In Volume 2 of The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, Tom Doak published that.

“A desert-style layout in the lava across the road above Mauna Kea, this Palmer design features exaggerated bunkering and a lot of uphill and downhill holes due to the development-oriented routing. I played it back before the houses were all built, but it looked like it might get really narrow once the development was built out. If I was staying at the Prince Hotel I’d probably spend most of my time at the beach.“

Hapuna Golf Club received a score of 4 out of 10 from Tom Doak and a score of 5 out of 10 from one of his co-authors.