Kapalua Resort - Plantation Course
Lahaina, Maui County, Hawaii · Maui golf market
- Access
- mixed
- Holes
- 36
- Architect(s)
- Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, Arnold Palmer, Francis Duane
- Gated
- No
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Kapalua Resort sits on roughly 1,650 to 1,800 acres of former pineapple land on Maui's northwest coast, developed by Maui Land & Pineapple Company starting in the 1970s into one of Hawaii's most recognized resort-golf addresses. Its second golf course, the Plantation Course, opened in 1991 as the first-ever collaboration between architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw - a partnership that went on to become one of modern golf design's most celebrated - and immediately became known for dramatic downhill, ocean-facing holes cut into the slopes of the West Maui Mountains. From 1999 through 2025 it hosted the PGA Tour's season-opening event (known at various points as the Mercedes Championships, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and most recently The Sentry) every year but one, a run that made Kapalua one of Hawaii's best-known golf names nationally.
That run ended for reasons unrelated to the course's design pedigree. Sustained drought and an unresolved legal dispute over the Honokohau Ditch irrigation-water system left the Plantation Course's turf badly compromised heading into the 2026 season; the PGA Tour announced in September 2025 that the event would not be played at Kapalua in 2026, confirmed the cancellation in October 2025 (routing the 2025 season's tournament winners to the RBC Heritage instead), and then confirmed on April 20, 2026 that neither The Sentry nor Oahu's Sony Open in Hawaii would remain on the schedule beginning in 2027 - ending a 56-year run of PGA Tour golf in Hawaii as the Tour moves to a restructured, mainland-only season-opening slate. The course itself reopened for public and resort play on November 10, 2025 under significant water-conservation restrictions, but reporting at that time explicitly noted conditions were not yet back to tournament standard.
Independent of the tournament question, Kapalua's golf-resort real estate is a genuine, long-running developer product. Maui Land & Pineapple Company built out named residential enclaves - the oceanfront Ironwoods condominiums overlooking the Bay Course's 5th hole, the mauka Pineapple Hill Estates single-family homes, and the Kapalua Golf Villas and Ridge Villas condominiums sited directly on the Bay Course - specifically as part of the resort. Every resort property owner automatically belongs to the Kapalua Resort Association, and can separately apply for Kapalua Club privileges or pay an owner/resort golf rate; golf access is not bundled into home purchase, but the residential product was unmistakably built around the golf and beach amenities rather than being incidentally nearby.
Golf & Course
The Plantation Course plays to a par-73, roughly 7,400-7,600 yard layout depending on tee markers, with enormous elevation change and green complexes that funnel approach shots - a deliberately different, more strategic style than the resort's earlier Bay Course (Arnold Palmer and Francis Duane, 1975), which is shorter, tighter, and more traditionally routed along the coastline near Oneloa Bay. The Plantation Course's downhill, trade-wind-exposed finishing hole became one of the PGA Tour's most recognizable closing holes during its run as the season opener.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Golf at Kapalua is fundamentally resort/public-access golf, not a private membership club - the Plantation and Bay Courses are open to paying resort guests and the public, subject to posted rates. Owning property in a Kapalua resort community does not automatically include golf: it makes you an automatic member of the Kapalua Resort Association (the master homeowners' association covering roughly ten resort communities, including Ironwoods, Pineapple Hill Estates, and the Golf Villas), and separately makes you eligible to apply for Kapalua Club membership (a fractional destination-club product with golf, spa, and beach privileges) or to book at an owner/resort golf rate rather than full public rate. Buyers should treat 'golf privileges' at Kapalua as an owner-rate/preferential-access benefit layered on top of resort HOA membership, not as included club membership.
Living in Kapalua Resort - Plantation Course
Kapalua's residential product spans several distinct types built by the same master developer: oceanfront low-rise condominiums directly on the Bay Course (Ironwoods, Kapalua Golf Villas, Kapalua Ridge Villas), and mauka (upland) single-family home neighborhoods with golf and ocean views (Pineapple Hill Estates, among other Kapalua mauka subdivisions). All fall under the Kapalua Resort Association master HOA.
Lifestyle & Amenities
Kapalua Resort's amenity base includes multiple beaches regularly ranked among Hawaii's best (including Kapalua Bay and D.T. Fleming Beach), a roughly 30,000-square-foot spa, a dozen-plus dining options, a tennis facility, and an adventure/zipline center - positioning the resort as a full lifestyle destination beyond golf alone.
Location & Surrounding Area
Kapalua occupies the northwest tip of West Maui near Lahaina, roughly 35-40 minutes from Kahului Airport and a short drive north of the Kaanapali resort corridor.
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What Buyers Should Verify
- Confirm the PGA Tour's finalized 2027 schedule and whether a successor venue (Torrey Pines has been reported as the leading candidate) is officially confirmed.
- Confirm current Plantation Course turf/playing conditions and any remaining water-use restrictions directly with Kapalua Golf before travel or purchase decisions tied to golf quality.
- Confirm current Kapalua Club membership terms, cost, and what golf access it actually includes.
- Confirm current Kapalua Resort Association dues and whether they differ by resort community.
Notable
- The Plantation Course (1991) was Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw's first collaborative design.
- Kapalua hosted the PGA Tour's season-opening event every year from 1999 through 2025 (with the 2001 season opening in Australia instead).
- The PGA Tour announced in September/October 2025 that the January 2026 event would not be played at Kapalua, citing drought and water-supply-related course conditions.
- On April 20, 2026, the PGA Tour confirmed neither The Sentry (Kapalua) nor the Sony Open (Oahu) will remain on the schedule from 2027 onward, ending a 56-year continuous Hawaii PGA Tour presence.
- The Plantation Course reopened for public/resort play on November 10, 2025 under Tier 3 (60%) water-use restrictions, with turf reported as not yet back to PGA Tour standard.
Related Comparisons
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US Golf Living provides independent real-estate research and can connect consumers with real-estate professionals. Golf membership, availability, fees and approval are determined independently by the applicable club.