Inside the course: Waialae Country Club, Honolulu

text size
Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size
Waialae Country Club, in the heart of Hawaii's state capital -- Honolulu -- paints the perfect picture of the islands.
Gross/Getty Images
Waialae Country Club, in the heart of Hawaii's state capital -- Honolulu, paints the perfect picture of the islands.
Email This Story Print This Story RSS
Jan. 12, 2011

The TOUR island hops to Oahu for the second leg of the Hawaii tournaments this week for the Sony Open at Waialae CC.

Fast facts
Course Superintendent Dave Nakama
Original architect Seth Raynor and Charles Banks (1927)
Redesign Desmond Muirhead (1992)
Par value 70
Number of TOUR events as host venue 47 (including 2011)
Course ranking Ranked 21 (out of 52) in difficulty on the PGA TOUR in 2010
Yardage history 7,234 yards (1965-1984)
  6,975 (1985-1996)
  7,012 (1997-1998)
  7,060 (1999-2006)
  7,044 (2007-2009)
  7,068 (2010)
  7,044 (2011)
Grass Bermudagrass (tees, fairways, rough, greens)
Tournament Stimpmeter 11 ft
Sand bunkers 78
Water hazards 4
Course tour Click here
Course record
Player
David Toms
Year
2006
Round
3rd
Finish
1
Holes-in-one
There have been nine aces recorded during the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Player Hole Year
Dan Pohl 17th 1983
Bill Glasson 7th 1987
Dave Barr 11th 1991
Carl Cooper 11th 1993
Richard Zokol 4th 1995
Greg Kraft 4th 1998
Shigeki Maruyama 7th 2001
Hidemichi Tanaka 7th 2002
Shigeki Maruyama 4th 2005
Casey Wittenberg 4th 2009
2010 Rankings
Most Difficult Hole
The par-4 423-yard 2nd A tee moved 60 yards back and across the stream has really added teeth to this hole. It brings the lake, which runs down the left side back into play for the longer hitters. A very demanding tee shot must be placed between the lake and two fairway bunkers guarding the right side. A good drive will leave a middle iron to a fairly generous green.
2010: 0 eagles, 34 birdies, 278 pars, 100 bogeys, 23 double bogeys, 2 others.
Easiest hole
The par-5 506-yard 9th Normally played as No. 18 by Waialae members, this par 5 requires accuracy on both the drive and the second shot. O.B. runs down the entire hole on both sides. A strong left-to-right wind makes things even tougher. It is reachable in two strokes, however, and has given up its share of birdies.
2010: 15 eagles, 247 birdies, 152 pars, 16 bogeys, 6 double bogeys and 1 others.
2010 Course stats
Hole Par Yards 2010 Avg. Score Rank Hole Par Yards 2010 Avg. Score Rank
1 4 480 4.20 3 10 4 351 3.87 16
2 4 423 4.27 1 11 3 194 3.06 7
3 4 422 3.95 15 12 4 440 4.05 10
4 3 204 3.20 4 13 4 477 4.24 2
5 4 467 4.01 12 14 4 430 4.04 11
6 4 460 4.13 5 15 4 398 4.07 6
7 3 176 3.06 7 16 4 417 3.98 13
8 4 454 3.98 14 17 3 194 3.05 9
9 5 506 4.44 18 18 5 551 4.44 17
Travel features
LINKS Magazine has the latest on playing golf in Hawaii
Destination: Oahu | Ranking the islands | Photos | More from LINKS
Course origins
The Golf Course was opened for play on February 1, 1927.

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Waialae Golf Course were built by the Territorial Hotel Co. as part of a promotional program to develop luxury travel trade to Hawaii. Matson Navigation Co. built the luxury passenger liner Malolo as part of this program. The hotel and golf course lands were leased from the Bernice P. Bishop Estate.

Mr. Seth Raynor, world famous golf architect, and his associate, Mr. Charles Banks, designed and supervised the building of Waialae. Their outstanding work is reflected on many of our holes.

Local players were able to use the course, and by payment of annual fees for play became "privilege card holders" in the Territorial Hotel Company's Waialae Golf Club. In 1930, a group of these Waialae players formed a private club within the Waialae Golf Club which they called Waialae Country Club. Waialae Country Club dates from September 29, 1930 when this group was formally organized and By-Laws were adopted. It enlarged a small service building close to the main clubhouse, installed showers, and had its own clubhouse where the swimming pool is now.

The great depression of the 1930s severely reduced travel and resulted in bankruptcy of the Territorial Hotel Co. Matson took over the obligations and interests of the Territorial Hotel Co. which included the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Moana Hotel, and Waialae golf Club. During these years play on the course was mainly by local privilege card holders, most of whom were members of Waialae Country Club.

In August of 1941, fire destroyed the Waialae Pavilion which was used by Waialae Golf Club for dining and dancing, and Matson decided to turn the golf course and remaining buildings over to Waialae Country Club. Before this plan was consummated, the United States had entered World War II, the military had requisitioned the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and numerous military defenses had been installed along Oahu's coastline including the golf course at Waialae.

Waialae Country Club was incorporated on September 30, 1942 and became lessee of the golf course acreage and a small section of land owned by Matson on which the old Isenberg home (later The Pavilion) had been located. The military built a replacement for the Pavilion because of the heavy use of the course by military personnel during the war. -- Source: http://www.waialaecc.com
Tournament course history
Course Location Years
Waialae CC Honolulu, Hawaii 1965-present
Email This Story   Print This Story   RSS   Bookmark and Share
SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
PGATOUR shop

Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM

FANTASY

Click Here
© 1995-2012 PGA TOUR, Inc. | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and the swinging golfer logo are registered trademarks.
Turner PGATOUR.com is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network