I will try to keep this relatively brief. I played all 3 Wailea courses this past week while I was in Maui. I was on the fence about whether or not I should play Kapalua but I was very impressed with Wailea so I came away with a great experience nevertheless.
Wailea Blue
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I started out at the Blue Course. There is no driving range (you can hit into some nets off of mats) and the practice putting green was in relatively poor shape. These are the main complaints I would have about Blue. You can walk to this course from the Four Seasons or Grand Wailea (Waldorf Astoria) so that is a plus. Not that anyone cares but I hit 15 greens and shot 82 because I putted so badly (more on this later but A LOT of 3 putts).
Layout – This is the most open and least penal of the 3 courses. It winds up the side of a volcano and the views of the ocean get better as you go higher up. We saw a lot of housing construction going on and this course has the most visible housing encroachment, if you care about that type of thing. A good, gentle resort course for casual or conservative golfers. Absolutely gorgeous views if you are into that sort of thing. Most hole played very straightforward with the only semi-uncomfortable tee shot coming on #8.
Conditions – Tees and fairways were in great shape, only a few areas were under repair. The bunkers were a bit firm/dirt like. Definitely not soft, fluffy sand. The greens were ultra grainy and everyone in our group struggled with short putts (I think this is common across Hawaii). I found the blue greens to be the hardest to get used to but maybe that was because it was my first round here. I more 3 putts during this one round than I probably had in the last 6 rounds I have played combined!
Best Hole/Worst Hole – I wouldn’t say Blue had any absolute standout holes but I thought #2 was a cool subtle hole that has a large tree in the fairway forcing you to hit a gentle cut. It looks like #10 used to be (like 20 years ago) a par 4 but now it is kind of a nothing, uphill par 3 so I would say that was kind of a stinker.
One Sentence Summary – The easiest off the tee and had the best views of the ocean but most of the holes were fairly unmemorable.
Wailea Gold
Gold and Emerald are 1.5 miles from the resorts so you will need a ride there. I was greeted here with warnings of “93 bunkers” and “sand, sand everywhere” at the Gold course. For the record, I hit one bunker shot the entire day and it was a fairway bunker so I think some of that is overblown. Wailea Gold and Emerald both share a nice uphill range, have a fun short game practice area with a bunker and large winding practice putting green. Overall, much nicer pre-round experience than at Wailea Blue. I actually got here an hour early to use the practice facilities and was glad that I did. I would hit on that range all day because of these views! Shot 76 and felt like it could have been a few shots better.
Layout – Little to no views of housing out there. Course is much more “connected” and I actually would have liked to try and walk it but that didn’t seem to be an option. From the first tee shot this course was different. You had to think a bit but still plenty of room to drive the ball out there. Some very dramatic framing off the tee made this course just play several steps above Blue. I would say you see less of the ocean from this course but still quite beautiful.
Conditions – Slightly better conditions than Blue though largely the same but I felt the greens were “truer” and less grainy here. But maybe I just adjusted.
Best Hole/Worst Hole – I really liked #4 because you teed off slightly downhill over lava rocks and then had a deceptive shot into a green that looked way deeper than it was. I got tricked even though I had an accurate yardage as I tried to fly one in low and ended up 15 yds short as it got hung up in the bermuda. Lol, better luck next time. I thought #6 was a little stupid, it is a driveable 4 that is just COVERED up with bunkers all around the green. I didn’t really see the appeal to going for it (though I did anyways). I ended up in the greenside bunker blasted it to 8 feet and missed the birdie putt. I feel like I would just do that every time but it lacked much EXCITEMENT that I usually think of with a driveable 4.
One Sentence Summary – This is generally everything I would want and expect in a resort style golf course.
Wailea Emerald
I played Emerald last and, assuming no recency bias, this course took the best bits of Gold and Blue and was my favorite by a decent margin. I would want to play this course every day and I am not exaggerating when I say I had an almost spiritual experience out there. Shot 75 but I swear it felt like I was hanging out in the high 60s. I was just on cloud 9 out there.
Layout – No housing and better views of the ocean than Gold. Still would say Blue has the best views of the ocean but Emerald is close. Great use of trees to frame the holes and I would have also liked to walk this course as well. Loved the par 3s here as they were on the shorter side but somewhat treacherous, if that makes sense. I generally hate 175 yd+ par 3s that are just bland nothing holes. I think a short par 3 surrounded by deep bunkers or hazard is the most interesting version of a par 3. Also, and I want to describe this accurately, Emerald gives you a lot of opportunities to feed the ball to the hole using the ground. There are not nearly as many greenside bunkers on Emerald as there are on Gold but the runups to the greens at Emerald have a lot more shaping and undulation. That meant you could hit bump and runs much more often (at your own risk) which looked like a ton of fun. I played with an older gentleman who flighted balls in all day and it was thrilling to see the twists and turns a lot of the shots took. Many resort courses just plant bunkers all around the greens but emerald (usually) gave you a run up option. I think it makes it fun for EVERYONE, especially older players and ladies.
Conditions – Similar conditions to Gold, which is to say quite good. Found the fairways incredibly easy to hit off of and the rough was not particularly thick or difficult. Greens held well and rolled well. Didn’t see a blade of grass out of place. One of the best golf courses I have ever played in terms of consistency of conditions.
Best Hole/Worst Hole – I loved #9 which was a dogleg par 5 with an infinity green and just a stunning view of Maui. I could have played that hole 4 different ways but ended up going super aggressive and lipped out an eagle putt. #17 was another short par 4 that I thought was a pretty hole but I didn’t really see any reason to try to take the green on when you can just hit a 6 iron a flip wedge. I’m not the best GCA guy in the world but I feel like the short 4s out at Wailea all kind of miss the mark.
One Sentence Summary – This is peak resort golf to me in the best way, playability, conditions, views and just overall experience…spread my ashes here.
Edited by vandyfan
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHICH
