Golf Guide: Oahu - HI

Since Oahu is home to 40 public and private courses, more than any other Hawaiian island, this must-visit golf destination delivers a range of golfing opportunities, from low-key municipal tracks to such premier courses as Waialae Country Club, which hosts the PGA Tour's Sony Open each January. Golfers, however, may want to slip some of the island's other attractions into their itineraries before they tee it up.

Honolulu, the capital of the state of Hawaii, helps grant Oahu a vibrancy the other Hawaiian Islands lack. Travelers, for example, can step off the sand of famous Waikiki Beach and walk to the heart of a bustling metropolis, featuring oodles of nightlife, in minutes.

Oahu, however, delivers plenty of natural attractions. Fans of surfing should make a pilgrimage to Oahu's North Shore to watch intrepid surfers challenge the world-famous break, and fans of scenery should check out the dramatic mountain vistas from Nuuanu Pali Lookout.

Yet when tee times loom, golfers are truly in paradise. In Honolulu, the William F. Bell-designed Hawaii Kai Golf Course and the Moanalua Golf Club, designed by Damon Estate, deliver quality rounds within a short drive of Waikiki Beach.

Turtle Bay Resort, located at the northern tip of the island in Kahuku, delivers two phenomenal courses. The Palmer Course, designed by the King and Ed Seay, hosts the Champions Tour event each year, and the adjacent course, the Fazio, is the only George Fazio design in the state and delivers incomparable ocean views and deep and daunting bunkers.