Kukio Golf and Beach Club

Tom Fazio's first Hawaiian design, this distinguished championship course winds through diverse natural zones on the Big Island's Kona-Kohala coast with 400 feet of elevation change. a storied private clubs in Hawaii.

Kukio Golf and Beach Club on the North Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii represents the pinnacle of Tom Fazio's work in the Hawaiian Islands — his first and only commission in the state, a 1,100-acre private residential retreat developed by Michael Meldman's Discovery Land Company that opened in 2003 with an 18-hole championship course and a companion 10-hole short course, both conceived to take full advantage of among the dramatic coastal landscapes in American golf. The property stretches along the Kohala Coast south of Kailua-Kona, a landscape defined by ancient lava flows, native coastal vegetation, and the vivid contrast between the black volcanic rock and the deep blue of the Pacific. Fazio embraced the lava as a design element rather than treating it as an obstacle to be removed, routing holes through naturally occurring corridors where the volcanic stone creates the visual framing and strategic definition that on a mainland course would be achieved by trees or earthworks.

The result is a course of extraordinary visual drama — holes that move across lava fields toward ocean horizons, with the Hualalai and Mauna Loa volcanoes providing backdrop to the distant mountains. The championship course plays to 7,419 yards from the back tees, with four par fives that average more than 475 yards each — holes built for the altitude-assisted ball flights of the trade wind conditions that define play on the Kona Coast. The elevation changes across the property, approximately 400 feet from the lowest coastal holes to the highest inland positions, create a variety of perspectives and playing conditions that shift dramatically from hole to hole.

Trade winds sweeping across the lava fields demand continuous recalibration of shot shape and club selection, making course management a critical skill on any given day. The accompanying 10-hole short course — designed simultaneously by Fazio as an integral part of the Kukio golfing experience rather than a supplementary facility — provides a more intimate and accessible complement to the championship course, its holes routing through terrain closer to the coast with spectacular ocean views from most positions. At 2,261 yards across 10 holes, the short course offers a complete and challenging golf experience in a shorter timeframe, and its design reflects the same philosophy of site-sensitive design that defines the championship layout.

Discovery Land Company's model at Kukio — combining high-quality golf design with a carefully curated residential community of limited membership — ensures that the property retains the exclusivity and intimacy that Fazio's design was built to serve. The club remains among the sought-after private golf memberships in Hawaii, a place where Fazio's instinct for using natural landscape as the primary design element produced one of his most original and visually spectacular works.