Such a disappointment. I thought "hey maybe we can take our dad out golfing for Father's Day since we are vacationing in Hawaii." Review of the course: Ugh. Maybe 3/9 holes in the front has a pretty view. The rest were pathetic. Grass around the course had huge brown areas, greens were so slow it could pass as fairway grass, and golf carts are old and dinky. Pro shop was in a run down portable. Service: LOL, So this had to be the WORST "resort" golf club service I've ever experienced. The moment my sisters and I walked in, the lady in the pro shop (her name is Pearl) looked us up and down and muttered something under her breath. Then she turns to us with attitude and goes "this is a RESORT, you have to wear a collared shirt. EVERY golf course has this rule" Ok pause. I called an hour PRIOR to getting there to check on the weather (we just docked from the cruise) and also to check their dress code policy. She specified how we can't wear cut offs or bikinis (if this is the standard, I don't know how they can expect to be so snobby). So we went in khaki shorts and loose fitted under armor shirts. I don't want to sound privileged but my sisters and I have been golfing for most of our lives (20-25years) and my dad has been golfing for over 30 years. We have played at the local courses to actual resort golf courses like Pelican Hills, Trump National Golf Club, and Pebble Beach. We dress appropriate to the level of care you show in your course. Lo siento if my non-collared shirt offended you, your course doesn't even have a legit driving range. Ok unpause. The pro shop woman (Pearl) obviously was annoyed at us from her condescending demeanor. One of her friends popped her head in and Pearl's attitude changed to a friendly "oh hey!" So I can't even give her the benefit of the doubt by thinking she is just having a bad day. She clearly did not like our presence. But we ignored her attitude and made our way to the starter... OMG what a disaster. He was, if possible, even MORE rude than Pearl! He was patronizing throughout the entire process. Then he started talking golf etiquette as though we were beginners. We don't have anything to prove to them so we bit our tongue and proceeded. But for all the emphasis they were putting on "resort" you'd think they would have a real starter podium instead of a make shift wooden shack. Luckily for us, golf is always fun when we get a chance to play together. So we were still able to enjoy each other's company and a short 9 hole round. But oh my goodness. I'd NEVER play on this ghetto fab course again as long as Pearl and that starter is there. Side note: I made a tee time through the phone. There is inconsistency on club rentals between the after hour call center and pro shop. And Pearl was totally unapologetic for OUR inconveniences. The only star goes to the wonderful gardeners and cart maintenance crew. You guys were awesome, thank you! read more

Expensive for the hospitality we received. The staff was rude and treated us like outsiders. We went out to the car to grab our kids sandwich, one of the staff members followed us and sat there until we went to the 1st "T". After our game we were greeted by an extremely rude old man who I'm assuming thought he was better than us. I don't recommend this place. Go to Kihuna if you want an excellent golfing experience. read more

Wide, open, well kept greens. Very affordable. Friendly staff. Lovely setting, right along coast. Experienced golfers may find it not challenging enough. read more

The Grille @ Puakea... Fast service friendly atmosphere reasonably priced... HIGHLY RECOMMEND read more

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Beautiful course with wide open fairways. A breath of fresh air for hackers. The price wasn't to steep and the staff was top shelf. I'll probably play there again Friday. Highly recommended read more

I live on #11 hole which is a par 5 adjacent to the tee off box. Living there I have watched Puakea developed into a beautiful and gorgeous golf course. To date I have been playing the course year round and a member of the Haupu club, really challenging and well maintained. In addition to that they have an affordable restaurant with local and American grinds that is well worth it after a round of golf. Love it.....‍ read more

Nice course. friendly folks.. the greens were decent but can be better.. the course had 1 group on it when we played.. and we got through 18 holes in 3 hours. that's just awesome. decent prices for Kauai, $59 including cart special. decent views and the holes are for the most part fair.. there was one hole that was almost unfair but that could just be b/c i'm not very good :) read more

Puakea has become my favorite course here on Kaua`i. The course is in wonderful condition and the views can be breathtaking. The cafe is probably the best of any course on the island. My personal favorite are the wings, just what I need to get through the back nine. The staff has always been great, and the Puakea Golf Course is affordable, especially if you play after 11am. read more

Soo .. I played this course and they were great at the beginning .. it Poured rain a few times while we were playing and we stopped .. they gave us shit on the back 9 because we were behind schedule... I admit I am not the greatest golfer and I shoot about a 110 but for the amount that we all paid and the fact that we warned them about this seriously pissed me off. They followed us the whole time after about 13 and made us feel rushed .. sorry that I'm not a fucking pro but we were here on vacation and TRYING to enjoy ourselves. If your not a pro, then screw it and find another place to play. It was absolutely disgusting and I would never play here again ... find a better place that isn't run by assholes ... tailing us and being up my ass doesn't make me play better or speed me up .. it screws me up and makes me go slower ... there are soo many other places to play other than here and I've never had an issue ... go somewhere else , even though the place was pretty i was NEVER soo heated when I left read more

I would give it a 3-1/2. Went by myself. Beautiful setting. Funny thing- they allowed me to make a tee time for a single! When I got there, there was no record of my time! The guy was able to get me in though. The only complaint is no yardage markers except for a green-white stripped pole which I believe was the 150-yd marker. I don't use a GPS, so there was much guessing. One problem with going by yourself is not knowing where trouble lies! Also, lost 2-tee shots in the bright sky & never found the balls. read more

Easy to walk on without a tee time. Great rates! Great course condition every time I have played. I will play here every time I come to Kauai. read more

Pearl is Awesome! My wife and I were bummed because our tours were getting canceled due to rain. We showed up hoping that we could switch our tee time that we had a few days later and were a little nervous that they wouldn't be able to do it. Pearl stepped up and switched our tee time and was amazingly pleasant. Customer service was great and the course was beautiful. Had some really cool elevated shots and the course was in great shape. A must play. Did I mention Pearl was awesome? Thank you Puakea. read more

Puakea Golf Course - Golf Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

Excellent course and customer service, very family friendly! I golf and do the driving range with my daughter, who's 5. Everyone's helpful and great. Totally recommended, hidden gem in the middle of Lihue town! read more

Gorgeous golf course. The fairways are wide, lush and inviting, the greens are tricky for us mainlanders because of the grass type but do run true. Even though it's not on the water the views are spectacular as the course winds through gullies and rises. All the staff, especially Steve in the pro shop we're polite and efficient and did everything they could to make our visit great. This course is on our list to come to every visit along with Makai and Hokuala. Oh BTW the driving range is really nice also! read more

My brother-in-law and I had heard about this course from the concierge at where we were staying and wanted to give this course a try. First off, the course it situated near the Costco, so we weren't sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised at this gem of a course. The price was reasonable at around $100 for a round of golf including a cart. The course was designed by Robin Nelson, one of the most prolific golf architects on the islands, and opened in 2003. The course features a very nice practice area repeat with natural grass driving range, chipping area and bunker practice area. The first day we played there the weather was ideal, in the high 70's and with a light breeze. The course starts off relatively flat until you cross under the road and head to the mountainous side. From there you are treated to some great vistas of mountain ranges and slight views of the ocean in the distance. The course was in great condition and the greens ran true. It was a very enjoyable day, especially ending it with a hot dog and a soda for $1.50 from Costco. Our second day was completely different. There was a gale coming through the island and boy was it windy. We were reconsidering our decision to play, as we noticed very few cars in the parking lot and hearing one of the grounds keepers on the radio telling the gal at the clubhouse that one of the flagpoles had broken from the wind. We decided to go ahead with our round and hit some practice balls to warm up. At the practice range the wind was coming from the left and all my shots took off straight but immediately took a right trajectory as they left. I could tell it was going to be a tough day. The wind continued to blow anywhere from 25-40mph and made playing a joke, but it was fun to try different shots to fight the wind and use it to our advantage. Though we didn't score well that day, it was still very enjoyable to pretty much have the course to ourselves. We found a couple of holes that we played a couple of times that were sheltered from the wind and very enjoyable. This is definitely a course I would like to play again when returning to Kauai. It offers all the elements I enjoy in a golf course, along with a first rate practice area. Overall, the people at the clubhouse and the grounds keepers we encountered were friendly and warm. read more

Yikes. A big disappointment - nothing what I was expecting given the reviews. I'll try to be even-handed here... The Bad: Only 4 of the 18 greens resembled anything else on the island. The others are suffering substantially from disease and plenty of bare spots (most were 70% of the green's surface). If the money is available, I'd advocate pulling them for a rebuild. Irrigation patterns were mixed. Hard turf next to bog pits. Several repairs were under way the day we were playing. Service at front counter and café was quite slow. The Good: Greeter Dude was great. Friendly and did a nice job of explaining the course and routing. Carts in great shape. It's actually a nice layout. Plenty of challenge and features if you can get past the turf/green conditions. Setting is nice, too. All in all, I had to go with the 2 Stars simply for the conditions. If they were in better (heck, even average) shape, this would be a good bang-for-buck course deserving of 4 Stars. Hoping they can get through this rough patch. read more

Good place to come and test out the driving range. I've never really had a round of golf here but I come here many times to "shag some balls" (I've always wanted a forum for me to use that phrase, and now I've found one. Thanks Yelp!) read more

Played the course on 9/14/09 with my wife. What a great course. The staff was very helpful and very friendly. The course layout was great, so much fun and still had plenty of challenge. Also to note that my wife enjoyed this course the best of all we played while on Kauai. The onlreason it did not receive the fifth star was because some of the green had a few rough patches. Surely because of the lateness in the season. I will be back to play this course again. By the way this is sort of a hidden gem. Everyone I spoke to had not heard of it and there were only about 20 golfers on the day we played there. Beautiful day too. Thank you Pua Kea. read more

For the price it wasn't worth it, the greens were shaggy and the bunkers haven't seen a rake in a week.

Good little golf course for the price. Great cafe staff especially Jayce in the Cafe who was friendly, helpful and patient. Thank you

Played for the first time this past vacation (10/15). An excellant course and the service and people were great. Have been going to Kauai for the past 6 years and always overlooked playing this course, but from now on, it will be one of the courses I play. The price was also very reasonable and the greens and views were great.... read more

i enjoy playing this course quite a bit. ESPECIALLY after playing the prince course. not the greatest condition. not the most difficult layout but a fun course where you can score well if you keep it in play. driving range is good. starters and cart dudes are all very friendly and helpful. read more

Played here for 60 bucks at 2pm, finished in 3.5 hours. Course was deserted. This is the genre of island paradise golf people travel to the Hawaiian Islands to experience. Distant ocean views for the vacation player. Challenging driving holes for the scratch golfer. The greens were aerated when I played, but what can you do? They still rolled ok and the course was well maintained. A really fun course to play, not too easy and not too tough. No clubhouse to speak of, just a couple of trailers for the clubhouse and pro shop. Part muni, part resort in that regard. The course is money though. There are only a few courses on this island and this is one you should play. read more

This is a poor man's Kauai golf course, but you are spending a lot of money other places right? It is kind of a standard course like you would find on the mainland, not a lot of spectacular views. If you want the "Hawaii" golf experience this isn't it. I WOULD golf here, because its not a bad course for the money- you can pay three times this much for a round of golf elsewhere on the island. I was able to walk here from the Marriott which is another plus. Maybe the biggest plus is that if you want to golf with your kids this is the course - no reason to spend the big bucks for a 12 year old to pick up his ball 36 times.... read more

This is a fun golf course with great Hawaiian views that is priced right and the staff that could not be nicer!

Beautiful course and very friendly golfers. We didn't feel rushed at all. Pro shop woman was really rude for some reason. What did we do?

This course is great, nice condition and a great price, not normally found at the same time. The first few holes aren't amazing, but it gets very nice later. read more

It was a beautiful well kept course and everyone that worked there couldn't of been nicer. We rented clubs and they were kept in great condition. I'd definitely recommend playing here. read more

Beautiful course with fast greens. Pick up shirt, hat or clubs in pro shop. Driving range a and putting greens with mountain views. Glenn Tamagawa pro on site able to share tips. read more

Playing a round of golf in Hawaii is as good as it gets. This is a well maintained, reasonably priced golf course. A few challenging holes but mostly a forgiving track that you will enjoy. Centrally located on the island and easy to get to. I highly recommend it. read more

Great experience..Course in good condition..Good value and the staff Stephen in the pro shop was very friendly..I will make it a point to play here every time I'm on Kauai..Highly recommended.. read more

If you visit Kauai, Hi this course is a must play. Next time we come back I will play this course and no others period ! If I could take it back to California I would , make it private and only invite my friends,what else can I say 10 stars !!!!!! read more

I Started Playing Puakea Golf Course Back In 2002 When It Was A 10 Hole Golf Course And Then Not Sure What Year (04-05) I Came Back And They Had Finished All 18 Holes WOW It Was A Little Different Lay Out Then What I Played In The Past But They Really Did Get It Right I Have Played Puakea Over 20 Times And I Never Been Disappointed With The Course The Associates That Work The Course And The 19 Hole Bar And Grill Are Very Nice They Make Feel Very Welcome Its Not A Resort Course But They Do A lot Like A Resort They Come Out Get Your Golf Bags To Your Cart And When You Leave To Do Not Go By The Reviews Your Golfing In Hawaii Go Check It Out For Your Self It Will Test You Thank You See Ya In (May-2017) read more

We played here a few times while vacationing here on Kauai. They have a special rate of $65 for this summer. This is a very good rate for Hawaii golf, but we found the greens to be very slow & very frustrating. In past years these greens were very good. read more

Fun course. Great staff. Would have rated a five but the greens were poor. A few very poor.

This place is amazing! Great value, great views, great golf, if you are looking to golf on Kauai, definitely hit up this place. The fairways and bunkers are in great shape, the greens are slow but the service and starter are awesome. I played 18 in 3.5 hours because there was hardly anyone on the course on Thursday morning and I suspect during the week it is the same. Really can't say enough good things about this course! read more

Went to this place on Wednesday afternoon 9/2/15. They advertise discounted rates after 3pm... Not that I am looking for a bargain but I like to take my wife as a rider later in the day when the courses are not crowded. I have played pretty much every other course on the island over the years. Well I walk in the pro shop at 3:10pm and ask the girl working if I can get on as a single with a rider. Instant attitude. She says "well the carts need to be back by 6 pm and you won't even get 9 holes in". I asked if she thought it would take me 3 hours to finish 9 holes and she responded "well you won't be able to finish 18". I told her I was aware of that. So she just looks at me and stares me down without saying a word. A very angry look -almost as if to say "get out of my sight you stupid howlee". So I just turned and walked out. I went to Wailua Municipal where I was greeted with aloha. I made the general manager at Puakea aware of my experience and he promptly sent a sincere apology. I will give them another try on my next visit to Kauai read more