Pukalani Country Club Still Runs Its Clubhouse Out of Two Trailers

Pukalani Country Club's clubhouse consists of two trailers at 360 Pukalani Street, one serving as the pro shop and one holding the kitchen, joined by a covered deck overlooking fairways that slope toward the ocean. A rooster and a small flock of chickens work the grounds like they are on payroll. On Friday and Saturday nights, the prime rib sells out, and regulars know to call ahead.

Pukalani Country Club is a local course where players return to its eighteen holes week after week.

The Course and Its Signature Hole

Bob Baldock designed Pukalani Country Club, one of more than sixty-nine courses he laid out across the country, and construction wrapped in 1980. The layout sits at roughly 1,100 feet on the slope of Haleakalā, high enough that the air is noticeably cooler than the sea-level courses in Kaanapali or Wailea, and the 160 acres of fairway and rough climb and drop with the mountain rather than around it.

The signature hole is the third, and it is signature because of a decision, not a view. Golfers reach a fork: hit a tough iron across a ravine and into the wind toward one green, or play a steep chip shot down to a second, well-trapped green several hundred feet below. With two greens on the third hole, the course has nineteen greens across its eighteen holes.

The Clubhouse and Course Operations

The current general manager is Ronald G. Huffman, a PGA member listed in the PGA's facility directory as running the club out of Kihei.

Golfers are instructed to have their cart back twenty minutes before sundown, a rule that can cost a slow-playing group the last two or three holes of a round.

Visitors who have played Pukalani across many seasons describe its fairways and greens as holding up well.

Dining at the Clubhouse

The restaurant side of the operation runs off the same deck, serving breakfast and lunch daily with a Friday and Saturday prime rib special that has built a following well beyond the golfers finishing their rounds. Locals treat it as a dinner destination in its own right, not an afterthought attached to eighteen holes, and the reservation-only prime rib nights are the clearest sign of that. Those diners make the trip because the kitchen has earned it.

The golf course doubles as a social club, and the clubhouse restaurant serves prime rib. Together, they offer a local gathering place in the Pukalani neighborhood.

For regular golfers and diners, Pukalani Country Club is part of the local routine.

If you're curious what living near a course like this actually feels like day to day, or you're weighing Pukalani against other Upcountry neighborhoods for a move, Mino McLean knows this stretch of Haleakalā's slope well enough to walk you through it. Request a personalized consultation when you're ready to talk specifics.