Makalei Golf Club

Played the course yesterday.

Really like the layout.

The conditions were probably the worst I ever played.

The rough was long and mostly weeds. The fairways were weedy and too long, more like short rough. The greens were full of weeds and burnt out and patchy.

The peacocks were very pretty though.

A snob might not enjoy this course. There is a lot of work needed such as replanting many greens. But I really enjoyed even the Twilight Zone holes with the ups and downs. When you get to the back nine, the holes are mostly magnificent but not in top repair. It looks like management intends to bring it all up to snuff in a few years. I may play again on my current trip.

Nice course. Greens are in pretty rough condition. Quite a bit of diseased areas. Fairways had just recently been mowed and had a lot of long grass in the fairways. Probably hasn't been mowed in a while due to wet conditions. A lot of relatively narrow fairways with tall vegetation on the sides. If you don't hit it straight, expect to lose golf balls. No amenities on the course except for some porta potties.

Having said all this that sounds negative, I like the course, with pretty views, peacocks and turkeys around. I would play again when back in the area. Just a unique course.

This place just has a charm to it that is hard to describe. You show up to the parking lot ro be greeted by roosters. The pro shop is in a trailer. The staff are very freindly and were all super nice to us and we meet like 5 of them. Driving range is hitting balls of a mountain which is fun. The course is challenging because of the thick grass. You will lose balls here. Hole variation is wonderful. The pace was a little slow but it just meant we got to hangout with the peacocks at most of the holes a bit longer. They seem to hang around the t boxes. Had a great time here and will likely go back before we leave.

This course has seen better days, I would think. Everything from the tee box to the greens were unkept. Balls were lost when hit down the middle of the fairway and we were not alone as we found several balls (not ours) in what we believe to be the fairway. 14 of the green were not puttable as the weeds were out of control. And if the course was not bad enough both carts were broken…one with very little breaks and one whose engine would not stop idling (yes they were gas). They said they had no water or ice as their equipment was broken. However, if you just wanted to drive around in a forest filled with beautiful plants, and animals this would be the place, but golf, no way!!

Half of the. greens iwerr in bad condition, fairways required mowing, rough were not cut.

Played this course 10 years ago on our second trip to the Big Island. The topography is unrivaled and the wild life and visuals make it a unique and conversational round of golf.

I’m sure multiple factors have impacted the ability to maintain the course…COVID, the economy in HI, recent tropical events and now weeks and weeks of no rain.

The fairways now are basically gone, half the greens have been overtaken with POA annua and the facilities have only deteriorated from their marginal status of previous years which could be overlooked back then because of the beauty and joy of the course. That no longer can be ignored either.

I wish that some golf-loving multi-millionaire would swoop in and invest the millions of dollars and years of effort that could possibly bring it up to the old standard. But I won’t be back…I’m 78 and I want to remember what it used to be…not what I experienced yesterday. And yet we still had an experience to remember.

So very sad.

The course is on the side of a mountain, so most of the holes have significant elevation change. The fairways are lined with dense vegetation on both sides, so finding a ball off the fairway is nearly impossible. A couple of the fairways have about a 2 foot high stonewall crossing it, but those holes do not have a significant elevation change. Holes are too far apart, so walking is not allowed.

Absolutely loved playing this course! Bring extra balls, because if you shank one, it belongs to the jungle. There are a lot of peacocks on the course too, which is so cool!

This was a very beat down course. Fairways were not mowed. The greens had dead areas and dead grass. The tree boxes were not maintained. The staff was not very friendly. No water bottles and no cart lady for food and drinks.

This course could be great as its design is challenging and nice, but it is very poorly maintained. I think they are charging too much for the condition it’s in. It should be a $20 course.

Such an amazing layout up and down through the jungle lots of elevation changes good thing they have strong gas carts. Abundance of wildlife peacocks treating you with shows that nearly every hole. Greens were fantastic. You have to play your best game there and it's not boring that's for sure. every vacation on the island we always look to play this course at least two times.

Big disappointment. At over $100 per person, I expected more than a poorly maintained muni. The most beat up range balls and hitting mats I have ever seen. Only “amenity “ was a batch of snacks in the pro shop (which is in a trailer)-chips, beef sticks, sodas-and when paying the pro shop guy commented about how we weee buying a bunch of “processed food”. As if there were any other options! Most galling was when we asked for another water at the turn, the starter said no, only 2 bottles per cart. At over $100 each, they could spare an extra $1 bottle of water. We did not expect this to be Mauna Lani, but even though this was way less expensive, absolutely not worth the money. If it had been posted in the $30-60 range, we would have had a better sense of what this course would be-and would have skipped it, which is what I recommend to anyone else looking for a worthwhile experience and value.

Disappointed in the conditions of the coarse,

I have played here many times in the past and enjoyed. The fairways have not been trimmed,tall wild grasss ,clover, weeds in traps etc. No club house as of now not sure if there will be one built.

Sad to see this.