Hawaii is the one golf destination that regularly surprises serious players. You expect the scenery. You do not expect the quality of the golf. Courses designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Bill Coore sit within two hours of each other across four islands, many of them in conditions that most of the world can only reach in summer. In Hawaii, it is like this year-round.
I have sent golfers to Hawaii for nearly twenty years. The planning mistakes I see most often are the same ones: treating every island as interchangeable, underestimating the driving times between resorts on a single island, and booking the wrong courses for the wrong handicap. This guide exists to fix all three. Green fees listed are 2026 high-season visitor rates. There is no useful shoulder season in Hawaii the way there is in Portugal or Spain — the islands are full year-round — so the pricing differential between months is smaller than you might hope.
The four main golf islands each have a different character. Maui is home to the best single course in the state (Kapalua Plantation) and the strongest overall roster. The Big Island (Hawaii Island) has the highest concentration of world-class courses, clustered along the Kohala Coast within 20 minutes of each other. Kauai is the most scenically dramatic island to play and has the best value option in the archipelago. Oahu is where most visitors fly into but has the weakest golf relative to the other three — Ko Olina and Turtle Bay are solid, not exceptional.
Kapalua Plantation Course
The most famous golf course in Hawaii and the host of the PGA Tour's season-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions every January. The Plantation plays across the slopes of the West Maui Mountains with views of Molokai and Lanai across the channel. The finishing hole — a 663-yard par-5 that sweeps downhill toward the Pacific — is one of the most memorable closing holes in world golf. Coore and Crenshaw's routing uses dramatic elevation change to create a course that plays completely differently from any other in the state. The green fee is the highest in Hawaii and entirely justified.
Best for: Serious golfers on a bucket-list Hawaii trip. Non-negotiable if you are going to Maui.
Mauna Kea Golf Course
Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed Mauna Kea in 1964 and considered it his finest work. The third hole — a par-3 played from an elevated tee across a lava-lined inlet of the Pacific — is the most photographed golf hole in the United States. The course plays through lava fields and manicured kikuyu grass with views of Maui on clear days. The fairways are wide but the approach shots are exacting, and the wind off the ocean means the course plays harder than its yardage suggests. It remains the benchmark against which every other Hawaii course is measured.
Best for: Anyone who takes golf seriously. The best overall golf experience on the Big Island.
Hualalai Golf Course
Reserved exclusively for guests of the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, this Jack Nicklaus design is one of the most coveted tee times in Hawaii. The course is built on hardened lava flows, and Nicklaus routed the layout so that the volcanic landscape frames every hole without feeling staged. Three of the par-3s play toward the ocean. The conditioning is flawless — the Four Seasons enforces a slow field size — and the pace of play consistently comes in under four hours. If your budget runs to the Four Seasons, the golf alone makes it worthwhile.
Best for: Luxury travellers staying at the Four Seasons Hualalai. The most exclusive round in Hawaii.
Mauna Lani North Course
The North Course at Mauna Lani is widely considered the stronger of the two layouts on the Auberge Resorts estate. Its signature is the 15th hole, a dramatic par-3 played across a lava peninsula into the prevailing wind. The course uses lava rock extensively as natural bunkering, and the contrast between the black volcanic stone and the green fairways is visually striking throughout. Guests of the Mauna Lani hotel get preferred tee times and rates. It is the right second-round choice after Mauna Kea for a two-day Big Island golf schedule.
Best for: Golfers based on the Kohala Coast adding a strong second day after Mauna Kea.
Mauna Lani South Course
South hosted the Senior Skins Game for several years and retains a classic resort-course feel. It is more generous off the tee than North but no easier around the greens, where subtle breaks and firm surfaces demand local knowledge. The oceanside holes on the back nine, running along the Pauoa Bay coastline, are the highlight. The South is the right starting point for higher handicappers visiting Mauna Lani who want to warm up before tackling the more demanding North layout.
Best for: Mid-to-high handicappers. Day two companion to Mauna Lani North.
Poipu Bay Golf Course
Poipu Bay hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for thirteen consecutive years and remains the premier golf experience on Kauai. Robert Trent Jones Jr. routed the course along the southern coastline of the island, with the back nine playing directly above the ocean on a series of bluff-top holes where seabirds nest in the cliffs below. The trade winds are consistent and shift direction depending on which part of the course you are playing. The course is managed as part of a private club but remains open to visitor tee times throughout the year.
Best for: Golfers spending time in Kauai's south shore area. A genuine tour-calibre layout.
Kapalua Bay Course
The Bay Course is the older sibling to the Plantation, designed by Arnold Palmer and opened in 1975. It plays through ironwood trees and across a ridge system that delivers ocean views from nearly every hole without requiring the sustained elevation change of the Plantation. It is a more accessible round — shorter, less exposed to wind, more forgiving from the tees — but the approach shots are equally demanding. For golfers playing multiple days at Kapalua, Bay is the right companion to the Plantation and offers better value on the rack rate.
Best for: A second day at Kapalua. Golfers who want ocean views without the Plantation's difficulty.
Ko Olina Golf Club
Ko Olina is the best course in a workable position for golfers staying on Oahu's west side, near the Disney Aulani and the Four Seasons Ko Olina. Ted Robinson's design uses four freshwater lakes as central features, and the par-3s over water are among the most visually striking on the island. It is a resort course in the traditional sense — designed for playability over difficulty — but the conditioning is consistently high and the setting, with the Waianae Mountains as a backdrop, is genuinely impressive. A good morning round before the afternoon beach.
Best for: Golfers staying in western Oahu. Groups with mixed handicaps.
Turtle Bay Palmer Course
On the North Shore of Oahu, Turtle Bay gives golfers a completely different character from the resort courses of Ko Olina. Arnold Palmer routed his design along a rugged coastline where the trade winds come off the ocean without any hillside protection. Several holes play directly alongside the sea, and the par-4 17th — with a tee shot that must carry a corner of the ocean — is the most dramatic hole on Oahu. The resort has undergone significant renovation in recent years. Pair it with lunch at a North Shore shrimp truck and you have a proper island day.
Best for: Golfers on the North Shore. Anyone who wants genuine links-style exposure on Oahu.
Wailua Golf Course
Wailua is a state-owned municipal course and, at $50–$85 for visitors, the best value round in the entire state. The course plays along the eastern coastline of Kauai, and the ocean holes on the front nine — particularly the par-4 5th, which runs directly alongside the shore — rival anything at double the price. The conditioning varies by season, and you will be playing alongside local residents on their regular Sunday game. It has hosted the U.S. Public Links Championship four times. Book the earliest tee time available; later slots fill with locals who know its quality.
Best for: Budget-conscious golfers. Anyone who wants to experience Kauai's coastline without a resort green fee.
How to plan a Hawaii golf trip
Island routing
Do not try to cover more than two islands on a seven-night trip. Inter-island flights run frequently and take 30–55 minutes, but the time spent packing, transferring, and resettling adds a half-day you cannot afford on a trip built around tee times. The most efficient combinations are Big Island + Maui (strongest combined golf roster), Maui + Kauai (best scenery, good variety), or a single-island Big Island itinerary if you want to play 5–6 rounds without moving.
Oahu makes sense as a base if you have non-golfing companions who want access to Honolulu, Waikiki, and the cultural sites. The golf will be secondary, and that is the correct trade-off to make consciously.
When to go
Hawaii has two seasons: summer (May–October, drier, hotter, higher prices) and winter (November–April, slightly wetter, cooler, peak demand driven by US mainland escapes). The best months for golf are April, May, September, and October: the trade winds are consistent but not strong, temperatures sit between 24–28°C, and the peak crowds of June–August and January–March have thinned. The Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua runs each January, which closes the Plantation Course to non-resort guests for a fortnight and significantly increases hotel rates across Maui.
The Kohala Coast on the Big Island sits in the rain shadow of Mauna Kea volcano, which means it receives fewer than 10 inches of rain per year despite the island's reputation for tropical weather. Wailua on Kauai is the wettest course on this list — the North Shore of Kauai is the wettest place in the United States — but the eastern coastline where Wailua sits is significantly drier.
Where to stay
On the Big Island, base yourself on the Kohala Coast. The Fairmont Orchid and the Mauna Lani Auberge sit between Mauna Kea and the Mauna Lani courses, and both offer preferred tee-time access. The Four Seasons Hualalai is the correct choice if access to the Hualalai Golf Course is the priority.
On Maui, Kapalua village is the logical base for the serious golfer — both the Plantation and Bay courses begin at the Kapalua Club. The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua is the resort of choice here. Wailea, on the south side of the island, has three courses of its own (Gold, Emerald, Blue) that are solid but below the standard of Kapalua; the Fairmont Kea Lani and the Grand Wailea are the right bases if you are splitting time between golf and the beaches.
What a serious Hawaii golf trip costs
A seven-night Big Island trip staying at a four-star resort on the Kohala Coast, playing five rounds across Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani North and South, and Hualalai, with airport transfers, will run $6,500–$9,500 per person including flights from the US mainland. A Maui trip built around Kapalua Plantation (two rounds), Kapalua Bay, and three nights at the Ritz-Carlton will come in at $5,500–$8,000 per person from Los Angeles. European golfers flying long-haul should build in at least 10 nights to justify the travel time.
The Wailua Golf Course on Kauai remains the one genuine anomaly on the pricing chart: $50–$85 for a state-owned course that has hosted the US Public Links Championship four times. It is not on the same level as Mauna Kea or Kapalua but it is far better than the price implies, and it is worth a half-day of any Kauai itinerary.