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The Plantation Course at Kapalua started it all for Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
Their first collaborative design debuted in 1991, kicking off modern golf's most celebrated architectural partnership, one that continues today with the recent grand opening at Cabot Saint Lucia half a world away in the Caribbean.
When The Sentry returns to Maui this week, it will be the Plantation's 27th year hosting the PGA TOUR. It will be the first event of the 2025 season where all of the star players are supposed to attend. Lots has changed in professional golf since that first year in 1999, but the Plantation remains one of golf's iconic winter playgrounds. You can't be a fan of the game without having this one squarely on your bucket list.
The sweeping ocean views. The chance to hit a 350-yard drive and reach the green in two on No. 18. The stunning Maui sunset. Watching the tournament on TV doesn't measure up to seeing and experiencing Kapalua in person.
C&C returned in 2019 to modernize everything in an attempt to bring back the firm conditions that have long made the course so interesting. Because the layout was cut from the side of a West Maui mountain, the severe slopes can be used to the clever player's significant advantage on several holes. The nine-month project rebuilt all the bunkers with new drainage and sand, grassed the greens with TifEagle Bermuda, leveled all tees and added Celebration Bermuda grass everywhere else.
"The fun and strategy has been restored," wrote 'playtight18' in a 2021 GolfPass review. "Bring your A game and your thinking cap. I will be back again and again. I have more fun playing the Plantation course than any other I have ever played, including all the Bandon courses. While you may not agree with that lofty statement, the Plantation course at Kapalua is an absolute must play if you are on Maui."
Let's dive into a hole-by-hole examination why the Plantation is one of the game's true treasures. It's not only Hawaii's highest ranked resort golf course but one of the best golf courses in the world.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua
Par 73, 7,596 yards
Rating/Slope: 77.0/144
HOLE 1 - Par 4, 520 yards
This is not your typical opener from most resort courses. It ranks as the No. 1 handicap hole on the course. It's visually intimidating with trouble up the right side on the approach. Ideally, a tee shot shaped right to left finds a speed slot and gathers on a rare flat spot away from the bunkers moved closer to the fairway during the renovation. Several bunkers guard an expanded, elevated green that kicks shots left to right.
HOLE 2 - Par 3, 219 yards
This downwind par 3 to an expanded green that is angled left to right favors a fade and running approach. Misses right will end up in any of the four bunkers. Controlling your ball in the sometimes fierce trade winds will be a critical component of your round.
HOLE 3 - Par 4, 424 yards
The hole's name, Mauka, translates to 'toward the mountain'. It often plays into the trade winds, bending past a cluster of bunkers on the right side of the fairway. The plateau green slopes right to left, protected by two bunkers that have been shallowed out for playability.
HOLE 4 - Par 4, 422 yards
Built with a nod to National Golf Links of America in Southampton, Long Island, no. 4 rolls up over a high ridge from new tee boxes built for both the pros and amateurs. The first fairway bunker on the left was removed, and the right one reduce in size. The shallow green was expanded for more hole locations, none more difficult than those on the left side.
HOLE 5 - Par 5, 526 yards
A new fairway bunker dug in the middle of the fairway 300 yards out changed this hole dramatically. No longer could long hitters just swat away. It's now a risky drive over or around the trap. Thick jungle surrounds the wide fairway of this classic Cape hole, swallowing up anything crooked along the way. No approach, even with a short iron, is safe to the green perched on a peninsula jutting into a canyon.
HOLE 6 - Par 4, 424 yards
Players grappled with trade winds that tend to push shots toward the canyon up the right side. Conservative tee shots up the left side leave blind approaches to a green tucked below a ridge. A spine in the expanded green can funnel a ball toward the pin or leave a difficult two-putt over it.
HOLE 7 - Par 4, 522 yards
No. 7 is the second of three long but downhill par fours where good tee shots can take advantage of the wind and kick slopes to help the hole play far shorter than the posted yardage. This green is a rare putting surface that was reduced in size during C&C's improvements.
HOLE 8 - Par 3, 199 yards
Players won't even notice the five bunkers ringing the green that tilts back to front and right to left. They'll either be celebrating the view of the Pacific Ocean or worrying about the long canyon carry.
HOLE 9 - Par 5, 550 yards
A good drive into the wind is key to setting up an opportunity to carry a large valley on the second shot. Those that don't are left with a blind, uphill shot over bunkers to a plateau green from an awkward lie. Birdies feel well-earned here.
HOLE 10 - Par 4, 384 yards
Yet again, the wind makes this shorter, uphill par 4 more formidable than the scorecard implies. The fairway bounces balls left into a sidehill lie or bunker. Although the green is smaller, it was also softened to be more accepting of low, running shots.
HOLE 11 - Par 3, 161 yards
Take advantage of the course's final par 3. Downhill, downwind tee shots are tough to control. Holding a green that slopes away from the player is very difficult no matter the shape or height of your shot. It's these shotmaking nuances that make the Plantation so tricky. The view is great, though, whether you write down a 2 or a 5.
HOLE 12 - Par 4, 424 yards
The prevailing wind can turn this par 4 into a pitch-and-putt for the pros at times. If you can bang your tee shot to the top of the hill and avoid the fairway bunkers, it's just a short iron into a small, concave green with steep surrounding slopes. The greenside bunkers aren't a bad miss. They prevent errant approaches from bouncing into bigger trouble.
HOLE 13 - Par 4, 383 yards
The most difficult par 4 on the course - mainly due to the trade winds - the 13th will be unlucky for a lot of golfers. New native grass planted left of the fairway narrowed the landing zone by 60 feet. The deep green shrank by more than 1,000 square feet, not to make it harder to hit but to lessen the putting mistakes so many average players make.
HOLE 14 - Par 4, 301 yards
A fantastic, charismatic finishing stretch starts here. It's a rare birdie hole, even if it does play uphill. Although it was recently enlarged, the smallest green on the course is its biggest defense, along with a slew of bunkers. Let the fun begin.
HOLE 15 - Par 5, 541 yards
The 15th tee box returns to the Maui jungle. The double-dogleg zigzags through hilly terrain full of awkward lies. A native canyon borders the tee shot area on the right as well as left of a significantly elevated green. The fairway has been reshaped to give players a better chance at some decent lies. No one wants a slew of sidehill lies that promote slicing and hooking lost shots out of bounds.
HOLE 16 - Par 4, 369 yards
Although three bunkers were removed, the sand that gets in players' heads on this uphill hole. Avoiding a string of bunkers that block the fairway diagonally from right to left isn't easy against a crosswind off the left. The approach must carry more bunkers to a splintered green sloping from back to front.
HOLE 17 - Par 4, 550 yards
The 17th is perhaps the most controversial hole on the course. The tee is the highest point on property, serving up panoramic views of the ocean. Strategically, it might have been better suited as another par 3 over a canyon to get the layout back to a regulation par 72, but Coore & Crenshaw opted for a demanding downhill par 4. The carry off a downhill lie tortures anyone higher than a single-digit handicap. The green acts like a sideboard, sloping back to front and right to left. Bogey isn't a bad score.
HOLE 18 - Par 5, 677 yards
Here we are at one of golf's most famous tee shots. After soaking up the views, players can blast away and watch the wind and roll do wild things to the ball. It really doesn't matter how far up the right side someone hits it. The fairway slopes will still bounce the ball down the left side toward the junk. From there, big hitters can cut the corner of the dogleg left over the hazard and go for the green, aiming at the right side. Anything short with a driving trajectory should funnel onto the enlarged putting surface.
Have you played the Plantation Course since its 2019 renovation? Review it by clicking on its course page above.
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