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4.0
495 Reviews (495)
5 Stars
247
4 Stars
143
3 Stars
55
2 Stars
28
1 Stars
22
Conditions
3.5
Value
3.8
Layout
4.4
Friendliness
4.3
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.2
81.8%
Recommend this course
422 out of 495 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.0
61 Reviews (61)
5 Stars
24
4 Stars
20
3 Stars
9
2 Stars
6
1 Stars
2
Conditions
3.5
Value
3.7
Layout
4.3
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.1
StaffFriendliness
4.3
78.7%
Recommend this course
48 out of 61 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.8
110 Reviews (110)
5 Stars
41
4 Stars
35
3 Stars
15
2 Stars
14
1 Stars
5
Conditions
3.3
Value
3.6
Layout
4.3
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.0
StaffFriendliness
4.3
77.3%
Recommend this course
85 out of 110 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Semi-Private
Style Links
Par 72
Length 6609 yards
Slope 138
Rating 73.1
Book a Tee Time at
Royal Hawaiian Golf Club
Powered by GolfNow.com

Course Details

Year Built 1993
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Platinum Paspalum Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Pete Dye (1993) Perry Dye (1993)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Bar, Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse

Accolades

Reviews

4.0
495 Reviews (495)

What Golfers Are Saying

Course Challenges Include:
Elevation Changes 27
Forced Carries 23
Narrow Fairways 16
This course/club is great for:
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 24
Advanced Golfers 18
A Bucket list/Top 100 Pick 14
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 22
Convenient to the City 10

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Unforgettable

It’s incredibly impressive what the grounds crew has done here. The course here is kept to the quality you’d expect from a nice muni course, but your local park style muni isn’t carved out of a treacherous mountain jungle.

Honestly, anybody complaining about this course has rocks for brains, they’re a prissy simpleton who is unable to appreciate the beauty of the world we live on and their opinion should be disregarded.

Go play golf here. You will remember it forever.

Bring extra balls, you’ll lose a bunch and be laughing the whole way.

The front 9 takes you deep into the jungle, you’ll be surrounded by trees and cliffs and mountains as high as you can see. It poured rain on us for the front 9, and we were nothing but smiles taking in the jungle atmosphere. Hit some great shots on the front, which will absolutely eat every ball in your bag if you’re not careful.

The back 9 is along the mountainside, with incredible views over a valley, and a bit easier golfing to go along with it. We saw a herd of wild boar run across the 11th fairway, very cool to see.

Just an incredibly special place, an afternoon I’ll think about for the rest of my life.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 7
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Jurassic Golf

Best course I've played thus far, I'm a California resident

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Challenging course in a beauty jungle like atmosphere.

The most scenic and beautiful course we have played. Many elevated tee shots that shared outstanding views. The natural rough bordering the fairways are heavy- so bring an extra half dozen balls. The entire staff and especially the starter Ernie were amazing. Don’t miss an opportunity to play this course. Even though snack bar was closed- drinks and sandwiches were available in the pro shop.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Stunning views but very tough course;

What a golf course, overall a great experience in HI!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

I had a tee time booked through GolfNow for Friday 4/28/23 @1:36pm. When I got to the course nobody was there and the course was closed due to rain so I didn't get to play that day. I have tried to contact golfnow for a refund due to closure policy but have not been able to connect with anyone. I did get to play on 5/4/23 though and the course was hard and narrow fairways. The bunkers in front of the greens were high lipped and hard to get out of once you get into it. The greens were well maintained. In my opinion there was too much rough around the fairways as well as the beginning of where the fairways start. Overall a great course and you better have your irons dialed in as well as your slice or hook under control.lost about 2 dozen balls. Wonderful experience.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart

Nice challenging Course

Nice challenging Course, unfortunately the weather not so good when we were there,
We booked on Friday and they were closed, but no notice !
Please at least text us to let us know if close.
Then we booked back on Sunday but not in good condition and we lost a lot of balls 😛
Anyway it was fun !

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

A Dye course

Muddy conditions, helps with target golf if you can hit the target . The surroundings are the highlight, compliments a vacation to Hawaii. Off course amenities closed. Pace of play slowed back nine.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

Jungle golf

Beautiful course that eat your balls. Lush and well kept up despite the jungle like nature.. greens are slow and practice facilities need help.. incredible views! And nice people. Worth the trip

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 12
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Jurraic Park x Golf!

More amazing that words! This is THE track to play on Oahu! OG Pete Dye design and then redesigned by Greg Normand (I think) it has everything! Stunning views, tricky hole design, just fun and beautiful! Bring balls! One foot off the fairway is lost!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 6
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Used cart
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Beautiful Setting, Great Layout

Course was in nice shape and the layout was very cool. There is no practice range open, but there is a nice putting and chipping area. You cannot beat the mountain views.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 3
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Pros and Cons

This is a course that you have to check off your list if you are ever in Hawaii.

Pros: Beautiful views and gives you those quintessential Hawaii / Jurassic park vibes.

Cons: The course is in a jungle so the natural terrain will swallow up any ball that you hit that’s not perfectly on a fairway. Balls in the rough will be lost as well. Pace of play is incredibly slow (5-6 hours). It can also get very pricey $$.

Monitor GolfNow closely for the best prices.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Only if you want to enjoy the scenary

Only if you want to enjoy the scenary, play Royal Hawaiian. The course condition is the worst you can find in Oahu. Especially the greens are almost like first cut rough. The gentleman in the club house is friendly only to Japanese ladies, and unbelievably rude to all the others. Simply, don't go there!

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Poor
Pace Average
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 37
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

No advance warning on greens aeration

Incredible, one of a kind setting made up for the conditions. Greens were very recently punched and heavily sanded, front nine worse than the back. Spotty/inconsistent fairways from one hole to the next. Hole 14 (par 5) was closed so played “3-B”, a medium length par 3 to make 18 holes. Had no warning about the greens aeration until the starter told me, right after I paid full price. Starter was very helpful explaining the property layout and got me out early as a single as I had one of the first few tee times.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Do not do it.

This course is in the worst shape of any course I’ve played on the island. The greens were recently punched and there was no mention of it in the booking, the phone call that I made prior to booking, or when I showed up that morning. My first indication was when I walked up to the first green. Bunkers are hard and have grass growing in them. If you hit 3 feet off the fairway, you might as well say sayonara to that ball as the rough is so thick and tall that you won’t find it, even if you watched it roll in. By far, the worst golf experience I’ve had in the state of Hawaii. When I was leaving (after 6.5 holes played), even one of the staff said the course is not worth the money right now!

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Far from “Royal”

Royal Hawaiian Golf Club

Like the starter on this particular day (March 23 2023), some say “Jurassic Park” to describe RHGC, I’m in the camp for another movie: “The Good The Bad and The Ugly” and I’ll explain why.
As a first round on Oahu (and in Hawaii for that matter) I was excited to make a go of Royal Hawaiian Golf Club.
Curious omen #1: a nearly deserted course at approximately 11am
Curious omen #2: the warning from the starter in relation to the fact that they had aerated and…”do you want to get your money back and go somewhere else?”
I didn’t heed his sage advice and the fact that they also had hole #13 closed (maintenance I’m assuming), replaced by their (spare) hole 3B which merely gave me 18 holes rather than not.
I almost forgot (to mention) the complete lack of any means to warm up other than a poor excuse for a putting green, it did play like most of the greens as I describe later.
Once getting over the initial shock of the unbelievable scenery of the property (believe me it’s unreal), I couldn’t help but to notice the deplorable condition of the course itself. What they consider turf is different than what I’m obviously used to but in some areas, tee boxes and fairways in particular there isn’t much of anything that you could call “turf”. Noteworthy on this day (playing from the blues), there were 2 tee boxes where the markers were placed where there wasn’t any discernible/usable turf at all (6 and 9 if I’m not mistaken). On 6 my only reasonable solution was to play from the white tee box leaving a curious wedge-wedge play to a par 4 that deserved to be played properly (from the unplayable blue tee).
Oh, did I mention it was “cart-path only” on this day? Understandable given how wet the course was, the front 9 in particular. Never in my life have I experienced so many mud balls, probably due to the sparse nature of their fairway turf. As a vacation round I decided to improve my lies and negate the mud balls to stem the frustration, my sanity needed something.
Despite zero knowledge of the course and no help due to being out there alone, I soldiered on as best I could trying to stay focused and positive, the scenery provided some welcome distraction at times. The back 9 went somewhat better, having adjusted to all that I’d faced and a slightly less saturated part of the course. Having said that there were still some greens on the back (like the front) that had been sanded as is to be expected following the aeration, but the sanding was incredibly heavy and inconsistent throughout. There was no chance to get a feel for any putts on this day. Where some of that sand was needed is in the bunkers, most that I noticed were uncared for and overgrown with weeds.
I’m not sure of the excuse for #13 to be shut down, it almost appeared to be in better shape than most of the others (as I sped through on my way to #14).
Don’t get me wrong, in addition to the location/scenery of being in the middle of a jungle, the course design is fantastic from what I could tell and is a fair to strong challenge, I just wish they gave the course the care that it deserves.
Less curious omen #3: the kid working the cart return area wasn’t shy about his feelings, “I can play here for free and (I) don’t, haven’t in over a month”, that says enough.
Royal in name only I’m afraid, I’d so hoped for better.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Fair
Friendliness Poor
Pace Excellent
Amenities Fair
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