Special Places - Waialae Country Club

Golf’s 2011 calendar got under way with gloriously sunny weather at all the three big events that took place. Jonathan Byrd’s Hoganesque swing triumphed over long hitter Robert Garrigus in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Maui, Louis Oosthuizen’s pedigree came through as he won a three-way playoff in the Africa Open in East London, and playing captain Colin Montgomerie’s lowly-ranked European team completed a remarkable final day comeback against Asia to retain the Royal Trophy at the Black Mountain Golf Club in Thailand.

This week the PGA Tour stays in Hawaii for the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu on the big island of O’ahu with Jonathan Byrd looking to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to win the two season-opening events. Designed by Seth Raynor in 1927 for guests of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Waialae boasts a spectacular setting with a backdrop of the Koolau mountain range on one side, and the azure blue Pacific Ocean on the other. The course has been the home of a PGA Tour event since 1965 and underwent an update and renovation by Desmond Muirhead in 1992. Playing to a par 70 and extending to just under 6500 metres, the layout has narrow fairways, doglegs on half of the holes and well-protected greens. The lush fairways and towering palm trees of this beautifully manicured layout present a picture perfect setting for spectators, and many holes are stunning with vast sweeping views.

Waialae’s signature hole is the par 3 17th, which is normally the 8th as the front and back nine are reversed for tournament play. This 170m gem has a large bunker protecting the left of the Bermuda grass green, and a cluster of four deep bunkers guarding the right. Add in the winds off the Pacific and par is a great score.

The first full-field event of the year will demand driving accuracy together with trajectory control due to the ever-present prevailing winds that can be anywhere from a whisper to a roar. Waialae’s course record is a superb 61 carded by David Toms in the third round on the way to victory in 2006. This is also the course and tournament where Hawaiian-born Michelle Wie as a teenage prodigy tried unsuccessfully several times a few years ago to make the cut in a men’s tour event.