Makai Top Scenic Public Course – Princeville at Hanalei

Source: linksmagazine.com

Get the camera ready—it’s photo safari time. The following list of courses is ranked according to eye candy and accessibility. This roster is limited to public-access courses in the United States that may or may not have hosted major championships or boast superior design, but which definitely overwhelm the senses with scenic beauty and visual drama.

7. Princeville Makai—Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
More than five decades ago, golf on the Garden Isle met ocean encounters and the result was Princeville Makai, which made Kauaʻi a must-visit for golfers. Long overshadowed by its brawnier neighbor—the Prince, which is now private—Makai reopened in January 2010 as an 18-hole layout comprised of the old Lake and Ocean nines, with the Woods nine a separate entity—and now closed, unfortunately.

(Here’s a plea to bring back the Woods, which was lovely in its own right.) Dating to 1971, the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed Makai sports risk/reward options, lush landscaping, and Bali Hai and Hanalei Bay vistas, highlighted by the drop-shot par-three 3rd over a lake with jungle and ocean backdrops, and by the clifftop Pacific panoramas afforded at the par-three 7th.