Waikoloa Beach Resorts (Hawaii Island)

The Good:

- Course was in nice shape. Greens are fair, if a little slow, and the course was overall in very nice shape.

- Despite a seemingly high price tag, this course is actually one of the cheaper options on the big island

- Pace of play was excellent

The Bad:

- Staff acted like booking through golf now was criminal and they made sure to let us know, "it's much easier" if we just call them directly. The check in process took nearly 20 mins as well as they figured out how much to charge us

- Calling this the ocean course is pretty misleading. There is one hole on the ocean, and one other hole where you can see it. The rest of the course is surrounded by a resort

While this was the only course I played while on the island, I did get to see the course at Mauna Kea, and it looked incredible if you can afford the price tag. If you are looking for a cheaper option where you can actually see the ocean, the Kona Country Club is where you should play.

I see a lot of poor ratings here from before 2017, but in January 2018 I found everything about the Par-70 Beach Course to be just perfect for a pleasant day of golf. Yes, the greens may be on the slow side, but they were still slightly the quickest of the 3 different courses I played in 7 days on two islands. I found all 3 Hawaii green speeds to really be pretty similar. Pay attention to the grain!

The staff was nice and friendly in the Pro Shop, the starters (I practiced the day before) helpful and very accommodating and the putting green was the same speed as the course (a blessing- it's not like that everywhere!) and there was a nice chipping/bunker practice area next to a large grass driving range to give you everything you need to prepare.

The course conditions were excellent, with wide open and clean fairways, very playable rough, fluffy white sand bunkers and a little water added to a few holes just to change up the beautiful palm tree & black lava settings that prevail throughout. I played on a pretty calm day for Hawaii and the breeze was just enough to be welcome, although it can still gust and fool you. Playing the resort tees (my driver distance is only about 220 these days) I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day, actually shooting my handicap without being particularly sharp.

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone staying at the resort- it's simply great at $100, and if you're not staying there it's still a fine choice at $150, which is the typical visitor rate for most nice courses in Hawaii. I wish I would have played the Waikoloa King's Course, too- next time!

Playing the KIng's Course was exciting and enjoyable. I played the resort tees and found the layout was challenging due to the fairway bunkers and the long par 4's. I was in two greenside bunkers and had no problems with the sand. Playing the short par 4's made the round enjoyable. A birdie on # 5 made the round more fun, but even better I birdied the par 3 15th, and made par on the par 4 17th, and the par 5 18th. The greens rolled great, and I would play again in a minute.

Not much better than a local muni. Pretty awful pace of play and no sign of a marshal anywhwere. Course is in mediocre condition, not very imaginative layout, and not terribly challenging.

Will not play again unless the green fees are under $100.

Course had some interesting holes, but lacked a true Hawaiian feel. Uninteresting landscapes and many condos dominated the round. Green had been freashly sanded without notice and there were many dry spots around the green. Have never played a course with crushed coral in the bunkers, it wasn't difficult to to hit out of, but it made for tough putting. It was like watching a pinball machine.

All the staff were friendly, and the course was in excellent condition.

Thank you for the great experience

Course layout is excellent and well miexed with challage ones for most golfers. Good condition of greens but bunkers are not properly maintained as thoses are not sandy bunkers. My sand wedge was damaged. Overall rate is very good when you

have good skills to avoid bunkers in playing.

Off shore course with light winds and fair pin placement. Super course, very reasonably priced. A must play. Loved it had a blast. Dan W

Was very surprised that this course has not been well cared for. Sad to see it in such poor shape. Too bad the neighborhood isn't more appreciative of the jewel it has here.

We have played this course many times and it had conditioning issues in the past.

This time the King's Course was in great shape with smooth greens, great tee boxes, and green fairways.

The weather was magnificent with partly cloudy skies

and mild temperatures but almost no wind.

The starter did a great job and she had a good sense of humor.

We started on time and finished in less than four hours.

The course was crowded but the pace of play was excellent.

Some of the long par fours that play into the wind can be tough.

This course is a Tom Weiskopf design and I really appreciated his classic use of the difficult short par four

to lull you into complacency.

This course seems to be getting better and we will look forward to playing here again.

Course was very dried out...fairways sparse, and we had to move the ball around to find some grass, the bunkers are ground lava rock. The layout was pretty fun, and with a lot of TLC it could be a nice course. It seems that there are a lot of young local types that play here with a limited knowledge of golf etiquette. The really great courses on the Big Island are private, tied to the Four Seasons or $175 to play, so your choices are rather limited.

I had to cancel playing a few days earlier due to medical condition. In the meantime, I was able do a drive-by quick look at the course. I was not then impressed at all with what looked to be (at first glance) a very plain mediocre boring old-style golf experience.

BUT THEN when I decided to give it a chance, the golf course came to life! The fairways were not perfect but were quite playable. The hazards were plentiful but avoidable. And the greens were superb. Besides playing some of my best golf ever, the beauty of the Hawaiian mountains and seashore with rolling hills to guide the placement of each hole was exquisite.

A surprisingly exhilarating day enjoying the day.

Yours Very Truly Grateful!

Liked that this was an easy access, no frills, straight up see it & swing golf course. Loved that it was an RTJones Jr. design and not extreme or tricked up on any of the 18 holes. Course condition reflected that watering was reduced, but not to the point that the greens would not hold a well-struck approach shot. Compared to some other courses on the island it was not 'too dryed out'. Staff gets a solid grade A-. Really my only knock would be about the bunkers, which were not sand -filled but some mixture which had a content of very small pebbles. Bunkers get a C+ :-( I want to play here again & hope that I can bring a buddy or two over from the mainland when I do!

Through GolfNow we obtained a good rate for the t-time. Rental Clubs were decent but high at $69 per bag.

Played this course 7/10/2017. Conditions were very good with green speed in the moderately quick range. Hard to have super fast greens in Hawaii due to the trade winds that can blow strongly at times. Bunkers were in decent shape although I was not in too many of them. Played from the back tee's and it is challenging, especially with the winds cranking. One scenic hole #7. If you are looking for scenery and have one shot, Mauna Lani South is #1, Mauna Kea is #2, and then I would put the Beach Course in there. Hapuna is a nice track as well. The rest are pretty standard courses here.

Had a nice round at Waikoloa. Signed up as a single. Staff tried to get me a game, but none were available. However, connected with two other singles while on the course and ended up having a nice round. Played in a tad over 4 hours. Course was very long from the forward tees which made it tough when the wind kicked up. Condition was good though I had trouble adjusting to the slow greens. Some great views of the area. Nice staff. Would play there again.

Waikoloa Village is a very nice public course. Well-maintained and has a challenging but not too difficult layout. The traps do take some getting used to as most of them have crushed coral instead of sand. Completely differnt when itting outt of them. Greens are firm but roll pretty true. Overall, it's a great course for the price. Will definitely play again next tie we are here.

Like the layout. Not too difficult. Almost all the sand traps have crushed stone or coral in them, so I won't play out of them.

It is a very good course - excellent when the wind is not howling..