Makalei Golf Club

Never played this course before. When I walked in the pro shop the first thing I was told was " you know this course is rated the toughest in Hawaii" He was right.

Course is hilly, rough is tough, moguls on every fairway.

It is an experience though. Environment is awesome. Fairways cut through the jungle on the side of a volcano. Where else can you do this. Sunday was very crowded. 5.5 hour round. That's too much. Try a weekday

It is worth the experience.

The clubhouse and facilities have been under repair for more than a year. Check in and toilets are in trailers. Signage for the 10 minute drive up to the driving range and first hole is poor. Rental clubs were pretty beat up and my right handed set had a left handed putter. Fortunately, one of my playing partners loaned me a putter. Management has removed the yardage markers in the fairway making it difficult to judge distances without a GPS. Many of the greens had polenta and other weeds which caused your put to change direction. Definitely not worth it unless you are only there for the scenic views.

We literally played on a bird sanctuary. Great course layout with interesting holes. Lots of up and down elevations. So much fun (if you have a positive mindset). Stay in the fairway and you will be fine. If not, bring extra balls. We saw the Marshall a lot so he kept the flow of play amazing and it was a Saturday. Super nice guy!

Some greens on back 9 have weeds affecting the roll but…the scenery of the entire course makes it totally worth playing. Just enjoy it for what this course is. You will not regret playing it. Again, what an experience.

Good layout on side of mountain. Challenging course. Condition not good but playable. Several greens nearly taken over with a foreign grass or weed. Play the ball up and enjoy your round.

Had my longest drive in golf (in a golf cart). The drive from the club house (a construction module) to the driving range is about 5 minutes). Remember that range balls are given out at near the club house, not the range - so back down the hill I went to fetch the balls I paid for and back up again. All in all, a 20 minute journey. Had two minutes to hit balls and were told to go to the tee. Frazzled and a bit out of sorts, we began our round. Thankfully, we played well as the pace was very fast up until the last few holes. Course is well kept for the terrain and environment. Temperature was perfectly mild. Some fairways are very uphill and some are very downhill.

All in all, a good value for around here. Would play again and be leased stressed now that I know the layout.

All stuff is very nice! Course is beautiful! You can see peacocks around— so exciting! Will come back!

My son and I had a great time, the course views were great. A course that’s as you would image when you think of Hawaii mountain golf. Tons of elevation change on the course. I’d let people know that there is no clubhouse at the moment. Driving range was awesome. The greens on the first 11 or 12 holes were good, the remainder were having weed issues. We saw Turkeys, Peacocks (even an albino), Nene and of course Chickens/Roosters. Small, undulating greens. Course was decently tight. I could see if you were having a bad day, losing quite a few balls would come into play. All that being said, we were on vacation and had a very nice day on the course.

I enjoy playing this course , very hilly, wonderful views, challenging designs. Much more grass than last year. Biggest problem is whatever type of grass is invading the greens☹️☹️, makes putting a real challenge.

Makalei is a hilly targety layout, miss the fairway and you will have grassy lie. Undulating greens. Gotta bat your ball often on uneven lies. Good fun anyways. Too bad the cafe/bar was being renovated, always love the post round sitdown with new friends and cold beer.

This course was in very poor shape. The fairways are weeds . Lots of weed patches on the green that will affect your putts. Some bunkers are out of play as they don’t have sand in them. There are many beautiful views from this mountain layout. If money was put into the course it could be great ! Lots of beautiful peacocks running around - including an albino.

Challenging with many hills. A ten minute golf cart drive uphill to the first tee. A little disorienting in places… the back nine holes were more challenging.

Exceptionally helpful, kind and friendly staff.

No amenities like restaurant. The club house/ pro shop is in a trailer.

Good value.

No frills golf course in a Hawaiian jungle. You’ll need to hit your shot or OB. The foliage is so thick it’s rare that you’ll find an OB ball.

But, the tee boxes, fairways and greens are great. Not a PGA course, but still a great experience. Definitely not walkable. I mean, I do marathons but many holes are over 100 yds apart. No GPS in carts. But staff (pro shop, starter and Marshall) are all friendly.

Highly recommend.

This course is very hilly and you must drive a long distance just to get to the first hole and to drive in between holes often takes several hundred yard. There is no way to walk this course. He found the greens to be in pretty good shape and lots of Slope on many of them making them challenging.

There has been a dry spell on the big island so there was no threat of rain this day while we played in the afternoon however, should you want to play? I suggest you definitely watch the weather forecast and be ready for Rain anytime of year in this area where Kona coffee is grown.

Because there are long distances between holes, you can count on playing a longer round if there’s just a typical number of golfers on the course. There is a Marshall to keep people moving and that was good to see that that was not an issue. It is nice up here as the weather is 5 to 10° cooler than the coastline and often cover in clouds

One of the cheapest places to play on the big island and definitely a value if you get a deal.

Played this course last year and was disappointed with the conditions. This year was much better shape and an enjoyable experience. Great pace of play, great value. Will definitely play again on this visit.