Makalei Golf Club

Very hilly terrain made the course challenging. Strategic ball placement is necessary to score well. Beautiful setting with fabulous flora and fauna....with peacocks everywhere. I tried to take a picture of an albino peacock, and had one of the males charge me! We teed of at 6:45 a.m., had a break for great burgers mid-day, and signed up for another 18 after lunch. We had a light rain, which meant nothing to those of us from the Pacific Northwest, but it cleared the course and left the whole place to us :-) Loved it!!

Challenging course with uneven lies, quick firm greens. Great views, lots of wildlife, friendly companions.

beautiful views, large well maintained greens and wide open fairways. signature peacocks are added flair.

Thanks to Golfnow, we were able to cancel our round. It was torrential rain. Several people asked for rain checks or a refund and it was not granted. One man had a nice looking t shirt and wasn't allowed to play which turned out to be a blessing. The cheapest shirt in their store was $70.00. We had a nice lunch and left in the rainstorm.
It is a fun course with a great deal of elevation. The peacocks are abundant and added a fun aspect to the course. I would recommend the course but be aware if their stringent rules.

Jim

The greens were a little beat up and pretty slow. Overall pretty good dollar value for the course

We booked a twosome, when we got there, the starter wasn't sure who to put use with. Play was extremely slow, the Marshall told us that they had run out of carts so that is why is was backed up, C'mon Man - it is a Golf course that can't be walked - how can it run out of carts, - it made the bookings. The Marshall was ineffective at speeding up play. At 13:20, when we started, we were told the course closed at 18:15. - almost 5 hours later no problem -- yeah right. at 18:00 we were on 16, the Marshall said if we were quick we could play 17, we were quick, but were waiting on 17 for the slowpokes in front of us, when the Marshall came up and said we were done. So we got to play 16 holes, in just under 5 hours, because the course ran out of carts and the Marshall didn't speed up play. They weren't even apologetic about it. Compared to other Big Island courses, it wasn't in great shape. It is too bad, if play was speed-ed up and there was better care, it would be a really good course to play. The Peacocks also make it interesting.

The course condition was fair and the wind was very Hi and was not common for course. very good view over looking from mountain view to ocean.

Makalei is a quirky upcountry course in Kona Hawaii. The vegetation is lush and filled with birds, including the course's signature peacocks. This is not a walking course as the front nine go up the mountain and the back nine bring you back down. It is a nice break from the resort courses of the Kohala Coast.

This was our first time golfing in Hawaii so can't compare to other local courses but thought it was very nice, well manicured and because of the elevation the weather was very pleasant, not to hot. If you like Peacocks you will really love this place.
Golf now is a great site, we saved 34 bucks each and it was so easy. Thanks!

Way over priced for course conditions. Fairways were the worst I've seen in a long time. Greens were OK but several are hidden (on back). Carts are in terrible condition - old gas carts in nee of service. Staff not helpful, no towels or water. Course is not marked. I shot an 84

Had a fun time playing the week before so we went back for another round as planned through golfnow.
The peacocks for some reason were really noisy compared to the first time! Even the grouse seemed to be "laughing" more than usual. We had some fog and rain to play thru but still enjoyed ourselves on this challenging course. Best bang for the buck on the island in my opinion!

The scenery was great
The sand traps were terrible. No sand in them hard as rock.

Slow round of play but on vacation from the frigid weather of the East coast so no worries! Very much worth the money after confirming a tee time on Golfnow. A fun mountain course that had a few challenges especially after playing for the first time in 6 months!!! Beautiful peacocks and grouse are all around the course making it seem like you're playing in the jungle. Enjoyed it so much we played again a week later!

Except for the driving range, this course has everything! Friendly staff, humungous elevation changes and a whole range of challenges! We played behind good players, but the round still took almost 5 hours. I strongly suggest high handicappers stay away from this course, unless you have lots of balls to lose, and a whole afternoon to kill! A beautifully designed layout that I heartily recommend to low to intermediate golfers! The course is loaded with beautiful Peacocks, which are accustomed to being fed by players, so take some 'treats' .I'll DEFINITELY play here again! ALOHA!

This is a great course to see the other side of playing golf on the Big Island!! Playing up on the mountain side...(i.e., the volcano side) with its diversity of animals and plant life was beautiful. A must for those wanting to experience a different side of the Big Island

Love this course. It is lovely, well maintained and easy to play once you get used the fact the ball always rolls to the ocean! The bonus is the beautiful peacocks on almost every hole. Good value for money but quite slow as it is busier with the Kona Club closed. Bring a light jacket as can be cooler at higher elevations. You may also see some rain.

Fun challenging course. Uphill. Downhill.
Beautiful. Tons of birds

There were five groups waiting when we arrived at the second tee box, which is apparently normal. It did stretch out a bit after that but we waited a lot. It was over 5 hours for the round. However, it is a very nice track will serious elevation challenges. I'd play it again.

This course has some interesting and challenging holes. There is a great deal of elevation change and a number of the holes have tight fairways. The golfing experience is not bad but there is one problem and that is the condition of the fairways on a number of the holes. For some reason they seem to have difficulty in growing grass on these holes while on others the grass is not bad. It is definitely a low key operation so don't expect a great clubhouse. Staff is ok but nothing great. I probably won't play here again unless I hear that the course conditions have improved.

The course was very challenging, but also very playable for golfers who haven't played for the last six months. My golf partner and I were fortunate to be paired with another twosome which included a player who was very familiar with the course. It was very helpful to have inside information on positioning shots. The presence of all the wild peacocks and other wildlife made for a fun distraction. I would recommend this course to anyone looking for a good challenge and a great value.