Finally made it out to play with some fellow GK’ers and what a great course play at!

The course was in great shape as the other recent reviews reflect. Fairways had solid coverage, with just a little bit of cushion. The rough varied from areas that were a little thin to downright brutal. The collars around the bunkers really stuck out to me as many of them had very long grass so you were often better off just being in the sand. Speaking of which, the bunkers seemed to all have really nice bright white sand.

The greens were really good, played a little quicker but were not overwhelming, I think it helped that there wasn’t a ton of break, it seemed to be more subtle. The tee boxes were probably the weakest point to me as a few them need to leveled out a little more. All in all, the customer service was great and I had a great golf experience, if the course stays in good shape I can see it being recommended as a must play at some point.

Played early July

This was probably the best conditioned course of the 3 I played (also played Mauna Kea and Waikoloa- Beach), although the difference in conditioning between Mauna Lani and Mauna Kea were minimal. I will definitely say the holes running along the ocean were the best of the 3 courses. two of the par 3's, and one par 4 have ocean in play, while two additional par 4's have the ocean fairly close to the green or tee box.

The layout is fairly flat, with a variety of hole shapes. The volcanic rock is in play on nearly every hole so hitting fairways is a must, although the fairways are forgiving. I liked that they used large pieces of volcanic rock as obstacles along the fairway and even in a bunker or 2. It was pretty cool look at. The bunkers had high quality sand, although I did see small pieces of volcanic rock in a few- scary to think what that would do to a wedge. The grass conditions were lush. The fairways were cut to allow some roll while the rough was a little on the thick side. Pretty much every tee box was perfectly level- played the tips.

Customer service was great, everyone was very friendly and the drink cart was around a few times through the round. I would highly recommend playing here especially if you could only play 1 round on the Big Island

Played in early July

Played Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani, and Waikloa- Beach Course while on vacation in Hawaii. Of the 3 courses, I felt this course had the best overall views hole to hole as the course is more severe in elevation changes so many of the tee boxes and greens offer nice panoramic views due to being elevated.

I really enjoyed the layout, there was a lot of variety from hole to hole that offered multiple choices for club used off the tee- if you play the correct tee box lol. The 2 ocean holes are par 3's and they are both spectacular.

The conditions were very nice, all bermuda grass which was thriving in the Hawaiian weather, solid coverage without any bare spots. The greens were in excellent shape and rolled true and the tee boxes were level. Bunkers were in good shape, a few pebbles in some of them. The sand was good quality, but a little compacted.

Customer service was great. We tried to eat a late lunch at the clubhouse (about 2 pm) but found the kitchen was closed- this was on a weekday, I would think it be open later on weekends. Thankfully, the Mauna Kea hotel is a short walk from the course and it was easy to eat there.

Also, if you want to walk to the beach after a round of golf, this is an excellent course to do that as golf course and beach parking are shared.

*Played beginning of July

A single sentence review of this course could be “not bad, but not great either”, with regards to the course layout and conditions. The customer service was excellent from every employee I interacted with.

There are 2 courses that make up the resort, the Kings and the Beach, the irony is that there is no beach, there is one hole on the Beach course that does run up right to the water but it is all rocks, the view is spectacular though. The majority of the layout is comprised of basic straightforward holes and a few with doglegs running through the lava fields- those are pretty cool! There are some gentle elevation changes, but for the most part the course plays pretty flat.

Conditions were decent, I wouldn’t describe as lush, but the fairways and rough had good coverage. Fairways were a tad shaggy so not much roll, greens were medium “resort” speed, nice to putt on. Bunkers were probably the weakest, many had small stones in them, the sand was compacted in many as well. Tee boxes were mostly level.

I would recommend this course as a 3rd or 4th option if playing multiple rounds in the area. The course also offers some deals for booking 2 rounds up front so it’s good to inquire if you want play both the Kings and Beach courses.

Played Tues. 8/8, midday. I specifically sought this course out because it is going to be hosting the 2020 PGA Championship and getting to play a course that hosted a major is a rare opportunity. This course is part of the TPC network and it certainly met the conditioning and business professional standards one might expect for a TPC course. The only bummer was they had punched the greens on Aug 1 & 2, which took away from the experience a little bit. With that, the greens still rolled very well for being 1 week post aeration so it didn't detract too much from the round. Tees, fairways, rough all had excellent grass coverage and the bunkers has plenty of high quality sand. I made it through the course in 3 hours but I suspect it would have been longer had it been the weekend. All in all, it's a great course to cross off the list.

Played on a warm Saturday afternoon. Because humidity ticked up over 10% and it was over 85 degrees, the course was pretty empty, so pace of play was a non issue. The course conditions were pretty decent for a lower end course. There are some bare areas in the fairways on the longer holes as they are cutting back on water during the summer peak. Even still, there is some pretty good coverage. Tee boxes are not perfectly level, but playable with pretty good coverage with exception to 1 or 2 holes. Almost all of the bunkers have been refilled with decent quality sand. The greens are in good shape, some ball marks, but they did roll nicely at medium speed. This course is short and tight with a few nice holes, 1 or 2 funky ones, and the rest being pretty straightforward. A nice place to walk and work on the iron game, I'd recommend when it isn't too crowded.

Played in the SCGA 1 day tournament this past Saturday (10/8). It might have been the nicest day ever to play this course as Catalina was in clear view. It was my first time playing here and I was a bit concerned about the half punched greens, but they have rolled nicely as the punched side still rolled well, showing just a few signs of aeration. The non aerated side was smooth and fairly quick, especially towards the ocean. Bunkers were very nice, had good white sand, and played heavier than they looked. Tee boxes were mostly level and weren't worn out on the par 3's, which I found surprising for a public course that gets a lot of play. It looks like they restrict watering at this course too. The fairways and the rough definitely showed it. Fairways were dry and firm with yellow to green grass, but no bare areas. The rough was either bare or dead grass. This made it tougher to play as the course has a lot of doglegs and a lot of slope. This means that if you land on the wrong side of the fairway, the ball was running off into the tree line, which was pine needles and dirt. It was a beautiful day with some amazing views, but this factor made it a little frustrating at times. I think this course has a few great holes and I'm certainly glad I got to check it off the list on such a nice day, but I'm in no rush to go back because of how dry it was. That being said. I would definitely go back after we get some rain.

Played Saturday (9/24) afternoon. pace of play was ok for a twilight round here, about 4:45. I generally expect 5 hours here, so anything less is a pleasant surprise. After reading previous GK reviews, I had a good idea what to expect. I generally agree with most of the reviews, the course does not have quite the same amount of turf coverage or is quite as green as it normally is. With that, I still think it is a level above most of the OC courses still. They have laid down sod in a few areas, played as gur. Still, I thought the fairways had pretty good coverage, some was browned out, but plenty of grass. The rough is where you see the biggest effect from restricted watering. Going down most of the fairways, you would find spotty grass coverage or bare areas, areas out of play were more bare. Down by the greens you had pretty good coverage.

The sand traps were the same as the last time I remember. They may have added sand to a few of them as I saw more white sand than in the Spring. Tee boxes were in decent shape, fairly level, with some unlevel areas. The par 3 tee boxes had a lot of divots, but that is nothing new. The greens played medium quick, were very receptive, and had a lot of ball marks. The cart girl was around multiple times and I saw the marshall a few times as well. I think for a twilight time, the course is worth it, for anything else you might feel a little cheated as it's not quite the same conditions you're used to for this course.

Played here yesterday afternoon. I found this course to a very pleasant surprise, which I was kind of expecting due to the GK reviews. For a municipal course, the layout is quite fun, you have a good mix of holes ranging from tight to open, elevation changes, and some pretty great views. My playing partner mentioned that they built the course so that there is some sort of ocean view either from the green or the tee box on every hole. I don't quite remember the views for the first couple holes, but I did find this to be true for every hole once I started paying attention. The course is set in the hills, not super close to the ocean, but the views are nice and just seeing the water makes the round that much better.

The course conditions were pretty good for August, I'm not sure if they have water restrictions here, but I would not be surprised if they did as the course was definitely not lush. There was adequate coverage on the fairways with some pretty decent length to the rough in many areas. The tee box conditions were probably the weakest part to the course, most likely from the amount of play they get. The par 3's especially, were very thin with lots of refilled divots. The bunkers had decent sand coverage and played a little heavy. The greens were in good shape, everything breaks to the ocean and also runs a little quicker when putting that direction as well. Pace of play was decent, right at 4 hours while walking. All in all, it was very enjoyable time at this course, if it was little closer to me, I'd play it more regularly. I could see my self driving down to play 2-3x a year though, I recommend it.

Thought I snagged a really good deal here for a Satuday morning round, turned out they punched the greens, starting August 1. Kudos to them for discounting the rate, $11 walking at 11 am, but there was nothing on their website about the aeration when you book online directly. Course conditions outside of the greens were typical of the Butterfield course, most of the fairways you had gras and most of the areas starting just off the fairways you had dead grass and dirt or just straight dirt. The bunkers are dirt, a few of them had weeds growing in them. The tee boxes had decent coverage, 2 of the par 3 tee boxes were pretty beaten up with divots, the other 2 had decent. Pace of play was right at 4 hours the cart girl was around multiple time, and the people in the pro shop are friendly. I'll be back, but probably not until well after the greens heal for good measure

Played a twilight round last Sun. at RSJ as I read a previous review about new sand in all the bunkers so I wanted check that out. I would have never thought that would happen at this course, but it's true! Just about every bunker had white sand dumped into it. It was still very fluffy, so you had a good chance of a fried egg if it landed in there, but it was a blast to get play out of real bunkers for a change and not hardpan. The rest of the course was typical RSJ conditions, somewhat patchy to very patchy fairways made of mixed grasses, same could be said of the rough. Tee boxes were not perfectly level, but were playable. Greens were in great shape, ran at about medium speed, a little bumpy being that late in the afternoon. POP was 4.5 hours, walking, not too bad for this course. FYI, make sure you clean your shoes after playing here as the geese droppings are everywhere when you walk by the ponds.

Played yesterday, midday start. The course was basically deserted for the holiday weekend. We finished in 4 hours, playing very leisurely with no one behind us, which made for a very relaxing day on the golf course. The course conditions were ok, but not great. Much can be attributed to water restrictions and in a lot of areas, management has removed the turf and put in a bark groundcover, which looks very nice. Anything in the middle of the fairway gave a you a good lie, as center of the fairways were lush. The rough is where you found the most trouble though, mostly because of how inconsistent it was. Some areas were thick and lush, some were thin, and others were just bare. This was right along side of the fairway in many instances too, which really made it tough if you just missed. The bunkers were the same way, ranging from good sand both fluffy and heavy to just a thin layer of dirt. Greens were still bumpy, you could see the remnants of aeration still. They rolled medium-fast and held their lines ok, from time to time they would get knocked offline by a bump. I think they need to sharpen their hole cut outs a little more as cup edges were a little dull as well. Tee boxes were in good shape, pretty level for a public course that gets a lot of play. They do a nice job moving the tee markers around so the boxes are not riddled with divots in any one particular area. The layout is fun and fair, everyone who worked there was friendly, and the marshals were helpful and present. I think it's a good course to consistently play if you live in the area, otherwise there's nothing wrong with visiting here 1 or 2x a year.