my best drive of the day on 18, leaving me with 220 yards to the green. I didn’t believe it when people were claiming to have hit 400 yard drives on this hole, but with a 30 mph wind at your back, a 100 foot change in elevation, and a good swing, it’s hard not to.

So there are the highlights, let’s get into the intricacies that make this course among the harder courses I have played. Yes the course has the massive fairway and greenside bunkers in the style of Coore and Crenshaw, but they aren’t what make the course difficult. As I mentioned before, everything on this course breaks towards Molokai. You must take this into consideration on nearly every shot. For example, on the seventh hole Molokai is located directly behind the green. I landed my wedge shot on this hole on the front fringe of the green, and watched as the ball rolled out to the very back portion of the green, leaving me with a 75 foot putt to the front hole location. Another player came up 20 feet short of the green, hit their putt with the same force you would use on a 5 foot putt, and watched his ball roll 20 feet past the cup. Even when hitting shots away from Molokai, you must control spin into the greens to avoid spinning your ball farther away from the hole, or off the greens entirely. And as I said before, all putts break towards Molokai, even when you think there’s no possible way they could. Putts going towards Molokai are lightning quick, putts away are extremely slow. If there is a course on Earth that feels like you’re playing golf on the Moon, this is it.

The course’s next great defense is something you can’t see, but you can certainly feel: the wind. When I played the wind was blowing a steady 25 mph with gusts easily exceeding that figure. I was told by more than one person that I played on what was considered a “calm” day. The wind rarely changes from its prevailing direction, which is why you have par fours ranging from 300 yards up to 520. Coore and Crenshaw are very fair with yardages when playing into the wind and uphill, as such holes easily play an additional 75-100 yards than what is listed on the scorecard. This is why downhill and downwind holes, although longer, play significantly easier and present far more birdie opportunities than the short uphill holes that play into the wind. They also tend to have wider fairways.

 

While the ocean never comes into play on the Plantation Course, its dramatic presence on nearly every hole is this course’s final unintended defense. This was the first time I played a course where the ocean was in view, and it certainly caused me to lose focus on my shot making. But this distraction was more than welcome, and it was the reason why I had shelled out the cash I did anyway. And at the end of the day, views such as the ones on this course are why I play golf in the first place.

 

Overall, I played absolutely awful. I had some good holes, I had some bad holes, and I shot a comfortable 86. But at the end of the day here’s what matters: I spent $350 on a round of golf (plus $170 on a roundtrip flight to Maui) and felt it was 100% without a doubt worth every penny. I strongly encourage anyone who will be anywhere near Hawaii to tee it up at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. With that said, I’ll leave you with one last piece of advice: everything breaks towards Molokai.

 

Enjoy the pictures, thanks for reading

 

-Vince

 

First Hole - 520 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

Second Hole - 218 Yards, Par 3

 

Third Hole - 380 Yards, Par 4

 

 

Fourth Hole - 382 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fifth Hole – 532 Yards, Par 5

 

Looking across to 6 and 7

 

 

 

Sixth Hole – 398 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

Seventh Hole – 516 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

 

Eighth Hole – 203 Yards, Par 3

 

 

Ninth Hole – 521 Yards, Par 5

 

 

 

Tenth Hole – 354 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

 

Eleventh Hole – 164 Yards, Par 3

 

 

 

Twelfth Hole – 420 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

 

Thirteenth Hole – 407 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

 

Fourteenth Hole – 305 Yards, Par 4

 

 

Fifteenth Hole – 555 Yards, Par 5

 

 

 

 

Sixteenth Hole – 365 Yards, Par 4

 

 

 

Seventeenth Hole – 508 Yards, Par 4

 

 

Eighteenth Hole – 663 Yards, Par 5

[scratchswinger]

Incredible photos of one of my favorite places to visit.

[Philly Golf Guy]

Great review. I played kapalua a few years ago and this review takes me back. One of the best courses I've played.

[pdaero]

Gorgeous pictures - thanks for the great post and review! I always look forward to this tournament every year.

[FairwaysToHeaven]

Awesome thanks for taking the time to write this up and to post the pics


Can someone get the attention of wrx Greg on here to see if while he's out shooting pics every week of players bags to see if he can get more pics of the course like these. players bags pics are cool but its gets pretty repetitive week after week. not sure if he can't get access to the course or it would be too time consuming, but course pics would be great.

[sheppy335]

Awesome Pictures!

[garcia51694]

Great pictures. Maui is by far my favorite vacation spot of all time. Been there three times and I love Kapalua and Kaanapali Beach on Muai. I agree with you though as far as the cost to play....well worth the coin every time. Did you get a chance to play the Royal Course on Kaanapali Beach at all?