NevisRik

If you like a flat course, this is not it. You're playing on the side of a mountain, so every hole plays uphill or downhill...and every green seems to have 3 clubs of elevation. This makes it tons of fun to play. It also makes the par 4s feel like par 5s. I've enjoyed playing this course multiple times over the years. It's always my first choice when visiting Maui.

This is my favorite course up north. The fairways are surrounded by big pine trees, but they keep it cleaned out underneath so you're not spending time searching for your ball. Nice layout, some water holes, lots of variety. It's always a fun course to play. The greens are fast, but not super slopes...so you don't feel like you're going to 3-putt too often. Lush fairways, nice people.

The views are amazing. The course is in superb shape. The layout is fun and super-enjoyable. But first you actually have to know how to get there. If you follow the signage and drive into the course, you encounter a sign in the middle of the road that says "If you have a tee time, turn around and go back out to the highway and turn left to the resort." So you're baffled, but you turn around and go back to the highway, turn left, and drive a short ways to a very small sign that says Hilton. Right inside on your left is the clubhouse. You park and drive a golf cart from there to the course. It's weird, and a bit off-putting. You'll start to question your decision to play here. BUT don't worry. The course itself is definitely amazing. The first six holes are pretty easy. Then it gets more fun and progressively more difficult as you work your way up to the peak...and then back down. It is NOT a parkland course. It's carved out of the desert and plays up and down the ravines. Some greens have a lot of break but not like some courses where you aim for 6 feet of break and it breaks 14 feet and runs off the green and down a hill. (I hate those.) Overall, I can't recommend this highly enough. The par 4 10th hole, with its 14-story drop from the tee to the fairway, is one of the most fun I've ever played. Final comment: EVERY SINGLE staff member I encountered...from the pro shop to the starter to the cart guys... were incredibly friendly.

At the first tee, you simply can't figure out where the fairway goes or where the green is. You hit a tee shot that's basically a guess. Then you drive down a gravel cart path filled with more potholes than you've ever seen, and discover that the green is "over there" somewhere behind a bunch of pine trees. After that, you realize that the fairways are very thin on grass, the tees are all chewed up, and the greens are in poor condition. The layout of the course is boring and flat. There are a few holes that you want to play again, but the vast majority of the holes are forgettable. We were very sorry we played there.

Like 2 others in our 4-some, this was my first time playing here. We thought the course was beautiful and in great shape, but none of us will come back because the greens are so difficult that they turned our game into a grind. You expect to see the pros at the US Open occasionally chipping onto an elevated green only to have their ball roll back off the green and down the hill, ending up 20 yards away...but it happened Way Too Often at the Royal Club. The greens are too fast and filled with so much undulation that a 10 foot putt could (and did) easily end up 15 feet from the hole.I'm an 8 handicapper, shot 86 at the Royal, but I felt like I shot 100. It's a nice course for the pros. Also they need some signage for new visitors. I couldn't find the bag drop because nobody was working. So I carried my clubs down to the pro shop...only to find out that the carts and the driving range are back UP by the parking lot where I came in. That was fun.

Headwaters is a gorgeous course winding through the pine and birch treess. The conditions are always great, and the layout is one that you'd be happy to play every day. The greens are fairly fast, and roll beautifully. You'll find nice elevation changes, a par 3 over water, and plenty of chances to grip it and rip it.

Headwaters is always a great course. This year it wintered pretty well, but the greens aren't yet back to 100%.The layout has a bunch of special holes, so you'll always have an enjoyable round. Highly recommended. If it was located in the Brainerd area, the price would be close to $100.

We played on a beautiful sunny day. Unfortunately, it had been raining a lot in recent days, so the course was about 85% unplayable. The course should have been closed until it dried up considerably. Nearly everyplace we walked (tees, fairways and greens) we either sloshed through an inch of standing water or, worse yet, 2 inches of sloppy slimy mud. Many greens had large areas of mud with no grass whatsoever. The fairway grass was thin and sparse. Sand traps had a layer of mud totally covering the sand. Nearly every approach shot resulted in a splash of mud and a golf club covered with mud. It's very hilly, so walking to your ball or the tee or the green requires you to traverse very steep areas...which is difficult or impossible to do without falling on your butt in the mud. Seriously, while walking from the cart to the green, my feet flew out from under me and I landed flat on my back in the mud. I had 1 inch of mud caked to my legs, arms, and my entire back. (That shirt is a loss.) As many other reviewers have mentioned, the course is carved out of the jungle and one of the most beautiful around. Surprisingly it used to be one of my favorite courses on Oahu. I've played there several times in the past (when it was called Luana Hills), but I won't go back until Windward Oahu has its next drought.

The Dunes is always a fun course to play. Water everywhere makes it a challenge. It's short, so you're tempted to play the tips. Don't. You'll have much more fun playing tees 2 or even 3. Lots of carries and target golf, but also plenty of places where you can grip it and rip it. If you're not hitting your driver straight here, you'll be losing balls. (Their diver pulls about 400,000 balls out of the water every year!) So club down and play smart…or swing away and enjoy a few hero shots and plenty of splashes. The Dunes appears to have LOTS of members….so the course is very busy and pace of play is accordingly slow…4-1/2 hours. The fairways and greens were lush and plush, but noticeably way too many unrepaired ball marks on the greens…again from lots of play. It always seems pretty pricey ($110 normal and a bit less on golfnow.com), but if you're stuck on Sanibel and don't want to leave the island, you only have 2 options.

First thing: don't trust the Naples address. This is practically in Everglades City. If you don't check the map before you book, you could be in for a long, long drive. (Not the course's fault; mine.) Eagle Lakes is a fun course with great greens. The layout is fun: some holes where you can blast away, others where you have to lay up. Lots of water, and, as others have said, almost always the water is on your left. If you hook or pull it left, you're going to need extra balls. The greens putted extremely well. I paid $49 on golfnow, so it was a very good value. Went out with 3 other guys for the 6:54 first tee time. Nobody in front of us, so obviously the only time we had to wait was when one of us hit it in the water. I thought we were playing pretty fast, but surprisingly it still was a 4 hour round. There were groups behind us, but they weren't close. I'd give the course 5 stars if the fairways had more (any?) grass. They were so bare everywhere, that I wanted to aim for the rough. They looked green, but there really wasn't anything under the ball. I suppose this is rather typical of Florida golf. I'd go back again if it weren't so far away from Fort Myers Beach.

Headwaters GC is my favorite course in the Park Rapids/Walker area. If compares favorably to the best courses in the Brainerd Lakes area…fun layout, great conditions, really good value (especially if you have a golfnow.com discount or an International Golf Club card). All the holes are fun to play. No stupid holes like on many courses. It includes a few "grip it and rip it" holes for the big hitters, plus some nice elevation changes. The greens are fairly fast, and always seem to putt really true. Enjoy!