Royal Ka'anapali

It's been about 20 years since we played Kaanapali Royal and we have better memories than what we experienced on our current round. Service levels are great...pro shop, starter and beverage cart ladies were all friendly and welcoming. Course conditions were disappointing mostly because the greens were in terrible shape. #1 on the Royal is probably the worse but all greens were bumpy and had lots of bad spots throughout. Additionally, the greens have lots of undulations making putting challenging. We found our balls sunk down into the rough and the grass often grabbed the hosel. Overall, we were disappointed enough to cancel one of our future rounds. The facilities are also not what you would expect from a top-level resort either. Given the conditions of the course, we cancelled one of our scheduled rounds.

Course is show the signs of wear and drought but still a great layout with some tremendous views from the hillside holes. Holes had been sanded without notification which seems like a gap in awareness. The on course service has been soft for years due to local service restrictions. Always fun to play but I do miss the 2 round discount that used to be available.

Pros: Firstly, the staff are incredibly friendly. We had a 3:20 tee time and they were kind enough to let us go off early, at our request, to beat the sunset. Family vibes! And regarding the course, overall it’s probably the best bang for your buck, given the extremely high Maui prices. We got the sundown price of $89 after 3 pm, which although high, is below the median for the island.

Cons: I empathize with watering and the island’s access to golf courses maintenance. Overall the course is pretty lush, no complaints there. I do, however, question the cutting of the greens. Many times I was on the designated green by a good margin and yet was putting through fairway-length grass. Something that can easily be addressed.

This is not the current course and employees fault, but the design is subpar. Green complexes are poorly designed and extremely small. Smallest greens you’ll ever play, and certainly penalizes even the best of golfers.

Overall, for island golf it’s a decent value, but beware of the small greens, and semi-inconsistent mowing patterns on greens.

Excellent place to golf the greens were punched a a week earlier, but we knew going in that was going to be, so as long as the staff made us aware no problem will go there again

Really enjoyed the course. The wind loomed large all day which made club selection so strategic. Loved the challenge. I definitely had an opportunity to improve my bunker play, but kudos to the course for having well maintained bunkers. Got a good deal on Golf Now so this was definitely worth the price.

Had a fantastic time playing this course! Shot a low score for me (77), and just had a blast enjoying the beautiful manicured fairways and great greens!!!

$307 for a weekday tee time on the Royal Ka’anapali, managed by Troon. A little steep. The locals play for way less. It feels like a muni. They don’t allow you to take the power carts to the range. They hold the cart key until your tee time. The starter offered no information about the course or operations. Except for those in the pro shop, all the staff were perfunctory or worse. My partner was on the tee box, ready to pull the trigger and a maintenance guy come roaring by! The greens were mostly recovered from plugging, but still an issue. No indication were the pins were cut. Cart-mounted GPS worked. The Troon Manager of the course and his/her boss need a performance review..

As we stepped onto the first tee, we should have known that this course would not be in great shape. Quite a bit of the first tee box was mostly dirt, and this was a theme throughout. The fairways were similar - no lush green grass here. The bunkers were in good shape, but overall, not in great shape.

We arrived at the course we had booked online. We were paired up with another couple from Northern California. Beautiful day course was an excellent condition. Piece of play was just right. Those water traps give me some problem. Otherwise everything else was great. 😊

Course conditions were great! Greens are TRICKY!! We had a perfectly enjoyable day playing golf!!

Played the 1st of May. Course was in good condition. Fairways, greens, and sand traps were all well cared for. Mother Nature provided sunny skies and gusty winds. Both expected this time of the year on Maui.

Although we almost cancelled the vacation because of the amount of rain in March and April, There was no significant damage to be found.

Fairways in pretty brutal shape and can play much better courses on the Island for close to the same price if not cheaper.

Steady 12 mph winds with gusts up to 20 mph made conditions difficult. Played pace was great the first nine and then we caught up with slow foursomes. For the money, I prefer the Kai Course.