Waialae Country Club hosts the Sony Open...and you, too, if you know this secret.
Here’s a great tip you can use the next time you’re traveling to or through Honolulu, Hawaii (often a required stop before puddle jumping to the other islands).
Only 15 minutes from the airport is Waialae Country Club, where the PGA Tour just finished playing the Sony Open.
I can’t tell you I watched the tournament, but I can tell you how to get on this private golf course, which was originally designed by Seth Raynor and Charles Banks.
So, want to play it the next time you’re in Honolulu?
Here’s exactly what to do.
All you need to do is book a room at the Westin Moana Surfrider hotel (moana-surfrider.com), which has access to a few tee times for its guests at Waialae Country Club.
I picked up this little nugget in the January 2012 issue of Golf Odyssey, whose editors say:
“The owner of Waikiki’s Westin Moana Surfrider is rumored to be a founding member of [Waialae Country Club]. Although the hotel website makes no mention of it, the Westin Moana Surfrider has WCC tee times that guests can access.”
As you might expect from this type of quiet arrangement, the procedure isn’t overly formal. Apparently, the hotel simply gives you a paper voucher that you must present at the WCC pro shop.
Now, despite being a well-manicured PGA Tour course and one of the few layouts on the island of Oahu with true, seaside holes, one Golf Odyssey reader advised to keep your expectations in check.
“Michael R.,” who recently stayed at the Moana Surfrider to play Waialae Country Club reported that, “the layout is fairly uninteresting and quite flat,” and he was surprised at the lack of hospitality shown by the staff and members.
Still, if you like the idea of playing a private course that hosts the PGA Tour, by all means take advantage of this secret way on. Just don’t expect anyone to fawn all over you.
For that, you might have better luck at other Oahu golf courses (reviewed in Golf Odyssey in October 2011), but keep in mind: the only others with holes directly on the water are the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort and the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course.
Which Oahu golf courses have you played? Please share your comments below.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Ko’olau is great fun, provided you play it off suitable tees. Go too far back and it becomes ludicrously difficult.
I have played the Oahu Country Club a number of times. It is short but in a beautiful location on the Pali Highway between Kailua and Honolulu, overlooking the city. From the tips it only plays to 6,000 and a little change but the vistas are gorgeous and it is often very, very windy making it quite challenging despite the length. A beautiful spot.
I’d concur with “Michael R”, the course was uninteresting and not in great shape when I played it a couple of years ago. I did like some of the green complexes but let me say Seth Raynor did not come to mind. I was disappointed. I would play Ko’oalu, Turtle Bay-Palmer, or even Luana Hills any day over Waialae CC. The tariff was on the steep side as well given the condition. I believe I paid $275 or $300. It was worth it to see it but I certainly don’t plan on playing it again unless it’s free. Another note is that the guys I was playing with both were doing the same as I was but they had their head pros from their private clubs called to get them on(they paid the same).
I should have also said that Ko’olau is my favorite course on Oahu. It can get wet and it’s tough the farther back you play but it’s super cool to play in that rain forest. American Golf has been softening it up a bit too much to keep maintenance costs down but it’s still a blast. I preferred it with all the bunkers.
If you can gain access to the Marine Corps Air Station at Kaneohe, you owe it to yourself to play the Klipper Golf Course aka “poor man’s Pebble Beach” as we like to call it. The front nine is downright boring, but several of the back nine holes along the windward coast are spectacular. After your round on a Wednesday or Friday be sure to dine at [open] Club Koa Malina (the old officers’ club) overlooking the golf course. The Mongolian B-B-Q is fantastic and very reasonably priced. There is also a driving range at Bellows AFB several miles south of Kaneohe. Bellows is a morale, welfare, and recreation facility for military folks, but it should be accessible to all.
I would recommend Kapolei. Played it last month, one of the most reasonably priced courses on the island, around $75. Also played at the resort, Ko Olina, nice course as well for around $100.