It’s Tee Time! Check Out Maui’s Best Golf Schools

Kapalua Golf Academy. Photo credit: Dave Tonnes/Panaviz Photography.

By Alexandra Mitchell

The Island of Maui is internationally renowned for its incredible golf resorts and schools.

Popular with golf professionals, enthusiasts and students alike, Maui attracts golfers of all levels to its 16 golf courses for challenge and instruction.

When searching for golf instruction in Hawai‘i, Maui is the best choice. There are a variety of instruction opportunities, including world-renowned golf schools and private instruction with local golf professionals.

Kapalua Golf Academy

The Kapalua Golf Academy is located at the Kapalua Resort, home to PGA’s Annual Tournament of Champions that takes place every January. This Maui golf school was designed by Hale Irwin, a PGA touring professional golf athlete.

Kapalua Golf Academy is Hawai‘i’s most inclusive golf school, practice facility and golf-improvement center. The academy grounds include a 23-acre practice area for detailed golf instruction in wedge and bunker play, full swing and specialty shots, chipping, putting and more.

The staff at the Kapalua Gold Academy are PGA professionals; guests can choose from private individual instruction, group lessons, corporate clinics and daily clinics.

You do not need to be a guest of the Kapalua Resort to get instruction at the Kapalua Gold Academy; however, the resort offers a small discount to resort guests.

For more information about the Kapalua Gold Academy, go online.

Wailea Golf Club

The Wailea Golf Club is the most popular golf resort in South Maui, offering guests a chance to hone their golf skills at the famous Emerald and Gold courses.

Home to Hawai‘i’s only David Leadbetter Golf Academy, students can learn from the best at a 12-acre training facility outfitted with three state-of-the-art video rooms with 37-inch flat screen monitors (for skills review and training videos), an 11,000 square foot-plus, dual-layered practice tee, a short-game instruction area for chipping, bunker play and practice pitching, and a putting green perfect for learning how to improve your stroke.

From all vantage points of the Leadbetter Golf Academy in Wailea, visitors can experience world-class Maui golf instruction and incredible South Maui coastal scenery.

Golf students can also book private lessons and customized lesson programs with PGA and LPGA certified professionals at the Wailea Golf Club.

For more information about the Wailea Golf Club, go online.

Dunes At Maui Lani

Located in Central Maui, the Dunes at Maui Lani is one of Maui’s most unique golf courses. With 18 distinctive holes, the Dunes is a great place for both resident and visiting golfers up for some competition and golf instruction.

At the Dunes, golfers looking for more instruction can easily book private and group clinics, customized golf lessons and corporate clinics with PGA professionals.

The Dunes at Maui Lani is well regarded as a course you can spend a whole day at. It offers competitive price points, many varying activities and events, a 10-acre driving range that’s lit until 8 p.m., a two-acre practice tee area and more.

Views of magical Maui surround you throughout this golf course. TheScottish-owned Dunes has been called Hawai‘i’s “true link” golf course because its design is very similar to those found in Scotland and England.

The terrain is low-lying, close to the sea, built on sand dunes. It has smooth areas, ridges and rugged terrain throughout the cleverly designed course.

After you finish a fun-filled day of golfing at the Dunes at Maui Lani, make sure to grab a bite to eat at Cafe O’Lei. The food is fabulous, decently priced and the golf course views are awesome!

For more information about the Dunes at Maui Lani, go online.

Maui Nui Golf Club

Located in Kīhei, the Maui Nui Golf Club, formerly called the Elleair Golf Club, is a great place for all golf enthusiasts to improve their short game. This Hawai‘i golf club offers a lighted driving range, and golf lessons with PGA professionals through their pro shop.

If you are new to golf or are a junior golfer (under 18), the Maui Nui Golf Club is the best place to go on Maui for a solid introduction to golf. Specialty rates for golf lessons are available for juniors, seniors and kama‘āina at the Maui Nui Golf Club. Maui Nui’s PGA golf professionals offer a variety of skills training for golfers of all levels.

For more information about Maui Nui Golf Club, go online.