Waialae CC & Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC

On the PGA Tour the second and last event of the Hawaiian swing sees the first full field of the year competing in the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club on the Big Island of Oahu. Opened in 1927 for the use of guests at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Waialae hosted the first ever Hawaiian Open Championship in 1928 and since 1965 has been the home venue of the only official PGA Tour event in Hawaii. Waialae’s lush fairways and exquisitely manicured greens have a majestic mountain backdrop fronted by the azure blue Pacific Ocean, and this picture perfect setting is an annual highlight for golf spectators around the world. For the Sony Open San Francisco architect Seth Naylor’s 6400m par 70 emerald green gem has the nines reversed from the normal routing, in order to gain best advantage of spectacular sunsets as the leaders approach the home holes. With reachable par 5’s closing each loop and a driveable par 4 for the longer hitters, Waialae offers players exciting scoring opportunities in a stunningly beautiful and historic setting.

On the European Tour and co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour we see the Joburg Open in the Highveld where weather is always a factor at this time of year with seasonal thunderstorms coming into the picture. The event takes place at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club on the East and West courses for the first two days, with the weekend rounds on the East Course after the 65 + ties cut. Although the beautiful wide open fairways and greens of the West Course have undergone substantial recent upgrades after originally opening for play in 1909, it is the East Course that is the jewel in the crown. Bob Grimsdell’s 1935 design has hosted 7 SA Opens and has retained its original character despite undergoing substantial revamping since 1998. After a gentle par 5 opener, players are thrust into a mini Amen Corner with a 230m par 3 followed by two 435m par 4’s. The back nine starts with what are reputedly the world’s longest back-to-back par 4’s, the outrageous 474m 10th, and the course’s signature hole, the wonderful 457m dogleg 11th. The reachable 505m par 5 18th is a worthy risk and reward finish that may yield birdie or better, but can also deal out big numbers to the unsuspecting.



Golfweather Editorial