Hapuna Golf Course

Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay designed Hapuna Golf Course in 1992 on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, on a piece of volcanic lava-flow land just up the highway from Mauna Kea Resort. The course is the resort's primary championship layout — Mauna Kea Resort's other course is the legendary 1964 Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that gets all the destination attention — and Hapuna sits higher on the mountain, with more wind exposure and more elevation change than its older neighbor. The two courses together form the most-played destination golf pair in the Hawaiian Islands.

The scorecard reads 6,895 yards from the back markers, par 72, with a slope of 134 and a course rating of 73.5. The four par-3s sit between 155 and 178 yards. The 178-yard second is the longest one-shotter and plays uphill against the prevailing northeast trade wind; the 155-yard fifth is the shortest and plays to a green elevated against a black lava-flow backdrop. The four par-5s range from 533 to 566 yards — none of them unreachable for the modern long hitter, but the trade wind compresses the carry distance on most of them.

The number-one handicap is the 441-yard fourth — a par-4 played from an elevated tee down to a fairway that wraps right around an old lava-flow ridge Palmer left in place rather than removing. The 437-yard second-hardest is the par-4 fourteenth; the 545-yard third-hardest is the par-5 ninth, the only par-5 in the top-three hardest. The course's defense is the wind — the daily three-o'clock trade gusts can pull a 7-iron forty yards off-line on the exposed back nine.

The Hawaiian climate keeps Hapuna playable year-round. The prime window is November through April when the trades moderate and the air dries out; May through October produces the most consistent wind and the firmest fairway turf. Walking is allowed; carts are standard for resort play. The course is daily-fee public-access through Mauna Kea Resort or its sister Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel.