Turtle Bay Resort (Oahu)

Well I’ve never played before, watched it on TV, read many reviews over the years, voted best on Oahu…. The course layout is good to very good not great. Nobody there, got to play by myself ( which I love) caught up to a foursomes who let me play through.. very kind. The course is in fair shape with a few holes, tee boxes fair to poor. Really disappointing? I know they have had issues due to Covid etc but…. It’s a long way to Turtle Bay, a bit of a haul when you live on the other side and the traffic back ugh !!!

Now the unfortunate part most visitors don’t understand is the wind… 20 mph all day steady gusting 25-30, if you are not dead on with ball strickkng really magnifies your miss… enjoyable day, I just wouldn’t make the trek again for a round.. too many good tracks on the west side..

This is not my first AP designed course but it’s the one I’ll never forget. This course was amazing from all aspects. It was very challenging, testing your skill on almost every shot. Short dog legs, long dog legs, uneven lies, thick rough, it had it all. The wind was howling as it always does in Hawaii which made it play much, much longer at times. I’d guess we had 13 holes into the stiff winds, probably 7 on the front 9. Immaculate greens that rolled very true. Really a great test all around. The grass was unlike anything we’ve played on. Rough was very thick but not long. On shots in the rough around the greens, we had to go up high and land soft. Even short grass around greens, when grainy, we had to go up high and land soft. Just a very fun course all the way around. Thanks Arnie. May God rest your soul.

Course is in excellent shape, beautiful fairways and greens. Played in 3 hours and 35 minutes. Classic Palmer design. Still no rakes in the numerous bunkers due to Covid.

Holes challenging but fair, and of course the winds blew off the ocean making it more challenging, course helpers were great, it was five star day

I know this course has hosted PGA and LPGA tournaments in the past. However, they have let COVID lower them into a state on mediocrity. For the money they want you to pay this course, it should be in better shape. The bunkers don’t have a rake in sight nor is their a grounds keeper attending to any of the bunkers. The course layout is great and the course has the potential to play great with a little work. I drove by a municipal courses in Waikiki Beach that looked in better shape. My advice, wait until next year to play Turtle Bay.

This course is beautiful and challenging.

But the pace was unbearable. They let groups that were an hour late jump into proximate tee times. So essentially they permitted about 16 players to be in the same 20 min period. You waited 20 mins per hole and constantly got balls hit into you. They should tell late parties to return for twilight open play or just rain check. We ended up missing 5 holes bc it got dark (and we started at like 2 and I usually take less than 3 hrs).

It lived up to the hype - but I prob won't be back bc they managed starts so poorly.

This course is obviously amazing! And if you are into course design/architecture then this is a place for you! Classic Palmer design elements take hold of you the second you step onto the first tee box. And the only real issue I had (with the course) during this round was that 1) Id never played before & 2) because of Covid they are not maintaining the bunkers to the level that a resort course should maintain their bunkers. This is all completely understandable and honestly did not play much into my 3 star review at all.

The biggest issue here is the value for play. It’s clear when you arrive that with Covid has come certain changes but none of those changes are posted on Golfnow. Because of this I arrived 1 and 1/2 hours early to grab some things form the pro shop before trying to warm up a bit and get a feel for the greens to keep my putting under control for the round. NO OPEN PRACTICE FACILITIES! Ended up just doing a quick purchase, hitting the bathroom and then waiting to go out to the first tee box. Frustrating to say the least that I couldn’t even get an idea of how I was hitting and putting before going out on a brand new course. Needless to say I shot a bit higher than usual. In fairness this was partially due to the challenge of the course but NO PRACTICE, definitely was a significant factor as well. Simply put, if you are going to charge 209 bucks for a resort style/famously designed course, the value needs to be there. It simply was not. To be fair to all parties the blame of no information on closure of amenities is on GolfNow as they are the booking party. However, I feel like it would be EXTREMELY wise for Turtle Bay to drastically reduce their visitors 18 round price to compensate for the understandable reduction in amenity availability.

The staff is extremely friendly and had an awesome welcoming experience even considering I arrived there prior to sunrise! Way to go!

Basic Overall Recommendation here is either get a rate that 100 bucks or less for this course during Covid or wait till Covid is over and things are in full swing. 209 bucks would be fair for post Covid.

Price listed was for green fees, cart, and range balls. Range was closed and they said the rate I was quoted was a walking rate. I ended up paying $20 more for a cart. They said it was the Golfnow sites fault for not updating they’re personal guidelines.

Played the Palmer Course for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it! Got on earlier than original tee time and met up with a fellow Canadian for the last 17 holes! Course was in excellent shape and despite losing a few balls, had a good round despite rental clubs and not golfing since mid September! Booked through Golf Now and got a reduced rate of play! Would definitely golf this course again.