Laurence C Lambrecht
Laurence C Lambrecht
Laurence C Lambrecht
Laurence C Lambrecht
Laurence C Lambrecht
Laurence C Lambrecht
Jon Cavalier
Nanea Golf Club
Kailua Kona, HI•Private
Awards
Panelists Score
Nanea Golf Club
72-2921 Kaupulehu Road
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
United States
Overview
In the early 1960s, Robert Trent Jones built the first course on Hawaii’s Big Island for a very wealthy owner (Laurance Rockefeller), grinding up the site’s volcanic rock to use as “sand” on which to grow grass. Forty years later and just 22 miles away, architect David McLay Kidd also built a course on volcanic rock for very wealthy owners (Charles Schwab and George Roberts), but rather than transform the lava topography, he routed his holes among the black outcroppings and through the site’s meadows of native grasses. Located on a high, exposed plateau beneath Mt. Hualalai, the holes ramble and roll into topsy-turvy greens, each with a sterling view of the Pacific Ocean three and a half miles in the distance.
About
Golf Digest Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 Greatest / Best In State Scores
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Nanea I believe is underrated and truly an astonishing course. I can remember every hole in my head. Every one was fair but difficult. Conditioning was off the charts and the course is truly one of a kind."
Read More2026
Review
“Simply one of the most stunning places on earth to play golf. Set on the side of a mountain overlooking the Pacific, Nanea is a truly incredible feat of engineering and design. DMK did an amazing job of routing a course that flows exceptionally well and takes advantage of the ocean views. (As well as the views of the architecturally fitting clubhouse.) The Paspalum is perfect, hard to find better turf anywhere. The holes are wide, but the punishments are immediate when you miss a fairway. Lost balls are common and even if found, you may not want to hit off the rocks. The course is strategic and provides lots of options around the greens. The hill effect is real, the greens are very tough to read the first time. It's not overly difficult, you are here to have a great day and that is guaranteed. One of the great experiences in all of golf."
Read More2025
Review
“Simply one of the most stunning places on earth to play golf. Set on the side of a mountain overlooking the Pacific, Nanea is a truly incredible feat of engineering and design. DMK did an amazing job of routing a course that flows exceptionally well and takes advantage of the ocean views. (As well as the views of the architecturally fitting clubhouse.) The Paspalum is perfect, hard to find better turf anywhere. The holes are wide, but the punishments are immediate when you miss a fairway. Lost balls are common and even if found, you may not want to hit off the rocks. The course is strategic and provides lots of options around the greens. The hill effect is real, the greens are very tough to read the first time. It's not overly difficult, you are here to have a great day and that is guaranteed. One of the great experiences in all of golf."
Read More2025
Review
“Roaming across the side of Hualālai three miles above Kailua Kona, Nanea presents one the world's most unique golf experiences. Opening holes fall away from the clubhouse, so the player is greeted with spectacular views of a'a lava flows covered in fountain grass, with Mauna Kea and the Pacific Ocean in the background. Paspalum playing surfaces are firm and the player faces a decision point on most shots throughout the round. Centerline bunkers are used creatively and natural features, including a cinder cone behind the eighth green, are used flawlessly. The course never feels as if it plays up and down a mountainside, but it climbs significantly, especially on the back nine, so that the player is rewarded with an unforgettable downhill finisher. The combination of downhill opening and finishing holes is a special aspect of a wonderful routing, which makes every hole feel different than its counterparts. Nanea is a special golf course on a special piece of property that any player would be lucky to see."
Read More2025
Review
“Roaming across the side of Hualālai three miles above Kailua Kona, Nanea presents on the world's most unique golf experiences. Opening holes fall away from the clubhouse, so the player is greeted with spectacular views of a'a lava flows covered in fountain grass, with Mauna Kea and the Pacific Ocean in the background. Paspalum playing surfaces are firm and the player faces decisions on most shots throughout the round. Centerline bunkers are used creatively and natural features, including a cinder cone behind the eighth green, are used flawlessly. The course never feels as if it plays up and down a mountainside, but it climbs significantly, especially on the back nine, so that the player is rewarded with an unforgettable downhill finisher. The combination of downhill opening and finishing holes is a special aspect of a wonderful routing, which makes every hole feel different than its counterparts. Nanea is a special golf course on a special piece of property that any player would be lucky to see."
Read More2025
Review
“views are as good as you will see anywhere in golf"
Read More2024
Review
“Nanea is a true treat, and one of the vibiest and most exclusive places to play golf in the World. On the ground this is an amazing golf course, full of engaging shots and wild greens that provide a true test, especially given the ever-present wind. The course also fits the wildest of players with tremendous width throughout. Each hole is postcard-worthy, as the course sits at roughly 500 feet above sea level with 50 mile views of the Kohala Coast to the Northwest. The fun is not just for the golf round, as the outdoor shower and clubhouse vista marks Nanea as perhaps the best place for a post-round shower and beer in America."
Read More2023
Review
“Aesthetics is one of the areas where Nanea scores amongst the top courses in the world. The ocean views are unmatched and playing on the slopes of a dormant volcano on fields of black lava is also quite unique. But Kidd has gone beyond just laying a golf course across the slopes of the mountain. A number of natural features (such as the large lava mound behind 8 and the trees on 16) are nicely incorporated into the design and the entire course takes advantage of the sight lines to the ocean and beyond (mostly the island of Maui). He has created a very strategic course that requires the golfer to understand the levels and routing of each hole in order to maximize their chance of playing well. The bunkering in particular give each hole a certain depth and defines the lines of play in a way that does not come across as forced, but rather enticing and welcoming. But while beautiful in their construction, the bunkers also are true hazards in every sense of the word and the prudent play is always to play away from them."
Read More2022
Review
“Kidd has done a marvelous job of engaging with the land in a way the looks and feels very natural (if there were such a thing as a "natural" golf course built on a lava field!). Each of the holes is quite distinctive and I was able to remember every hole well after the round. The movements up, down and across the slopes have a great flow and rhythm to them and there is rarely much repetition in terms of direction of the holes relative to the mountain or ocean. The bunkering is fantastic in that it not only frames many of the holes, but defines aggressive vs. safe lines of play. But there are also holes that have very little bunkering so as not to be overly demanding on every single hole. He makes use of many different ways to challenge to player - slope variety (up, down, sideways), bunker variety (shape and placement), green contours and many bumps and knolls on fairways that create a variety of lies and stances."
Read More2022
Review
“Shot Options: Nanea has a great many shot options on most every hole - challenging the player to think thru and decide what is the optimal way to play the hole. The opening hole at Nanea is a perfect example of that. A bunker on the left center of the fairway tempts players to try to fly it, or play left of it, which is a straighter line to the hole and will leave a better angle into the green. The safer play is to hit well right of the fairway bunker into a very generous landing area. This however will leave a longer approach to the green and bring a deep greenside bunker on the right more directly into play. Decision, decisions! This hole is emblematic of the way David McLay Kidd has laid out the course at Nanea and created a wonderful golfing experience for golfers of all abilities. The 4th hole is the first par 5 and is reachable with 2 solidly struck shots, but numerous fairway cross bunkers bring a lot of trouble into play for those who choose to play this hole aggressively. The 6th is an excellent short but uphill par 5. You can see the entire hole from the tee, but the contours of the green complex are hidden from the landing areas from your second shot. Trust must be put in your memory (as viewed from the tee box) and your caddy to hit uphill to the right of the green and using the contours of the hole to steer the ball left towards the hole. Deep greenside bunkers will catch shots short and left leaving a very difficult steep uphill sand shot with no view of the green. The hole is an easy 3-shot par 5 if one chooses to play it safely. Most holes are also open in front of the green allowing for a run-up shot taking advantage of the firm and fast playing surfaces or if close enough a high, soft shot with enough spin to hold the green. Shots coming in too low will simply not hold these firm greens. The greens are all generally on the larger side and can easily accomodate numerous hole locations. This adds quite a bit to the shot options depending on what part of the green is being utilized on any given day. For example, on 18 the day we played it the pin was back right which allowed us to utilize the back slope of the collar to bring the ball back to the pin. The left front of the green would have been a completely different approach shot, which could have been played by directly flying the ball to the hole or running one up the left side of the hole. Those 2 pin placements would introduce another set of shot options depending on the location. Many of the other holes had similar greenside bunkers behind which a pin could be tucked or other locations which would be receptive of a run-up shot. Challenge: Nanea is a course designed with very generous landing areas off the tee, but extremely penal if a shot is truly errant. The fountain grass and lava that surround every hole is unplayable execpt for the luckiest of lies. 99% of the time if a ball lands off the playing areas it will be lost or unplayable. But for the scratch golfer, these areas will typically not come into play unless a shot is very poorly struck. The challenge and difficulty at Nanea lies on the greens - and to some extent the bunkering. There are a few centerline bunkers that will challenge golfers of all abilities to choose their path to the hole carefully. On 1 and 7, the centerline bunker will catch a slightly errant tee shot, making par a fairly difficult. The fairway bunkers also sometimes dictate the line of play. On 10 a large bunker guards the left side of the fairway and just out enough to require a safer shot to be played right of that bunker. However, there are 2 bunkers long and to the right that frame the landing area and will catch a lot of balls (3 out of our foursome) if pushed even slightly to the right. A drive will require a slight draw to fit in between the bunkers or a lesser club to play it safe. There are also numerous portions of fairways that are rolling in nature and have slight knolls/bumps that can create uneven or challenging lies on a number of holes. There are some deep and challening bunkers on Nanea for sure, but most fairway and greenside bunkers will not pose a significant challenge for the scratch golfer. The greens however, pose quite a challenge for golfers of all abilities even a scratch golfer. The undulations while not overly severe on most green, will most definitely confound many golfers. But the most difficult thing to gauge is the break and speed. All putts typically break away from Mount Hualalai, sometimes even breaking up a slight incline. The putts toward the ocean will often be twice as fast as those away from the ocean and toward the mountain. This introduces an almost ""Jekyl and Hyde"" nature to the greens. This effect will have a similar over or under emphasis on putts that play at an angle to the line from mountain to ocean. And while this effect is often found at other courses, I have never seen it as pronounced as at Nanea. Our caddy said that the greens are without a doubt the most difficult part of mastering Nanea, even for the best of golfers. On a side note: I played in a charity pro-am at Nanea many years ago with Fred Funk and didn't see him make a putt longer than 10 feet. Perhaps he had an off day, or more likely, this illustrates the difficult nature of the greens at Nanea! Overall, I think the course is quite challenging, and strikes a very nice balance of generous driving/landing areas off the tee, a variety of challenging bunkering in the fairway and around the greens, and extremely difficult greens to judge in terms of line and pace." Layout Variety: Nanea is full of layout variety due to the landscape it is draped over. Nanea is essentially built on the side of a dormant volcano - either tumbling down the hillside, traversing the slope or climbing back up the hill. There are rarely 2 holes in a row that travel in the roughly the same direction. David McLay Kidd did a very nice job in creating a wide variety and mix in his routing to avoid too many holes in row that all go down, sideways or up the hill. There is also a very nice mix of long and short par 4s. The 5th and 14th measure 294 and 266 from the member tees, while playing uphill, are still relatively short. 3, 7 and 12 are all relatively longish (425, 390 and 400) and the rest of the par 4s are of medium length. There are only 3 par 3s on the course and they test a wide range of clubs in the bad (146, 176 & 191). One criticism I have of the layout is that 3 of the 4 par 5s are all quite similar. They are roughly the same length (462, 464 & 466), play uphill and have very similar fairway bunkering. They are all terrific individual holes, but taken as a group, could perhaps have designed in a little more variety. The 18th is an excellent finishing downhill par 5 and plays very differently from the other par 5s. The course is also relatively barren of trees. The only exception is on the 16th. Here, there are several large trees that frame and define the hole. Three large trees line the right side of the hole and force the player to hit left to have a clear shot at the green. This also creates a longer path to the hole and brings the left greenside bunkers into play. I also have mixed feelings about this hole. On the one hand, the trees certainly add some variety to the layout and create a much more strategic hole to be played. On the other hand, they also seem a bit out of place and dont' quite feel ""natural"". My caddy said that most players also find this one hole to be a bit odd on this course. But I didn't penalize the score for layout variety, because my understanding is that those trees were there and a natural part of the landscape. In terms of dogleg variety, Nanea has a nice balanced mix of holes moving left, right and straight. There are only 2 holes that have a dramatic dogleg (10 strongly to the left and 14 strongly to the right). The other doglegs are more gently with the safer tee shot typically introducing a greater amount of dogleg vs a more aggressive line that cuts off the dogleg and allows a straighter line of play, but with more risk. Overall, I believe that Kidd has done a marvelous job of engaging with the land in a way the looks and feels very natural (if there were such a thing as a ""natural"" golf course built on a lava field!). Each of the holes is quite distinctive and I was able to remember every hole well after the round. The movements up, down and across the slopes have a great flow and rhythm to them and there is rarely much repetition in terms of direction of the holes relative to the mountain or ocean. The bunkering is fantastic in that it not only frames many of the holes, but defines aggressive vs. safe lines of play. But there are also holes that have very little bunkering so as not to be overly demanding on every single hole. He makes use of many different ways to challenge to player - slope variety (up, down, sideways), bunker variety (shape and placement), green contours and many bumps and knolls on fairways that create a variety of lies and stances." Aesthetics: The aesthetics is one of the areas where Nanea scores amongst the top courses in the world. The ocean views are unmatched and playing on the slopes of a dormant volcano on fields of black lava is also quite unique. But Kidd has gone beyond just laying a golf course across the slopes of the mountain. A number of natural features (such as the large lava mound behind 8 and the trees on 16) are nicely incorporated into the design and the entire course takes advantage of the sight lines to the ocean and beyond (mostly the island of Maui). He has created a very strategic coures that requires the golfer to understand the levels and routing of each hole in order to maximize their chance of playing well. The bunkering in particular give each hole a certain depth and defines the lines of play in a way that does not come across as forced, but rather enticing and welcoming. But while beautiful in their construction, the bunkers also are true hazards in every sense of the word and the prudent play is always to play away from them. Conditioning: Nanea has some of the best playing conditions you will find anywhere. The fairways are fast, firm and give a superior lie for every shot. The greens are also very firm and roll extremely well. The bunker conditions are also very consistent and fair to play out of. Overall, I believe the conditioning of Nanea is top notch. Character: For me, Nanea score very high on character for a number of reasons. 1) It was designed as a "links" course, but set high on the foothills of Mount Huaualai far away from the ocean. And yet, it accomplishes that goal with firm and fast playing surfaces, allowing a variety of run-up shots on most holes and incorporating the slopes of the mountain to create the look and feel of large seaside sand dunes on many holes. It is truly an architectural marvel in how it was carved out of and blended into the natural lave fields of the the Kona coast. 2) The setting is majestic, with ocean views from every hole, tumbling down, over and up the slopes of an ancient volcano. The walk is both exciting and beautiful. 3) It was the first course in North America to exclusively use paspalum and the playing surfaces are a joy to play from. And while not a true links course, it re-creates many of the characteristics of links courses on a mountain side setting. I believe this was quite unique in its design when it opened. Fun: Nanea without a doubt is fun to play. The coures is very receptive to shots of all kinds. Even the high handicapper in our group (18) was able to get around the coures ok and not find the lava fields too often. The views are spectacular, the staff is gracious and super nice and the whole experience was one that ranks up there with the best that golf has to offer!"
Read More2022
