Top-5 Reasons to play MAKANI GOLF CLUB:

• Makani Golf Club is a real country club layout that will call on every club in your bag
• Features some of the craftiest and most delightful holes in all the Hawaiian islands
• Makani Golf Club boasts Hawaii's best finishing hole, which follows an island green par-3
• GOLFHAWAIICARD rates as low as $69 per-day for unlimited golf
• Makani Golf Club's staff is incredibly welcoming and engaging

Makani Golf Club is situated at the 20-mile mark on Highway 190 that connects Kona to Waimea. This puts its entrance about 23 miles/30 minutes above the Waikoloa Beach Resort and Waikoloa Heliport.  It features stunning long vistas, as well as delightfully cooler temperatures, and light breezes, to match its perch at roughly 2,300-feet above sea level in the lee of Mauna Kea.

Since opening in 1997 as Big Island Country Club, this crafty Perry Dye-design has certainly evolved, while still holding true to its original concept. The 18-hole Makani Golf Club layout exemplifies the difference between  country club design, as opposed to a resort course or daily fee course. The country club model must be conducive to regular repeat play by members, while still holding their interest and presenting an ongoing challenge. True to that calling, Dye's Big Island Country Club / Makani Golf Club layout succeeds in every way, shape and form, with a variety of par-3s, 4s and 5s that engage all comers. The most noticeable feature that sets it apart from resort and daily fee courses are the small, country club-style greens.

To put it best, the son of Pete Dye finessed the gently rolling topography with the essence of a Dye design, which generally juxtaposes one diabolical side of a fairway across from a forgiving side. Here, "Dye the Younger" takes a much more benign approach, while still drawing the golfer's attention to the forgiving side. But to be sure, there is no lack of challenge.

Makani Golf Club sports nine holes with water features and notable holes throughout. In fact, there isn't a laggard in the bunch. The most exciting flourish of holes occurs when one of each variety (par-3, -4 and -5) appear in some order. This happens to be the case at 16, 17 and 18, where a meandering par-5 is followed by the signature 17th Hole (the island green reminiscent of the 17th Hole at Pete Dye's TPC Sawgrass) and concluding with Hawaii's best finishing hole—an option-filled par-4 that will leave lovers of great course design with a desperate urge to come back for more. And you must!

No doubt, Makani Golf Club delivers an outstanding golf experience and one of the absolute best all-around golf values in the Hawaiian Islands.

EATS & TREATS

Be sure to stop at Waikoloa Plaza (formerly Waikoloa Highlands Shopping Center) in Waikoloa Village, where you can find a full-service KTA Supermarket, as well as Subway and Pueo's Osteria, one of Hawaii's absolute best dining experiences.