The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course

The Dunes at Maui Lani sits on Maui's central isthmus, the low valley that links the remains of the island's two volcanoes and gives the Valley Isle its name. It is the only course in Hawaii routed over naturally occurring dune terrain.

Architect Robin Nelson took his cues from the existing landforms rather than reshaping them, and the course was built with minimal earth-moving — an approach closer to the links courses of past centuries than to the heavily engineered style common in twentieth-century American design. Modern elements such as irrigation are layered onto that older framework, giving the layout a mix of traditional and contemporary character.