Kauai Lagoons Golf Club in Hawaii: Renovated ocean delight boasts spectacular seaside holes

LIHUE, Hawaii -- Sometimes you get addition by subtraction, which is exactly what happened after a 2011 renovation reduced the number of holes at Kauai Lagoons Golf Club from 36 to 27 that includes 18 championship holes. The former Kiele Course now boasts two nines, the Kiele Mauka inland course and the Kiele Moana nine, which features three brand new holes as part of a long stretch on the ocean.

Together, the two nines make up a par 72 that plays 7,156 yards from the back tees. Architect Jack Nicklaus, who came back to supervise the renovation on his signature layout, called the par-3 fifth on the Kiele Moana nine "one of the best holes anywhere." Playing over the Pacific into a green rising above the ocean, it's followed by two more holes on the ocean, which are two of the most unique par 4s you'll find anywhere in Hawaii. The golf course is an amenity of the Marriott's Kauai Lagoons-Kalanipu'u Beach Resort.