The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course in Hawaii

One of Maui's most unique golf courses, the Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course opened in 1999 and rated by many publications as one of the year's best debuts.

Robin Nelson designed The Dunes at Maui Lani among many Hawaiian golf courses. The terrain at Maui Lani features a good amount of natural, rolling dunesland, and Nelson incorporated it into his design. Steep, small pot bunkers and the often fierce wind help add to the links-like golf experience, albeit with plenty more Hawaiian sunshine than the British Isles. Millions of years of volcanic activity and coastal trade winds helped to form the sand dunes, which make for an ideal golf landscape between two volcanoes in Maui's central valley.

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - No. 1

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's first hole is a 428-yard par 4.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - hole 2

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's par-4 second hole plays 381 yards from the championship tees.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani G.C. - No. 6

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's sixth hole requires a 198-yard shot over water on this daring par 3.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - No. 5

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's par-4 fifth hole features water down the left side.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - No. 12

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's par-4 12th hole features a large bunker beside the green.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani G.C. - No. 18

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's finishing hole is a 588-yard, par 5 monster.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - No. 3

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's par-3 third hole opens a fun stretch in the course's dunesland.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - No. 6

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's sixth hole showcases some of the property's barren dunesland in the background.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani GC - No. 8

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's par-3 eighth hole is guarded by pot bunkers.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course - No. 14

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's 14th hole is a short par 4 at 340 yards.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani

The Dunes at Maui Lani G.C. - No. 17

The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course's 17th hole is a 190-yard par 3.

John Byrne/Dunes at Maui Lani