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Visit Hawaii and Play Golf!

By
Real Estate Agent with Hawaii Military Realty, Inc.

 By: 1SG (Ret) David and Tonya Kucic, HawaiiREALTORs

    Have you ever played golf on Oahu?  If you are an avid golfer, there are probably courses on your list that you would someday like to play.  On my personal list are playing in England and Scotland along with a round at Augusta and Pebble Beach.

     Closer to home, here is a quick review of some courses that you may or may not want to put on your calendar if you are coming to Hawaii to play golf.  Understand that these views are from an 8.0 handicap golfer.  There are probably a lot of scratch players that wouldn't agree with me but the majority of golfers aren't scratch players anyway.  Since I am not getting paid to advertise for these courses, I am very impartial.

  • Turtle Bay, The Palmer Course, Oahu:  Awesome layout.  Beautiful views.  Always in immaculate condition.  The fairways look like putting greens.  Plan a lunch at Le'les Restaurant at the clubhouse.  Put it on your list!
  • Ko'Olina Golf Course, Kapolei, Oahu.  Nice course.  Very well manicured.  Roy's Restaurant located at the clubhouse is a must for eating while you are there.  Put this on your list too but not until after you play Turtle Bay.
  • Coral Creek, Ewa Beach, Oahu.  Nice course.  Well manicured.  The grass is seashore paspalum which is very hardy against the salt water but it is tough to hit out of when you don't hit the fairway!
  • Makaha East and West Courses, Makaha, Oahu.  Very inexpensive and really nice courses.  The west course is a little bit more challenging.  Beautiful ocean views from high up in the Makaha Valley. 
  • Pearl Country Club.  Very challenging and demanding.  Long par 3's and some tricky fairways.  Very well maintained.  Great rates!  Put this on your list.
  • Kapolei Golf Course, Kapolei, Oahu.  Very well maintained.  Decent layout but pretty short.  Fun course that you can score well at if you can keep it out of the many water hazards.
  • Royal Kunia Golf Course, Waipahu, Oahu.  Just about the same class as Kapolei Golf Course.  Another one that is not too long and is good for scoring.
  • New Ewa Beach Golf Course, Ewa Beach, Oahu.  This course has made a 180 degree turnaround in the past two years.  You will find some pretty tight fairways, numerous trees and some undulating fairways and greens.  Pretty challenging but like Coral Creek, they have the seashore paspalum grass.
  • Turtle Bay, Fazio Course, Oahu.  Pretty easy course.  Nicely maintained.  Not very long.  Another good opportunity to score well.
  • Hawaii Prince Golf Course, Ewa Beach, Oahu.  Three 9 hole courses.  Play the A and B if you can get the starter to let you.  Although they are fairly short, they are well maintained and you can get into tree trouble and other vegetation along the fairways.  Its pretty easy to score well here.  The C course should be played only if you have extra time for another 9 holes.

     There are numerous military courses( Leilehua, Barbers Point, Klipper at Kaneohe Bay, Navy-Marine Course) but most civilians can only get on as a guest of an ID card holder.  To rank these from best to worst they would be Klipper, Leilehua, Navy Marine and Barbers Point.

     As alwyas, I love meeting people and playing golf.  If you are here on the island and dont want to go out alone, let me know and I will join you.

MILITARY BASES, POSTS AND FORTS ON OAHU, HAWAII AND POHAKALOA TRAINING AREA BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII

Schofield Barracks: Mililani, Wahiawa, Kapolei, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Makakilo, Oahu, Hawaii Schofield Barracks and adjoining Wheeler Army Airfield are the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Brigade, Aviation Brigade, 45th Sustainment Brigade and the 8th Military Police Brigade.  In addition, the 8th Theatre Sustainment Command, 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Special Troops Battalion and the 556 Personell Service Battalion are also part of the Division team and play an integral role in the success of the Division.

There are also two Brigades that are stationed in other locations.  The 1st Brigade is stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington and the 4th Brigade is stationed at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.

The 25th Infantry Divison has proudly served in numerous wars and conflicts around the globe.  The Soldiers that make up the division are currently deployed to several locations to include Iraq.

Pearl Harbor: Pearl City, Pearlridge, Aiea, Salt Lake, Honolulu, Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii

Hickam Air Force Base: Pearl City, Pearlridge, Aiea, Salt Lake, Honolulu, Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii

Marine Corps Base Kaneohe: Kaneohe, Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii

Camp H. M. Smith: Salt Lake, Moanalua, Honolulu, Aiea, Pearl City, Pearlridge, Oahu, Hawaii

Tripler Army Medical Center: Salt Lake, Moanalua, Honolulu, Aiea, Pearl City, Pearlridge, Oahu, Hawaii

Fort Shafter: Salt Lake, Moanalua, Honolulu, Aiea, Pearl City, Pearlridge, Oahu, Hawaii

Wheeler Army Airfield: Mililani, Wahiawa, Kapolei, Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Makakilo, Oahu, Hawaii

Helemano Military Reservation: Wailaua, Wahiawa, Mililani, Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii

Kahuku Training Area: Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii

Kilauea Military Reservation: Hilo, Kona, Hawaii

Pohakuloa Training Area: Hilo, Kona, Hawaii

Makua Military Reservation: Waianae, Nanakuli, Makaha, Oahu, Hawaii

 

 

TEMPORARY LODGING FACILITIES FOR THE ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINE CORPS, COAST GUARD, RESERVISTS, NATIONAL GUARD, DOD CIVILIANS AND RETIREES ON OAHU, HAWAII

The Hale Koa Hotel on Waikiki Beach: Honolulu, H

The Inn at Schofield Barracks: Mililani, Wahiawa, Kapolei, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Makakilo, Oahu, Hawaii

The Royal Alaka'i at Hickam Air Force Base

The Lodge at Kaneohe Bay and the Cottages at Kaneohe Bay

Navy Lodge Hawaii at Pearl HarborThe Beach Cottages at Kalaeloa (formerly Barbers Point NAS): Mililani, Wahiawa, Kapolei, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Makakilo, Oahu, Hawaii

Tripler Army Medical Center Guest House

Bellows Air Force Station Beach Cabins

 

GOLF COURSES ON OAHU, HAWAII FOR ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINE CORPS, COAST GUARD, RESERVISTS, NATIONAL GUARD, DOD CIVILIANS AND RETIREES

 

Leilehua Golf Course (Army, Schofield Barracks) Mililani, Wahiawa, Kapolei, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Makakilo, Oahu, Hawaii

Walter Nagorski Golf Course (Army, Ft. Shafter)

Mamala Bay Golf Course and Kealohi Golf Course (Air Force, Hickam AFB)

Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course (Marine Corps, Kaneohe Bay)

Barbers Point Golf Course (Navy, Barbers Point): Mililani, Wahiawa, Kapolei, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Makakilo, Oahu, Hawaii

Navy Marine Golf Course (Obvious Right?)

 

COMMISSARIES ON OAHU, HAWAII FOR ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINE CORPS, COAST GUARD, RESERVISTS, NATIONAL GUARD, DOD CIVILIANS AND RETIREES

Schofield Barracks Commissary near Wahiawa, Waipahu and Mililani, Hawaii  Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Commissary near Kaneohe and Kailua, Hawaii             Barbers Point Commissary near Kapolei, Ewa Beach and Makakilo, Hawaii            Pearl Harbor Commissary and Hickam Air Force Base Commissary which are both near the cities of Pearl City, Pearlridge, Aiea and Honolulu.

     Aloha!

Monika McGillicuddy
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty - Hampstead, NH
Southern NH & the Seacoast Area

Maybe if I show this to my husband Jay

he'll take me back to Hawaii...he is such an avid golfer that his license plate  is  "+Golf+" not " Ilovmywife" or something nice like that!

 

Nov 10, 2006 08:55 AM
Jay McGillicuddy
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty - Exeter, NH
Real Estate Broker

Hi Dave and Tonya,

My wife did mention there was a golf blog on AR so I had to find it.

I played in Maui and Kaui back in '92 & '94.

Playing the Plantation Course in Kapalua on Maui is one of my fondest experiences. The fairways were immaculate and the greens rolled so well that I was sinking 60-80' putts that I would never make back home.

I also played Poipu Bay and that was almost as nice as the Plantation Course.

My goal is to play Pebble Beach some day too. Augusta is a little out of reach. Maybe St. Andrews someday too. Great post and take care, Mahalo

Jay 

Nov 10, 2006 09:42 AM
1SG (Ret.) David Kucic
Hawaii Military Realty, Inc. - Ewa Beach, HI
President and Owner

Jay and Monika, 

I was going to talk about the other island courses in a later blog but you beat me to it!  I have not played on Maui (yet!) but I have heard great things about the Plantation Course.  We have fare wars going on right now with our three competing inter island carriers, Hawaiian Airlines, Aloha Airlines and go! airlines.  Flights are pretty cheap right now.  You can fly to almost any island round trip for less than $60-80.  I am in agreement about Poipu Bay being nice too.  I flew to Kauai two weeks ago to play golf there with a friend.  The course was in fabulous condition but it was "cartpaths only" because of the Grand Slam being played there in a few weeks.  For some reason, my ball is always on the side of the fairway (or rough) opposite the cart path.

Monika, My wife is laughing about the license plate!  She has the same feelings as you but only in a joking manner.  She, probably like you, have just learned to accept our fondness for golf.

Aloha!

 

Nov 10, 2006 10:00 AM
Jay McGillicuddy
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty - Exeter, NH
Real Estate Broker

Hi Dave,

             I played Poipu Bay the Friday following the Grand Slam tornament.

I  was able to run over to the course the day we flew in and get on the course when the players were coming to the 16th hole.

Greg Norman hit his approach shot on the 18th to within 3 feet of the hole for eagle to win the '94 tournament.

He was 240 out and hit a 5 iron. Back then I couldn't hit a 3 wood that far but now because of technology I can sometimes hit my 5 wood that far. Not often but sometimes.

I really enjoyed playing downwind because it made feel I could hit it like a pro. The 14th par 5 into the wind was funny. I hit driver 3 wood and was 150 out and had to hit 3 wood again due to the wind and I hit it sweet and just barely made on the front of the green. What a day.

Thanks Jay 

Nov 10, 2006 11:49 PM