As part of GOLF’s rigorous ratings process for our newly released Top 100 Courses in the U.S. and Top 100 Courses You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the best golf courses in every state.
You can check out the links below to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll down to see the best courses in Hawaii. And if you’re looking to create your own trip in the future, you’d be wise to let GOLF’s new Course Finder tool assist you. Here, you can toggle all of our lists — Top 100 public, best munis, best short courses, best par-3s and more — or filter by price to create the perfect itinerary for your next trip.
GOLF’s other course rankings: Top 100 Courses in the World | Top 100 Courses in the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses in the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses in the World
Check out our all-new travel podcast Destination GOLF. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | IHEART | AMAZON
The best golf courses in Hawaii (2024/2025)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 Course in the U.S.
Y = Top 100 You Can Play in the U.S.
V = Top 100 Value Course in the U.S.
P = Public/Resort
Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not receive enough votes.
1. Nanea (Kailua-Kona) [#]
Count members of the local high school team among the lucky few who enjoy access to this private Shangri-La, which was designed by David McLay Kidd on behalf of Charles Schwab and investment giant George Roberts. Working on a hardened-lava site that commands an ocean panoramic, McLay Kidd threaded fairways along the black-rock flows, and fringed them with fountain grasses that call to mind the fescue of a British links. The rest of the place is pure Hawaii. Five copper domes on the low-slung clubhouse mimic the island’s five volcanos, while the short par-4 14th has a split fairway that invites you to play over or around a mini-crater’s dormant rim.
2. Kapalua – Plantation (Lahaina) [P, Y]
3. Manele Golf Course (Lanai City) [P]
4. Mauna Kea Golf Course (Waimea) [P]
5. Kukui’ula Golf Course (Koloa)
6. The Club at Hokulia (Kealakekua)
7. Kuki’o Golf & Beach Club (Kailua-Kona)
8. Princeville Makai Golf Club (Princeville) [P]
9. Hualalai Golf Course (Kailua-Kona) [P]
10. Poipu Bay Golf Course (Koloa) [P]
How we rank our courses
For our newly released Top 100 U.S. and Top 100 You Can Play lists — a process that helped us create 50 best-in-state rankings — each panelist was provided a ballot that consisted of 609 courses. Beside the list of courses were 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists considered a course to be among the top three in the U.S., they ticked that first column. If they believed the course to be among Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50, and so on out to 250+ and even a column for “remove.” Panelists were also free to write in courses that they felt should have been included on the ballot.
