Wailea Gold Course

The Gold Course opened in 1994 on the sun-drenched southwest coast of Maui at Wailea, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design routed over a compact tract that tumbles from the volcanic slopes toward the sea. Conceived as the resort's stern, straightforward test, it stretches past 7,000 yards with roughly 93 bunkers, native grasses, strategic doglegs and elevation swings of around 200 feet. Jones Jr. worked around ancient lava-rock walls rather than clearing them, and the Maui Historical Society recognized the course for preserving these prehistoric structures. Both Golf Magazine and Golf Digest ranked it among the country's ten best new resort courses in its opening year. Built partly over an earlier Jack Snyder layout, the Gold, with its signature splashed bunkering and ocean panoramas, remains a favorite serious test in Wailea.