Played Turtle Bay this morning teeing off at 10:15 and I played the combo Blue Tees & Gold Tees at 6550 yards and played with Gina and Bob both vacationing from Pittsburgh. Range was all grass and c... Continue »

Played Turtle Bay this morning teeing off at 10:15 and I played the combo Blue Tees & Gold Tees at 6550 yards and played with Gina and Bob both vacationing from Pittsburgh. Range was all grass and chipping and putting area was nice as well. The course was fairly crowded even though it was rainy. They had 5 sets of tees today Black, Blue, Gold, White and Red and all were nice and level. The fairways were all nice and very green and fairly generous, no real rough to speak of except trees but they weren’t in play. Bunkers were very good to play from and the greens held shots very well. If I had to guess I say green speed was 9and a very subtle break to them. I teed off from a par 3 with at least 6 maintenance workers behind the green waiting for us to finish up the hole and I hit it to 7 feet and one of the workers said “ great shot uncle “. I made the birdie and both Gina and Bob gave high fives. The course has some water features mostly at the par 3’s and some at the greens but they don’t come into play very often. Overall very fun and playable course, but being in the North Shore weather is unpredictable but it’s still warm so don’t let that detour you. I asked when Fazio Course was going to reopen and he said probably by the end of summer and once it does the Palmer course would close for some remodeling. A great time was had by all and if this course was closer to my house I would play it more often, I just don’t like the hour plus drive to get here. Definitely recommended…

Drove about an hour to the north shore to play Turtle Bay Palmer course for the first time. I will start by overall saying based on past reviews and pictures this course is on a downslope. There are n... Continue »

Drove about an hour to the north shore to play Turtle Bay Palmer course for the first time. I will start by overall saying based on past reviews and pictures this course is on a downslope. There are numerous brown and dried out spots in fairways currently. The greens have some patchy areas where they’ve lost grass and there’s some light sand on them. The bunkers are okay. The rough is pretty short and patchy in areas. Local twilight rate isn’t too bad under 70 bucks but the guest rates are out of range right now. The front nine is nothing special with layout similar to most courses out here, a lot of water especially on the par threes. The back nine definitely is the better nine and has a variety of pretty interesting holes and some photo worthy spots. Kinda a bummer there’s such minimal view of the ocean when the property owns so much ocean front land. If you live locally to the course it’s not a bad option but all the press about this being a past top 100 public course for the US is long time gone as far as I see it and not worth the trip from Waikiki.

Side note the Fazio course which I played years ago is closed but sounds like it may reopen sometime soon this year, currently pretty brown and not maintained.

Posted: 10/12/19
By: golferic420

Played Turtle Bay Palmer on 10/12 @ 10am local time. POP was right at 4 hours. Moderately busy, but everyone kept decent pace. Course is in pretty good shape. Tee ... Continue »

Posted: 10/12/19
By: golferic420

Played Turtle Bay Palmer on 10/12 @ 10am local time. POP was right at 4 hours. Moderately busy, but everyone kept decent pace. Course is in pretty good shape. Tee boxes level and well groomed. Fairways for the most part were good. A couple wet/damp spots due to recent rain storms. Bunkers were good with the orange sand. Greens are healing nicely from aeration about 4 weeks ago. They are ‘grainy’ like most tropical destinations (Maui, Cabo, Dominican Republic), but rolled true. Just a little slow.
Overall great course. Staying at the resort cost $169 for the Palmer, and I’d say it’s worth it. The Fazio course looked like average muni in LA (with better conditions), whereas the Palmer has the ‘Championship’ caliber course. Weather was windy, probably 25-30 mph, but that didn’t take away from enjoyment. Since staying at Turtle Bay, it’s not really in the cards to head closer to Honolulu or Ko Olina to play. Service was top notch, and Lei Lei’s has great food after the round (or before). Definitely worth playing if you’re up in the North Shore.

Played 9/30, twosome, 4:15 rd. Paid $35 replay rate after playing the Fazio first. so $300 worth of golf for $125. Was reluctant to play here. I was staying in Waikiki, so it's an hour drive to the ... Continue »

Played 9/30, twosome, 4:15 rd. Paid $35 replay rate after playing the Fazio first. so $300 worth of golf for $125. Was reluctant to play here. I was staying in Waikiki, so it's an hour drive to the resort, and the online reviews were not great. But for the price, and for the experience of playing a top 100 course (Palmer), I decided to give it a try. The main complaints online I saw were the conditions of the fairways and bunkers. The fairway criticism was justified. It looks like they are having trouble with the grass. Certainly playable, but it doesn't "look" like a top 100 course, and for the $185 rack rate, I can understand the complaints. The bunkers, I had no problem with... They are playable, big and deep. The greens are big and slow, but true (fast 9, slow 10 on the stimp). The layout is top 100 caliber. Very interesting course lined with foliage which shapes the holes elegantly. Occassional carries to the green. Lucked out with the weather: little to no wind on a sunny warm (humid) day. #17 is an uphill hole with the green on the ocean. That's your ocean view. The rest of the course is inland. Much more fun layout than the Fazio, in fair shape. Definitely worth the $35... full fare would be tough to swallow. But for the opportunity to knock this off my bucket list, I had a great time.

For our second round of the day we got to play the Palmer course for the amazing rate of only $35 since we played a morning round on the Fazio at full price (which now would justify the $110 to play t... Continue »

For our second round of the day we got to play the Palmer course for the amazing rate of only $35 since we played a morning round on the Fazio at full price (which now would justify the $110 to play the Fazio). As you know the Palmer course has been the host of several professional events and it’s everything you have seen on TV and more! Wind started to pick up but the course was designed with the wind in mind to add to the challenge.

Tees- Level and lush coverage everywhere, simply put they were perfect.

Fairways- Very nice and provided great lies all day. Divots had been filled with Augusta white sand and there were not many of those to be found.

Rough- Similar to the Fazio, there is not much rough to speak of. Just about an inch longer than the fairways and consistent coverage throughout.

Bunkers- Beautiful red/brown volcanic color. Plenty of sand without being too soft. A pleasure to hit from. Watch out for the signature 17th hole. It seems as though there’s more bunkers than grass on that hole but man is it scenic! Get the cameras out folks!

Greens- Like the Fazio the greens were smooth and true but just so much slower than what I’m used to at home. Really had to give it a whack to get it to the hole, especially those against the grain.

Customer Service/Facilities- Check in went smooth. Everyone from the cart guys, up front to the pro shop staff were very friendly and welcoming as you would expect from a high end resort. True Aloha spirit!

Misc.- For the promo rate of $35 I would have played this course all day until I could no longer walk anymore! So for those of you planning to visit and play Turtle Bay be sure to check out the 36 hole rate that allows you to play both courses. One a full price and the other for the replay rate of only $35. Enjoy!

Absolutely spectacular. This is the best conditioned course that I have ever played. The fairways and greens were pristine and felt like I was playing off of carpet. The service was also outstanding. ... Continue »

Absolutely spectacular. This is the best conditioned course that I have ever played. The fairways and greens were pristine and felt like I was playing off of carpet. The service was also outstanding. Rarely can I justify paying $150 for golf, but I can here. Rough was lush and great to hit out of. The wind was up at the start of my round but the course is designed to incorporate this wind into the layout. The shorter par 4s typically play into the wind while the longer 450 yards play downwind. GREAT golf course!!

Turtle Bay Resort Golf Course
Oahu Hawaii Golf Course Reviews