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

“When I wrote a short-lived column for Esquire, featuring courses I’d seen since the publication of the first edition of this book, I described Manele Bay as a “six-star resort” and the fact-checkers called me to ask who’d given it the six stars. There isn’t such a thing – I was trying to be funny and to emphasize how luxurious it is – but since then I’ve seen resorts in Dubai advertise stars that do not exist!  

The Challenge (Manele Golf Course) does earn its 6 on the Doak scale. It’s a spectacular layout, with three holes clinging to cliffs two hundred feet above the ocean; in springtime you can look down on the whales cavorting in the bay below. It must be a windy spot, too – the flags are wind socks! Whether you’re a day tripper on the ferry from Lahaina, or wealthy enough to afford to stay at the resort, it’s certainly worth the boat ride across.“

The Four Seasons Lanai Manele Golf Course received a score of 6 out of 10 from Tom Doak and a score of 5 out of 10 from one of his co-authors.