1. KAPALUA PLANTATION
Par 4, Championship tee: 473 | Regular: 434 | Ladies: 381

One of the most visually appealing opening holes found anywhere, this Plantation Course par-4 provides a panoramic view of the downhill, downwind fairway of immense proportions, with the Pacific Ocean and Molokai in the background.

Making it a more obvious choice as the best opening hole in Hawaii is that it's where the first tee shot of the year is launched on the PGA Tour. Since 1999, the Plantation Course has been the site of the winners-only Mercedes Championship, which officially begins the tour season each January.

Despite its length, 473 yards from the championship tee, the challenging opening hole has an expansive, receptive green that slopes from left to right. The difficulty of the hole is more psychological than physical, especially if it's the first shot of the round or of the PGA season for the PGA pros, who gladly would take a par and head for the next tee.

Fortunately, a generous fairway that slopes left makes the hole less intimidating than it really is. It plays extremely difficult with an opposite Kona wind which can mean a difference of three or four clubs.

The PGA Tour indeed begins here.

And the Kapalua Plantation's first hole is unchallenged as the best opening hole in the state.

2. WAIKOLOA BEACH
Par 4, Championship tee: 390 | Resort: 370 | Forward: 306

The dog-leg left par-5 12th with its distracting ocean view is Waikoloa Beach's postcard hole with its vivid colors of blue water, lush green fairway, black lava hazard and white sand traps. But when it comes to the best second hole of any golf course in Hawaii, this Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed par-4 easily gets the nod.

From the tee which offers a view of Mauna Kea in the distance, it's a blind tee shot, but the key is to squeeze a drive close to the left fairway bunker 220 yards away.

Accurately placed, it could mean a difference of two or three clubs for the approach shot to a green guarded by a lake in front. An intimidating second shot with a long iron or fairway wood because it's all carry.

Large bunkers on the back of the green await many an anxious third shot for those who lay up.

3. MAUNAKEA
Par 3, Black tee 261 | Blue: 200 | Orange: 180 | White: 140

Hawaii’s most famous and most photographed hole and surely its most dramatic because it requires a heroic carry over a wave-crashing inlet to a long and narrow cliff-side green surrounded by seven bunkers. Favor the right-side slope and let your ball kick to the left to the green which is 60 feet wide.

Opening in 1964, Mauna Kea was Hawaii’s first great golf course. Located on the Kohala coast of the Big Island, it remains the standard by which all other Hawaii courses are judged. And to be regarded as the signature hole of such a golf course, makes this par-3 truly special, not only because of its aesthetics but because it's a challenging golf hole as well.

The late Robert Trent Jones, the dean of American golf course architects, regarded this signature hole as one of his personal favorite par-3 holes and one of the most spectacular holes he designed.

4. KAPALUA BAY
Par 4, Championship tee: 357 | Regular: 321 | Ladies: 281

The first of only two holes close to the ocean at the Kapalua Resort’s three championship courses of which the Bay Course is the friendliest, this scenic par-4 with a hard dog-leg left requires a precise drive to the right center of the downhill fairway.

A tall stand of trees and a lava rock pile block the approach shot to the green which is situated on a peninsula. To its left is the Bay Course’s signature hole, the par-3 fifth with a 150-yard carry over water. Looking back at the right from the wind-swept green, you’ll see Fleming Beach.

5. HUALALAI NICKLAUS COURSE
Par 3, Back tee: 205 | Championship: 174 | Regular: 151 | Forward: 126

The toughest par-3 hole on the regular stop of the PGA Champions Tour with a scoring average of 3.35, tied for 16th as the most difficult overall last year.

Senior tour pros have been intimidated by this challenging hole (205 yards from the mahope (back) tee since it has played as the most difficult ever since the private course first hosted the season-opening MasterCard Championship in 1997.

The wind from the right into your face can make a precise shot difficult, more so with a green guarded by a lake on the entire right side. Miss it left, and a substantial slope feeds the tee shot into a bunker, leading to the next shot facing the same lake across the green.

6. KAPALUA VILLAGE
Par 4, Championship tee: 345 | Regular: 290 | Ladies: 261

This hole, along with the picturesque seventh, provides one with a sense of the beauty of the West Maui mountains and its lush valleys.

At this short, dog-leg left par-4, position is everything because there’s a deep valley along the left of the fairway and a huge lake on the right. Try to draw the tee shot. If you hit it too straight, a big tree about 50 yards from the green comes into play.

The sixth is the first of three great holes that Arnold Palmer designed to utilize the terrain. No. 7 is a sheer beauty with a 100-foot drop to a green protected by a lake on the right, while No. 8 is all downhill to a green that’s closer than it looks. But hurry, the Village Course will close Feb. 28 with Tom Fazio redesigning it for members only. Still, he will be hard pressed to improve on this stretch of three holes.

7. PRINCEVILLE MAKAI OCEAN
Par 3, Blue tee: 204 | White: 152 | Red: 111

You can’t help but take a deep breath at the teeing area. Not only because the view is spectacular with Hanalei Bay and the Garden Island’s north shore mountains in the background.

From the championship tee, you must carry your tee shot 200 yards over a ravine that is 160 feet deep with the sea churning against the rocks below. The carry is around 145 yards for the less hardier souls who hit from the regulation tee.

Be smart and favor the left side of the green for a favorable bounce and a chance for an easier birdie try.

8. WAILEA GOLD COURSE
Par 3, Gold tee: 216 | Blue: 188 | White: 154 | Red: 107

Golf architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. doesn’t like the term signature hole. Each one is a signature hole, he says. But a tip-off that this par-3 eighth gets most of the eye-catching attention is evident: it’s featured on the scorecard.

Looking downward from an elevated tee at the palm-framed green with a backdrop of a serene blue sea and both Kahoolawe and Molokini in the background, this hole visually lulls one’s senses until it’s time to tee it up from one of the four tees. With hazardous lava rocks everywhere and bunkers on the left and right of the green, hit it high and straight or else.

9. ROYAL KUNIA
Par 5, Black tee: 621 | Blue: 594 | White: 564 | Gold: 492

Located high in the uplands of Central Oahu, this legitimate threeshot par-5 is both beauty and beast. Visually, it offers a panoramic view of Honolulu, Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor in the distance. Yes, you can make out the Battleship Missouri and the Arizona Memorial. It’s Royal Kunia’s signature hole.

The more immediate challenge is playing to a hole that is 621 yards from the tips. There is water all along the right, daring one to shorten shots from tee and fairway for an attempt at an up-and-down birdie. It’s a hole that allows even a high-handicap golfer to post a satisfying score by affording a chance to play it safely all along the left side until reaching the green.