Princeville's Makai Course on Kauai goes under the knife; could become one of America's best resort courses

There is a golf course renovation just underway that I’m greatly interested in: The Makai Course at the Princeville Resort on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai.

Princeville is most famously known for it’s demanding Prince Course, widely regarded as one of Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s best designs and a mainstay on all Top 100 lists. I think it might be the most challenging course I’ve ever played, especially when the trade winds are up. There are some knee-knocking shots out there, none more so than the tee shot on the par-4 12th hole, that’s like trying to knock a 3-wood down a bowling lane with a 40-mph crosswind.

But the 27-hole Makai course, after renovations, could become the better resort-style course of the two and one of the best anywhere really. It features more coastal property than the Prince, including the cliffhanger 6th hole on the Ocean nine - a par-3 shot playing straight over the ocean to a green right on the edge. It’s probably the signature hole of the entire resort, despite being on the lesser-known course.

When I played the Makai in March, I was very impressed, but you could also tell that by today’s standards, some holes were underachieving given it’s incredible setting. It was also a little too short for low-handicappers. On the par-5 18th hole, I went Driver, 9-iron into it without much wind helping me. Some of the green complexes weren’t all that memorable, and another ocean-hugging hole, the short par-4 5th on the Lakes nine, needed some architectural enhancements in order to make the hole a knockout.

That’s all changing now, as RTJ’s firm is upgrading both the Ocean and Lakes nines as we speak and I’m confident the Makai will be considered one of Hawaii’s best when it reopens in 2009. It’s all part of Princeville’s massive renovation project that includes a renovation of the hotel, with one of the prettiest secluded beaches I’ve ever dragged my toes on. This already high-end resort is being upgraded to the Starwood St. Regis class - the brand’s most luxurious. Guest rooms will be upgraded with all the latest gadgets and comforts, and the theme will be transformed from a European-style ambiance awash with marble, to a more island Pacific vibe that should fit in with it’s surroundings even better.

But it will be hard to improve upon that postcard-worthy beach, and I’m also sure the resident chickens at the resort (and all of Kauai) aren’t going anywhere - serving as a most reliable alarm clock - and as our own Chris Baldwin indicated in his helpful Hawaii Tips column this week, Hawaii isn’t a place where you should be hitting the snooze (you won’t find me typing any 1 a.m. blogs over there).

Both the Princeville hotel and Makai’s Lakes and Ocean nines will open in 2009. If you can’t wait that long to get to Kauai (and I don’t blame you), the Prince Course is operating normally and the Woods nine at the Makai (which I didn’t get a chance to check out) is open as normal. The hotel, closed until 2009 as well, will find you a suitable guest room elsewhere on the island if you call them. Personally, I would recommend Grand Hyatt down in Poipu Bay, which is as Hawaiian as it gets. Guest rooms have huge, open-air balconies and Tidepools, an open-air restaurant sitting over koi ponds with a luau drumming away in the background, captivates you in such a way that by the time dessert arrives, you’re convinced that when you get back to the mainland, you’re quitting your job, ditching your car and jumping on the next plane back - content with taking the first job you can find that lets you surf on your lunch break like so many locals in Hanalei swear by.

You can check up on Princeville course and resort updates at Princeville.com.

The Princeville Resort is going under the knife, but it will be hard to make the secluded beach any better than it is now.