The Ocean Course at Hokuala began as the Kiele Course at Kauai Lagoons, a Jack Nicklaus design that opened in 1988 near Lihue on Kauai's southeast shore. Parts of the resort's golf closed during the late-2000s recession, and Nicklaus Design restored the course, reopening its famous oceanfront back nine in 2011. After Timbers Resorts took over the property, now called Hokuala, the course was renovated again and reopened in late 2016. Holes 14 through 16 run along the Pacific, and the short par-4 16th offers a risk-reward drive to a small green guarded by the ocean.