The Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Resort in Hawaii

The Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Resort in Maui hosts the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship and it's super-sized in almost every way.

This course in the West Maui resort land of Kapalua has wide, wide fairways, giants greens with plenty of break and some fairly large ocean looks too. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are the designers and they worked hard to make sure that the 240 acres of hilly terrain set aside for the course was used to maximum effect.

There are uphill climbs and downhill rollercoasters. The par 3s are showy, particularly the eighth with a canyon clear and the 11th with its ocean perch, but the strength of Plantation Course can be found in its tough par 4s and monster par 5s. No. 1 - a downhill 473-yard par 4 - and No. 18 - a 663-yard par 5 that plays toward the ocean - are prime examples.

Plantation carries a hefty-sized greens fee to go with its rep of being one of the best golf courses in Hawaii.