The 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii is played this year at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The tournament's host course has been at the Hawaiian club since 1965, when the event as we know it began.
Waialae Country Club plays as a par-70 golf course, playing to a scorecard distance of 7,044 yards, making it one of the shortest golf course on the PGA Tour. Four courses on the PGA Tour player under 7,000 yards, and two of them are for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Waialae Country Club scorecard breakdown
Waialae Country Club has two par 5s, four par 3s and 12 par 4s, and the golf course finishes with a getable par 5.
There's a similar length in two of the par 3s, ranging from 176 yards to 204 yards. The par 5s are eagle opportunities for any player in the field and must be taken advantage of this week.
The par 4s, though, are generally longer than 400 yards -- which wasn't the case at Kapalua, that had a wide range of lengths. The par 4s are key to any course but especially so here given that the par 5s are easy birdies.
Waialae Country Club scorecard
| HOLE | YARDS | PAR |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 480 | 4 |
| 2 | 423 | 4 |
| 3 | 422 | 4 |
| 4 | 204 | 3 |
| 5 | 467 | 4 |
| 6 | 460 | 4 |
| 7 | 176 | 3 |
| 8 | 454 | 4 |
|
| ||
| 9 | 506 | 5 |
| OUT | 3592 | 35 |
| 10 | 351 | 4 |
| 11 | 194 | 3 |
| 12 | 440 | 4 |
| 13 | 477 | 4 |
| 14 | 430 | 4 |
| 15 | 398 | 4 |
|
| ||
| 16 | 417 | 4 |
| 17 | 194 | 3 |
| 18 | 551 | 5 |
| IN | 3452 | 35 |
| TOTAL | 7044 | 70 |
Waialae Country Club course breakdown
Now that we know the layout of the golf course, what else makes Waialae Country Club a challenge?
Waialae is a Golden Age golf course, with Seth Raynor's hand in it. It's a fabulous course that requires great ballstriking but not much in the way of length. Length doesn't hurt, but there are lots of pinch points on the course that make it difficult for a longer player to fully flex their muscle.
Ultimately, getting up and down around this course is tricky because of the green complexes. Of course, this also tends to turn into a track meet without wind. Hit the greens, stick it close and make the putts.
If you're not taking advantage of the two par 5s that close each side, you're in trouble.
