Kapalua's Bay and Plantation golf courses shine on Maui's northwest shore

LAHAINA, Maui, Hawaii -- Just a few miles north of Lahaina, the main city on Maui's west side is Kapalua, home to 36 holes of golf: Kapalua Resort's Bay Course and Plantation Course, as well as aRitz-Carlton luxury resort and residence club.

The two courses, both operated by Troon Golf, are stark contrasts to one another. The team of Arnold Palmer and Francis Duane designed the Bay Course, which dates back to 1975. It was a former host to an LPGA event and winds through the resort community and even passes by the Honolua Store after the second hole, a general store where golfers can stop in for a quick spam musabi or coffee. The Bay Course also holds the distinction of having Maui's only golf hole that plays over the ocean -- the par-3 fifth.

The Plantation Course lies just north of the Bay and plays on the lush, jungly slopes high above the ocean. The course is the first by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and it features wide fairways and uniquely shaped greens that allow the option for a lot of different shots. A host of the inaugural event on the PGA Tour that welcomes the year's prior winners, the final hole is one of golf's most known -- a 660-yard par 5 that plays downhill and often downwind.