Makalei Golf Club

I have been playing Makalei for fifteen years, and I love the new changes. The greens are in excellent shape.

all Sandtraps not in use (did not know)

Tee Boxes and fairways have not been touched in months. Greens were satisfactory.

$50. for at least 5 year old Cobra rentals.

Carts were old and almost brakeless.

Total course appearance was disgraceful.

Layout was reasonable with possibilities but course was worst maintained I have ever played in fifty years.

i was ashamed as I brought guests.

This course should be off your list as your reputation has been tarnished.

Course needs serious maintenance. Traps were all under repair. Fun course.

Played this course a few times over the years. It is built high up on the side of a mountain next to Kona. The course is very hilly, with not one flat hole. Virtually every hole has a blind shot due to the elevation gains and losses. For the money, the course is in good shape and their is lots of wild life around and ON the course, mainly peacocks and turkeys. It is also about 5 - 10 degrees cooler because of the elevation of the course and a few more clouds move in, which make the playing temperature about perfect.

I played this course 30 years ago when it was a tough beautiful track. It’s been allowed to get pretty rough

The greens had just been sanded too that would have been nice to know- in advance!!

It’s hard to justify any more than $50 for this course, in spite of a beautiful layout and just overall poor conditions. The views cannot be matched anywhere on the island.

The good news is it is obvious the new managers are working to make the course playable again.

I’ll come back The high rating speaks for itsel, a good test.

Great course layout. The hilly terrain keeps the course interesting and challenging. The only downside is that the sand traps have not been maintained, apparently for years. I understand the course is under new management, so I expect that the traps will be refurbished soon.

I have to echo previous sentiments that this course is in really bad shape.

Greens are in horrible shape. Teeboxes are a disaster (played the whites) and the bunkers (devoid of rakes for the most part) haven't been cared for by maintenance in what appears to be months?! There are actually bunkers and areas under construction with no forewarning. Glad I didn't land my fairway shot on that bulldozer!!

The good. The fairways are looking and playing well. The staff is great and very courteous. The ocean views are still present and won't let you down! Beautiful! The temps are always a relief from other lowland courses.

Don't pay more than the hot deal or you're probably better off playing a little more for Hapuna or BICC.

p.s. Curse you 12 and 13!! I'll be back for you!

I've played this course 3 times in the past when I came to the big island, and found it to be quirky fun. Now, it is clearly struggling, having just changed ownership. I understand the new owner is committed to reviving the course. It needs a lot of reviving. The greens are horrible, with disease spots all over. The bunkers haven't been raked, turned or cleaned in months. The fairways are playable, but in spite of drought conditions in South Kohala, are slightly overwatered. I hope this course can be saved, but it is not a good value now, in spite of the reasonable cost.

Mountainous couse with plenty of bird life. Staff very friendly. Play a bit earlier in the summer to get the best weather and floral conditions. Looking forward to the next trip!

You've never played such a steep course! All parts of this course are angled top challenge play. Long drives come up short and poor drives can run down hill to the green. The grass is great to play on, but the course gets a little muddy from the daily rain. I highly recommend this course to anyone coming to the big island that wants to cool down while playing golf.

Hidden Gem? This course at first seemed cool with the long drive through thick forests and beatiful peacocks. But the condition was terrible. The bunkers were unplayable and certain areas of the fairway as well. Multiple times I had to move my ball over 10 yards just to find Some grass. Some of the tee boxes looked like the rough. If the conditions were better, The course would be pretty fun to play. Definitely not worth the rate, or even a hot deal for me. If you have played hapuna or mauna lani you be extremely disappointed with this course.

Had a great time. Golf course was in good condition.

This is not a resort course.

Amenities are minimal but still good value especially if you could get discounted rate from GolfNow.com.

This course has improved substantially from when I last played it in 2014. I think it was facing semi-drought conditions in 2014. Currently, it is green and the fairways have grown in substantially. While the fairways are not pristine, especially in extreme sloping areas, they are very playable. There still are plenty of weeds in the fairways, but typically they don’t impact play.

The dramatic elevation changes downhill and uphill provide an unforgettable golf experience. This is a course of spectacular character. You really need a range finder with slope technology to judge distances accurately. I had one uphill shot measuring 132 yards but the slope indicator on my range finder read 161 yards. I hit a 160 yard club to the center of the green. There were dramatic differences downhill as well.

This course has substantial distances between many holes. The distances and difficulty make for a long round. While I read several reviews of single players playing under 3 hours, I think this is the exception. You would have to have no one in front of you. We had no one in front of us the entire round and it took us a little over 4.5 hours as a threesome. We typically play a normal course in 3.5 hours if we don't have to wait. On the day we played we did have rain on the first three holes which could have added to our playing time.

The greens can be tricky to read, but beautifully receptive to approach shots and true rolling. They are reasonably fast considering how lush and green they are. Reading some of the greens reminded me of the “mystery spot” in Kentucky where your eyes trick you into thinking you are on an incline when you are completely level. We tried reading the greens with feel from our feet to judge the slope which appeared to prove more effective than judging with our eyes.

When I reviewed this course three years ago, I said I would not go back; however, I had a friend along on this trip who had never played it, and we had time to play all the courses on the island. I’m glad I went back. I was favorably impressed with the improvement in the course from 2014, and I highly recommend it now.

Played this on my own while on vacation and got around in under 3 hours. Staff was great and the marshal checked with me 2 or 3 times to see how the pace was. All the regulars let me play through and only had to wait on a tee box one time on a par 3. Course was in great condition and played fairly with true fairways that funneled into playable lies and true greens that were readable and in good shape. I'll definitely play again when I'm back in Hawaii.

extreme undulating fairways. Multiple breaks on greens.

never a flat lie.

fairways not well maintained.

Peacocks were beautiful.

No adjoining fairways were nice.

Not a friendly course for a beginner.

The course was recommended by a local resident. Couldn't get a signal for my gps so was on my own to estimate yardage which was a challenge as there are no fairway yardage makers to be found. If your looking for a course to hang out with the guys and horse around it's fine. If you on vacation and you're golf purist save your money and head to the resort courses. Great bird watching!

This course is a typical public golf course in terms of condition. The greens would rate above average but are slow. It is a course with big elevation changes. Lots of wild life with peacocks in abundance,along with NeeNees and turkeys. The views can only be appreciated on clear days, but it is a lush green layout.