Makalei Golf Club

This is one of my favorite courses on the Big Island a MUST PLAY if you love Golf and fantastic visual experience.

The staff at the facility was excellent. It was a nice cool environment on the course.

This was my first time playing on the other islands besides Oahu. Apparently the Big Island is a burgeoning golf capital so being a couple decade golfer, I had to play. This course offered the best non-resident rates on the island. It's a little drive up the hillside but the views as well as the course itself was absolutely esthetically pleasing. Challenging, but not impossible. Nice hole setup! Overall, I was very pleased for the money I paid. Eddie, the cart manager, was amazing. He definitely made the round that much more enjoyable. Oh, and there are peacocks EVERYWHERE. Honestly, it gave us a good laugh to be monitored and sometimes chased away by them. They were great fill-ins for the course marshall.

Aside from everything great, I was a little dissatisfied at the course not offering the "resident" rate although I live and work in Oahu (I didn't have a Hawaii driver's license). Not a deal-breaker, but I was a little upset that I had to pay almost double, BUT, that was with every course on the island that I called.

Overall, definitely a great play.

Played this course on first day of 5 for the week.
Nice views, nice conditions, peacocks everywhere.
Was the most protected from the wind club that I played all week.. Something to look at if you need to play in the afternoon or on a windy day.

By far the worse cut greens I've ever played on. The mowing wasn't even overlapping, not to mention they hadn't been cut in days. I'd recommend this course only because when I returned 5 days later, the greens were in excellent condition, like the rest of the course. They also need to give the young lady at the desk some attitude training=very unfriendly demeanor.

A little out of the way, but a great value with just a $25 fee through last minute golf and Golf Now. Interesting lay-out and course in pretty good shape, except for very slow and furry greens. They were punched in the last 1-2 weeks, but VERY long. Easy to 2 putt, very hard to 1 put unless you were within 3 feet. Even with the green conditions (I assure they get better), a course I would play again, even it the deal was not so good. Fun course and great views.

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!