Kapalua Resort once boasted three 18-hole courses but it’s now reduced to two layouts: the Plantation course which hosts the annual Tour of Champions event and the older Bay course that Arnold Palmer and Frank Duane designed back in 1974.
The par 73, 7,411, Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort:
Consistently ranked as the #1 golf course in Hawaii, playing The Plantation Course is sure to be on every golfer’s bucket list. Designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, the course was designed on a grand scale in keeping with its location on the slopes of the West Maui Mountains and offers dramatic ocean views from virtually every hole. Its lengthy 7,411 yard par 73 layout challenges the pros but it’s wide fairways and generous greens make it very playable for the average golfer. With dramatic elevation changes, this course offers plenty of downhill tee shots. You’ll feel like one of the pros when – with the aid of the aggressive slope of the 18th fairway – you will enjoy hitting one of the longest drives of your life. The Plantation course was fashioned around the closing hole, a 663-yard downhill and invariably downwind par five. The panoramic backcloth of the glistening Pacific Ocean and the distant mountain peaks take your breath away as you stand on the elevated final tee. The wide fairway tumbles downhill inviting a booming drive. Despite its downhill and downwind design, only the biggest hitters will be brave enough to take this incredible hole on in two shots because the approach shot must carry across a chasm which cuts into the fairway from the right. The green is huge and inviting, but unless you can hit the ball more than 300 yards, you’ll be left with a similar distance for your second shot.
The Plantation Course is the site of the PGA TOUR’s Sentry Tournament of Champions each January featuring an elite field of previous year’s PGA TOUR winners. The field has included golf greats such as Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Justin Leonard, Ernie Els, Davis Love III and many more
The Bay Course par 72, 6,600-yard at Kapalua Resort:
The Bay Course opened in 1975 and in that time has hosted over 20 major professional tournaments – the most of any neighbor island course in the state of Hawaii. Arnold Palmer and Francis Duane designed The Bay Course. The Bay Course is a championship course that is as challenging as it is beautiful. Known for its breathtaking 5th hole, the only hole to play over the ocean on Maui, it should certainly be on the “must play” list for any golfer visiting Maui.
