Royal Hawaiian Golf Club

The scenery on this course is amazing! sadly, the conditions are very bad. divots in fairways & greens are really slow & bumpy. its ironic they have a nice clubhouse/proshop. they have good carts & great on course bathrooms, yet the parking lot is closed so u must park on the street. the bunkers are not raked or even playable. its a tragedy & very confusing. however i go again just for the scenery & wildlife.

Challenging course with great views. Cart paths can be a little confusing due to the hilly jungle layout. Where you lose a lot of your golf balls is not hitting into the thick Hawaiian vegetation. It’s the thick grass flanked on the fairways. Sure wish they could trim that shorter. Beware of the this, it swallows your golf balls whole. Outside of that, it’s an experience.

There is simply no course like Royal Hawaiian anywhere in the world as far as I know. The views are spectacular; everything is bigger and wilder in the rainforest. You’d think you were in some kind of Disney synthetic thing, but it’s real. The layout of the course is true Pete Dye, every hole is an adventure. The retaining walls they had to build to create the course cost more that your entire local course’s construction. There are virtually no amenities outside the pro shop and a small snack shop, no range, no functioning clubhouse. There are a couple of chipping and putting areas. The staff is super friendly and dressed in uniforms, ready to help. The condition is so so; way below the level of the course, which is simply a function of money. The amount of money it costs to keep the jungle from swallowing up this place must be staggering. It has changed hands many times as groups have tried to make it financially viable, which is a tall order. Play and patronize this course, help keep it alive, it IS worth it.

Extremely challenging but the beauty of this course is incredible. The greens aren’t in the best shape and the rough is tall in some spots and swallows up balls. Leave your driver at home and expect to take 10 more strokes than whatever you normally shoot. 10/10 golf experience, pricey but worth it for the views.

Front 9 is cart path only. Extremely hilly and jungle like. We lost at least 6 balls. Fortunately we found a few. Back 9 can ride on the course but have to drive off within 100 yards of green. Staff is very helpful and pace of play was good.

Course conditions are horrible for the price.

Would never play here again. If you like scenery and views it’s great but, if you are trying to play golf and shoot a legitimate round. Not the place to go. Greens were bad, slower than a snails grandma, bumpy, shaggy, you get the idea. Fairways and rough were also like I was playing in my backyard🤦‍♂️ Luckily I got a deal through Golf Now and played for $95 but still not even close to worth that for the conditions of the course. Has great views and scenery

Royal Hawaiian has been a bucket list course of mine for years. You come here acknowledging your round is going to be at the mercy of this course. I am a scratch golfer and knew after 3 holes, I should stop keeping score! Arguably the most unique, awe-inspiring hole layouts in the world, layered against the Koolau Mountains. It’s hard to put a price on this round, so regardless of what rate you get, I would argue it’s worth paying at least once.

I empathize with the entire state, especially this region of Oahu, that has been hammered by rain due to tropical storms. You can feel that effect on the course, as everything is wet, lush, and unforgiving. Therefore, I am not too harsh on the overall conditions of the course given the uncertainty of Mother Nature. I’d love to come back under different circumstances when the course was trimmed down a bit, the fairways roll better, and the greens are stim’d up more. Had some trouble today also finding most of my balls just off the fairway. I believe this is by design, but the crab-grass style rough buries 99% of balls. I hit very good shots and lost balls mere feet from the fairway or green. BRING 10-20 BALLS!!

On a final note, the staff are incredibly friendly. They, along with the views, are the reason I would like to come back again under better conditions. Certainly an unforgettable experience that, despite the steeper prices, is worth doing at least once during your golf life.

It’s like you are playing in Jurassic park the views are absolutely amazing. As for the course it’s not in terrible condition but the greens and bunkers have been forgotten about. The clubhouse has been abandoned it’s just a pro shot and a snack bar. The staff were so friendly and made the experience worth it. So is it worth it yes it’s a unique experience to golf in this setting. But I hope they can bring it back up to what I assume it was for the price they charge

This is a must course to play as I was told by buddies who came to Hawaii and played it.

It is like playing golf at Jurassic Park as far as scenery goes and the course is hard but laid out and kept up nice even after hurricane LaLa came thru.

9/8/26. Great views & atmosphere. Feels like you’re in a jungle. The actual course conditions if you’re wanting to play golf are terrible. The greens are so uneven and do not roll at all. Fairways are pretty banged up. Must play one time but the price does not justify the conditions

Can’t complain of the views, but I didn’t come only for a view. I wanted to play golf. Course conditions were poor at best. Not sure last time they mowed but it was like a goat ranch. Rough was so thick and overgrown you’d lose your ball which slows play and isn’t fun. Fairways, if you call it that, was mostly dirt. Bunkers also not maintained. It’s too bad, it would be a great track with great views of the Hawaiian lush jungles if it was only maintained and manicured.

Awesome views, Pete Dye difficulty. A very difficult golf test and a treat for the senses. US Open-type of rough; bring a lot of balls and much patience.

We had two complaints-- front nine was cart path only and practice range was closed. But the mountain and valley views are unique.

First the good news. They have spent some money since the last time I played about 2 years ago on the greens. They used to be horrible on the front 9. But they've improved greatly from what looks like new sod or just overall improvement in maintenance. Now the greens are smooth with no bare spots like before. They are slow however but the humid weather doesn't help.

Now the bad news. Pace of play was absolutely horrible. We played as a twosome and were stuck behind a large wedding group. Took us 5:45 to finish. Granted, it was cart path only from a storm the night before but they should've done something ahead of time knowing there was a large group teeing off. We wanted to quit after 14 holes but we were far from the clubhouse and just decided to finish.

I usually play here when I come to Oahu as it is a unique layout with Jurassic-like qualities that you can't find elsewhere. But next time, I'll have to ask the pro shop how the pace will look like prior to committing.