Cavendish Golf Course

Cavendish is one of golf's greatest surprises.

I expected a cow pasture and found a really amazing nine-hole routing that's free for everybody! Many of the holes are lined with towering cook pines. The hills create the theater for some incredibly interesting moments, notably the par 3s at no. 7 and 9. No. 9 rockets uphill to the shack of a clubhouse, playing at least three clubs longer than the yardage. The small office was locked, so we never got a scorecard. No carts are available, either, so expect to walk, carrying your bag.

Course conditions can be rough in spots (especially below the greens on 7 and the par-5 8th), but the greens themselves were good and the fairways better than some munies I've played. We let two friendly locals who brought their own carts play through.

We played the immaculate Manele course at the Four Seasons in the morning, but it was hard to tell which round provided more fun. This is a special experience, one worth the ferry ride from Maui to play, if you have an open mind and adventurous spirit.

We had a very enjoyable day which included a 45 minute ferry ride each way from Maui to the beautiful island of Lana'i. We rented a Jeep from Dollar Rent a Car and played FREE golf at this 9 hole hilly gem of a course.

As recommended by another poster we did try to get a score card from the Inn at Koele but it is currently being renovated. However, at the course we were greeted by one of the groundskeepers and he graciously gave us several score cards. (see pic).

The course was in good shape. They were mowing the whole time we were there, and VERY courteous when we were approaching the area in which they were mowing by moving out of the way and shutting off their equipment.....this happened 2 or 3 times during our round.

During our round, we only saw one other couple. We came back later in the day just to see it again and talked with the locals who said they change up the order in which they play the holes......which you can do on a course that isn't busy.

We highly recommend making the trip to Lana'i to play this course......but be prepared to walk up and down hills while carrying your bag.