The first full-field PGA Tour event of 2024 is finally upon us. The hype is slowly building up in the community as the Sony Open in Hawaii gets ready to kick off on January 11. On top of that, a total of 144 players would be teeing it up for a winner’s cut of $8.3 million and first place. Well, it appears Hawaii is in for yet another scintillating display of golf.

Although it is not a signature event like the Sentry at Kapalua in Maui, many have started to become curious about the second event that the islands would witness. Moreover, among the questions that arose during the same was about the venue where it is being played—a place that boasted and still brags about being the home to the event for more than 50 years!

The challenging location of the Wai’alae Country Club

A long list of players including the likes of Chris Kirk, Will Zalatoris, and defending champion Si Woo Kim, would tee it off at the Wai’alae Country Club which would be hosting the event for the 59th year since its inaugural start in 1965. Since then, the tournament has been played every year except 1970, when a schedule change forced them to move the date to early 1971.

The golf course on the island of Oahu was designed by Seth Raynor and his associate, Charles Banks. Moreover, they also supervised the building of the same, which was carried out by the Territorial Hotel Co. to promote “luxury travel trade” to the American state. The course was made on the land that was leased from Bernice P. Bishop Estate, which was then subsequently opened to the public in February, back in 1927.

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The layout provides a challenge to any professional golfer through its number of holes. From the 8th hole, designed after the famous Redan hole on Scotland’s North Berwick Course, to the par-3 13th, which was drawn after the Biarritz Course in France, the course does offer a bite to the challenger. Apart from these two, Raynor also took to replicate the 6th hole of the National Course in Southampton into the 16th and the Road Hole at St. Andrews in Scotland into the 10th one in Wai’alae.

As the Sony Open in Hawaii takes place on such a beautiful, iconic, and historic course, many eyes will naturally fall on the tournament. What’s more, many would be wondering about the history of such an event, which boasts almost six decades of history.

The legacy of the full-field event in Hawaii

Initially titled the Hawaiian Open until 1990, the tournament saw its name changed to the United Hawaiian Open in 1991 and then to the United Airlines Hawaiian Open the following year after United Airlines became the lead sponsor in 1991. However, Sony succeeded the popular flight company in 1999, which led it to become known as what it is today.

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The second event on the 2023 calendar saw Si-woo Kim emerge victorious with a score of 18-under 262. He was able to win over Hayden Buckley and take home a total of $1,422,000 from a prize purse of $7.9 million. This year, the South Korean would be looking to mark the 59th year of the event with his win against the talented field of 143 golfers. Well, one thing is for sure: the golf world is set to witness an amazing tournament this week!

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