Princeville Makai Golf Club

Getting To Know: Princeville Makai Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Doug Sutter, Sales & Marketing Manager

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Doug Sutter who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The renowned Makai Golf Club at The St. Regis Princeville Resort is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design, which opened in 1971 and was redesigned in 2009. The Makai Course winds its way around serene lakes, native woodlands and the spectacular coastline with views of Bali Hai and Hanalei Bay. The course plays to a par 72 with four different sets of tees that can be stretched to more than 7,200 yards from the tips.

The renovation by Robert Trent Jones Jr. featured the introduction of Seashore Paspalum turf grass on to all fairways and greens, providing spectacular playing surfaces for golfers of all skill levels. Additional improvements include the reconfiguring greens complexes and green surrounds, as well as bold reshaping of all bunkers. The signature 7th hole on the Makai Course plays to 213 yards from the back tees. It consists of a challenging tee shot over scenic cliffs, onto to a green which is surrounded by brilliant white bunkers and surreal views of the mountains and Pacific Ocean.

For the casual golfer who wants to enjoy a leisure round of golf with family and friends, Makai Golf Club is also proud to offer the popular 9-hole Woods Course. The Woods Course is a fun and relaxed layout, winding through the native woodlands of Kauai's north shore.

The practice facility at Makai Golf Club has also been improved to include two large new practice tees, a practice fairway bunker, seven target greens with bunkers, a teaching tee, and short game practice complex. Makai Golf Club offers new Callaway Golf rental clubs for men, women and juniors for guests who want to enjoy the best equipment in golf. The golf shop feature today's leading brands in men's and women's leisure apparel, including Greg Norman, Adidas, Under Armour, Nike, Fairway & Green and more.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Princeville Makai Golf Club Has Been Showed In Awards Since We Reopened The Facility After an Extensive Golf Course and Facilities Renovation in 2010.

2013/14 Golf Digest, Makai Course #80 on "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses";#10 in statewide rankings for "Hawaii's Top Courses"

2013 GolfWeek, Makai Course #3 on "Best Courses You Can Play" In Hawaii

2013 LINKS, Top 25 Golf Resorts of The World; "It takes a serendipitous location coupled with peerless golf, a splendid hotel, excellent dining, and impeccable service to qualify as a world-class resort."

2011 Golf Inc., Makai Course ranked 2nd nationwide in "Renovation of the Year"

2011 Golf World, Makai Course named to "America's 100 Best Golf Shops"

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The 7th Hole on the Makai Course is hands down our signature hole. Robert Trent Jones Jr. was blown away when he first stepped on the piece of property our 7th hole sits on. He was able to utilize the entire cliffs edge for this amazing hole. From the back tees it stretches out to a 213-yard par 3. Your only option is to miss to the left of the green; if your ball drifts to the right it will be drifting right into the ocean's tide. The prevalent trade winds usually push your ball from land to sea.

From the 7th tee box you can enjoy view of Hanalei Bay, Queen's Bath, Mount Makana, Hideaway Beach, Waikoko Beach, Lumahai Beach, Haena Beach, Tunnel Beach, and The Mountains and Waterfalls That Make Up "Puff the Magic Dragon."

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It? The Makai Course Hole 3. This amazing par-3 measures 181 yards. Before you even think about hitting your shot you cannot help but enjoy one of the North Shore's best views in front of you. You are staring right into the heart of Hanalei Bay and the majestic mountains in the distance. The descending hole is a great way to really kick into your round on The Makai Course. With the hole dropping over 100 feet and elevation and the prevalent trade winds coming from your back we always recommend our guests club down 1 or even 2 full clubs in order to hit the correct yardage. Hitting the correct yardage is imperative due to the fact that we have a fresh water pond short and hazard land located over the green. We look forward to sharing this memorable hole with you soon. Good Luck!

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
After a round on the Makai Golf Course we always recommend you pop over to the Makai Grill and grab an ice-cold Kona Beer with a tasty Spicy Chicken Wrap. If your team or sport are on, sit back and enjoy it on one of our large flat-screen TVs, located on our beautiful outdoor lanai.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Princeville Makai Golf Club was recently beat up by Mr. Chad Ramey. He shot set our course-record by carding a 63 during the first round of the 2013 Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational Collegiate Event. This was our second year hosting this special Division I NCAA Event, hosted by The University of Hawaii.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,223
Slope: 134
Rating: 75.4

More Information
Princeville Makai Golf Club
4080 Lei O Papa Rd.
Princeville, HI, 96722
(808) 826 1912
www.makaigolf.com

Revised: 11/21/2013 - Article Viewed 31,084 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.