Hualalai Golf Course

The Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Hualalai is host of the annual season-opening tournament on the Champions Tour. What television viewers across the country see is a course artfully carved through a field of dark black lava, bordered by the gentle waves of the Pacific Ocean. Nicklaus made creative use of the natural lava rock formations, as they backdrop greens, line bunkers and traps, serve as treacherous out-of-bounds— and even form a channel through which players must pass on hole No. 7.

A memorable course throughout, the par 3 holes on this course are all strong, but none more so than Nos. 12 and 17. A short par 3, No. 12 presents a big, circular putting surface with a deep pot bunker right in the middle. If you land on the wrong side of the sand from the flag, you must chip over or putt around (although the superintendent would undoubtedly prefer the latter option) and make par the hard way.

No. 17 plays from the lava fields down to the edge of the Pacific, with the majestic peak of Maui’s Haleakala poking above the clouds across the water. The wind conditions on this hole can alter your club selection dramatically. One morning an 8-iron is the right choice, that same afternoon a 3-iron might be the club, as the winds might be blowing onshore.

A strong par 4 home hole, No. 18 is a sharp dogleg left that invites players to bite off as much of the corner as they can chew. But there is a phalanx of sand bunkers lining the left and more around the green. A tee shot too short or left leaves a long and difficult sand shot to the wellguarded green. The smart play is to the wide part of the fairway, which leaves a short-iron home.

The plush clubhouse locker room reminds you that you’re following in the footsteps of greatness, as nameplates on the lockers read: Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Arnold Palmer and other heroes who have competed here.

A second course at Hualalai, called Ke‘olu, was designed by Tom Weiskopf and is reserved exclusively for members.