Makalei Golf Club

Makalei Golf Club

Makalei clubhouse

#1 - short uphill par 4

#2 - target practice on a longish downhill par 3

Tee shot on the par 4 third hole; it doglegs left over the hill

One of the many peacocks struttin' his stuff on this course

Tee shot on the short par 5 fourth hole; the wall shouldn't be in play off the tee

Par 3 fifth hole

Approach to #8

Old lava tube in the greenside bunker at #8

The green at #9

Approach to #10

Par 4 eleventh

Par 3 twelfth

Tee shot on #13 - you can't reach the tree, but that's the target -- it doglegs left of the tree

Approach to #14

Par 3 #15

Approach to #16

Approach to #17

Final shot into the final hole

Makalei Golf Club - Overview

The Makalei Golf Club is a cool and refreshing change of pace -- literally. It perches up on the mountainside along the Kona coast, at about 2850 feet, and is markedly cooler than the coastal courses. Their logo is a peacock, and they (peafowl) are everywhere, strutting around showing off their brilliant plumage.

The course is fun and challenging. The misty air lends an aura of mystery to the place. The day we played, the weather cooperated completely in that it didn't rain, and the fog never reached the ground. I'm told that when the fog comes down it makes for difficult shot alignment.

The clubhouse crew was cheerful and friendly, and good at forecasting the weather. We played in the afternoon for the lower rate ($63).

Since this is written by and for the Bogey Golfer, the advice is slanted a bit more conservatively than a scratch golfer might look for. Improving your score is mostly about eliminating the blow-ups… Off to the first tee!

Makalei Golf Club Detail

This writeup is from the white tees.

The opening hole is a short par 4 straight up a hill. Standing at the bottom over your tee shot, you get the distinct impression that after you hit it, the ball is going to climb the hill, stop, and roll back down, finally coming to rest at your feet. This is probably a paranoid delusion, but just to make myself feel happy I picked out a target -- there's a flat-looking shelf below the hole that looked like it would hold the ball up. It did.

The second hole is a longish downhill par 3. If you can hit it sraight, the hill will give you a little help getting there. But there's plenty of trouble (woods, sand, ...) if you hit it crooked.

#3 is kind of a blind tee shot in that you can't see the hole. It's over the hill, and down to the left. It's only 355 yards, so pretty straightforward. Just hit it down the middle (hah!)...

#4 is a short par 5. You can see a stone wall crossing the fairway about 280 yards out. I hit a pretty good tee shot and still wound up short of the wall. If you're a big hitter it might come into play. On the other hand, you'd probably be starting a bit further back, too. After the tee shot, this hole largely becomes an exercise in charting a course between the tree on the left and the rock outcropping on the right. The tree is farther away, and will be in play longer, so try to stay just left of the rock outcropping.