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

“The foundational course at Kapalua has the advantage of a bit of oceanfront real estate – the par-3 5^th across the rocks – but many of the other holes suffer from being a real estate project first and a golf project second. It wasn’t until Mark Rolfing started having influence here a few years after the opening that golf became the focus of the place.“

The Bay Course at Kapalua Resort received a score of 4 out of 10 from Tom Doak and a score of 3 out of 10 from one of his co-authors.