Ko'olau Golf Club

This place is awesome, majestic and built to twice normal scale.
It is also slowly going back to the tropical rainforest that it was constructed from 20 years ago.
I played Ko'olau ten years ago. Back then it was in good condition. There was grass in the fairways and grass in the rough.
This time the weeds have dominated the rough and made inroads on the fairways.
Ko'olau was designed as a private country club for members only by Japan developers.
The developers were not successful. This course is now owned and managed by American Golf.
They used to have a big sign at the entrance about Ko'olau being the toughest golf course
in the USA. They took it down, probably because golfers were intimidated.
This course was tough ten years ago, they have removed lots of bunkers since.
They have created drop areas all over the course past the long carry ravines to help the pace of play.
The big difference I noticed was that the fairways now are much thicker and that means
there is no role on this course. A good shot will stop dead all the time, and there's a fatal
wound to anyone who hits a worm burner.
Hitting a straight ball is absolutely mandatory. I'm talking fairway straight. The rough is
thick vegetation which hides the ball. Off the rough is the abyss.
The scenery is outstanding, but it comes with a cost. You cannot afford to be distracted
here.
There were many holes in process of aeration, at least they did partials on most holes.
Sadly, the back nine holes are now cart path only. The infiltration of excess moisture and plant life is more evident here.
My experience with the pro shop was good. They had two groups of foreign golfers in
front of us, I know how slow they play on normal courses,he had the starter move our twosome in front. We finished in less than 3.5 hours, while the other groups were only halfway.
There is no drinking water on the course. They provide an ice chest, and we brought our own
water.
There are good rates for locals, but the locals don't play here much.
Golf Now has deals for visitors.
Ko'olau is one tough cookie but it's not doing well against the elements.

As always, a tough course and a welcomed challenge. Pace of play was good, although we did get off to a slightly late start.

Greens had some dried out spots but it didnt affect putts. Course knowledge goes along way here.

Lastly, in Town (HNL) there were consistent 20-30 mph winds but this course only had an occasional 10mph gusts. Called the pro shop ahead and they were happy to give me a run down of the conditions for the day.

The backdrops for several holes made me feel like I was golfing at Jurassic Park, absolutely beautiful. The course had a challenging layout and was well worth the greens fees, hope to play again on return trips to Hawii.

This course has a nice set up but it is one of the most poorly conditioned courses I have ever played on. Crab grass dominates the rough to the point that it is the main grass seen on the course. Most of the the fairways are washed out and the greens are hairy and slow. There are some forced carries but no markers to tell you about how far and if you did not bring a GPS you will be out of luck. Luckily I played with someone who had played there before and he alerted me to some of the danger. Pace of play was not bad but it was cart path only which was a lot of walking on this mountain course. There were a lot of slippery slopes leading down the carts path to the greens and I am surprised that more people do not slip and fall. I would never play there again and feel that my time and money were wasted.

I've heard stories about how difficult this course was, but I found it to be fair and enjoyable to play. I received free transportation to the course through HiGolfGuide and since I was only a single, my driver Eric was nice enough to come along and be my caddie. There were a few blind tee shots, and without his help I would've been lost! The greens were on the slow side, but they were very smooth. It had just recently rained so the fairways were soggy and muddy. Overall the course was really nice and the scenery was absolutely beautiful! This is definitely a course you're going to want to play more than once.

In review order,pace of play was horrible to the point I drove by 3 or 4 groups at the 10th hole.The delays seem to be caused by the difficulty of the course as there are many forced carries over ravines and even though many tees are available lost balls were prevalent.Greens and fairways were mostly very good but traps were very inconsistent with most having little sand.Staff were very friendly and professional although i arrived at 1100 for my 1230 tee time to find the range closed for maintenance.Golfnow fees value seemed to be equal or better than those of others in the area.I would recommend this course only for the experience as it is cut right out of the jungle and at the base of mountains, wildlife was abundant.To me the course seemed designed by some one who had never played the game, as an example the 18th a par 5 has a long forced carry over jungle ravine with large waste bunkers that would collect a ball that carried by 10 or 15 yards and a narrow fairway that quickly runs out.If you carry all the danger as i did, you find yourself with an awkward short layup to a sloping fairway or another long forced carry back over the same ravine to a green protected by a big tree front left

This is a great course even though I only rated it as good and average value. It had rained the night prior to play and the ball was plugging bad; almost losing six balls that landed in the middle of the fairway; back nine was cart path only. Koolua plays similar to Royal Hawaiian; courses carved out of the jungle hillside where ball position is important. The 448 yard par 4 hole 18 must be the signature hole of the course. From the tie box, do not be intimidated by the canyon that you must cross for that is not the most difficult shot; its the approach to the green!
Mahalo!

Even when it was raining - course conditions were excellent - but the course is very very challenging - you should have enough balls with you.

This was a really fun course to play. Cut through the forest underneath beautiful mountains, every hole had a "wow" factor. It was difficult, and there were several holes that I would have played differently the next time, but all in all a blast.

While the pricetag and 'most difficult' moniker may scare some away, I would encourage everyone to play this course. It was such an amazing experience. What you give up by not being on the ocean is more than made up for in the quality of the course, the friendliness of the staff & beautiful setting.

It truly is a beautiful setting, right up against the Koolaus...BUT - the course is incredibly punitive. I hit the ball fairly straight , but on this course I lost the most balls EVER! Also, because of the layout of the course, I had to lay up quite a bit, as the hazards were frequent and required a lot more distance than I can muster. If you get a good rate, then definitely make time for it. But, bring a LOT of balls with you. Also, bug spray and a light rain jacket is good to have on hand.

For Oahu, the rate was decent. Pace of play was really quick so that was nice. I expected the course to be much harder than it was given all the talk about the slope rating. Greens were very slow and a bit wet in the fairway on the back nine but in decent shape.

Known as one of the most difficult courses in the country, it lives up to it's image. Not having course knowledge makes it even harder. The greens were ok but extremely slow. Knowing the grain direction of the greens are a big factor. The carries are intimidating for average golfers. To enjoy the round you should take advantage of the drop zones on any given hole. I would play the course again but only at a discounted golfnow rate.

At first, this course seemed almost too easy. The first 9 holes are deceptively simple. In fact, I kept telling myself that something's wrong and it was too easy. Just play target golf, hit to your targets and it's fine. Then the second nine came.....

Cart path only.... lots more ravines. Blind shots. Muddy. Rainy. 200 yard carries. You start trying to hit harder, ball goes more crooked. Sand traps over and over. Overhanging trees.

Seemed like 2 different courses. The staff was very friendly.

It's true! They said it was beautiful and a challenge; it's all that and more! Great golfing experience and wonderful to see the lush surroundings. The best part was it was tough, but fun. It's nice to play a course so tough, but it doesn't beat you down. You'll have a great time at Koolau!

no hole description on tee, many blind drives, greens were in very bad condition, nice wiews on the mountains

Thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Ko'olau golf course. The golf course was beautiful and very challenging. Each hole presented many challenges. Very much a course that you need to know your distances because there are many layup holes and second shots over ravines. The vistas were incredible. All I wanted in my golf experience in Hawaii was to golf a jungle course and this met and exceeded all my expectations. Still ranked as the toughest in the nation among public courses (according to the proshop staff). Of course I didn't play from the tips. The course conditions were very good but a little wet on the fairways. The ball did pick up mud on many occasions. Greens were half aerated so we played only the front half of every green. Green speed was a bit slow. I had to rent a set of clubs so it was not ideal. Had a nice set of Callaways but were definitely game improvement clubs. My friend is a lefty and had to play an old set of Cobras which were not in very good shape.

My son and I got the opportunity to play this course. Myself as a visitor for $75 and my son the local afternoon rate of $35. This course was absolutely beautiful. Really it was like a picture postcard on every hole. The course was alot more playable than we had been led to believe. We expected to lose alot of balls, but didn't. You have to hit good shots to keep from losing them but it is quite playable but tough. It definately made my personal top five in my lifetime, along with Turnberry, and North Berwick in Scotland, Pebble Beach and Torre Pines in California. I think it was the most beautiful of the 5 and that is saying alot. Cheaper than the other 4 by far.

Yeah - you've heard all about how hard it is, and it lived up to its billing. The views couldn't overcome how ridiculously hard it is. Because it was hard, and the layout encouraged short layups to unbelievable carries to the hole, the course backed up and would have resulted in over a 5 hour round unless we had skipped 6 holes to finish by dark.

This used to be rated as the hardest course in the United States from the back tees by the USGA up till a couple years ago and I can see why. Just steps from each fairway is ball eating jungle to punish wayward shots. I lost a dozen golf balls over 18 holes, and yet it was so worth it. This is the kind of place that makes you want to try that insane shot, just to see if you can pull it off. It is a nice change of pace from the seaside links you get on other Hawaiian courses. Greens were in great shape, fairways could have used a little attention, but for $75, I can't complain too much.