Waialae's no longer pitch-and-putt

By Bill Kwon
Special to the Advertiser

Well, nobody's laughing ever since it became the Sony Open in Hawai'i five years ago, the same time the course was toughened and made a par 70 instead of a 72 by turning two par-5s into par-4s, a la the U.S. Open.

More so when the kona winds whip up like yesterday. It was a tough day.

"It wasn't easy out there," said Aaron Baddeley.

"The course seemed to be playing tougher today," said Retief Goosen.

And these guys are the co-leaders with 36-hole scores of 130.

It's more than the change in par that makes Waialae a tougher test now, according to Chris DiMarco, tied for third with Ernie Els and Peter Lonard at 131 going into today's third round.

DiMarco, who's playing at Waialae for the eighth time, just looks at his 66 yesterday as whatever it is in relation to par.

The golf course is now more difficult, DiMarco says, because they've added distance on the second, fifth, sixth and eighth holes.

"Probably 400 more yards on the front nine. That's the nine that really plays tough now," he said. "Once you get to nine, that's when the birdies start. You just try to weather your round through the first eight holes, then you can really score."

"I think this course plays more difficult with this (Kona) wind," said Brad Faxon, who shot a 20-under-par 260 which is still a Sony Open record when he won in 2001, although Goosen and Baddeley are halfway there.

"Some of the par-4s now are really more difficult."

Sure enough, 15-20 mph southwest winds yesterday made it a tough day out there, particularly on the front side.

Goosen got a first-hand taste of how tough, picking up only one stroke on the field after making the turn at 9-under with the front side to go.

"This is a tough driving course," said Goosen, who never knew the old Waialae since he's playing the course for the first time. "The greens are very small and the fairways are very tight. And the heavy rough makes it very tricky."

DiMarco can fill Goosen in on what it once was like.

"No. 1 to me is almost a par-5," DiMarco said. "When one plays in the wind like this, it's pretty tough. I think one's a better hole as a par-5 because the green's so shallow. It's hard when you've got to hit a 3-iron or 5-wood in there."

Jeff Sluman is biased, having won the inaugural Sony Open in 1999 when Waialae became a par-70 for the first time. He wants to keep it that way.

"This is the kind of course I like. Were there's a lot more premium on shot-making," he said.

"(Hole)18 and nine are reachable for everybody if the trades are going. Sometimes when we play par 72, or 73 like last week, Ernie and some of the big guys can get home and we can't. With two (extra) par-5 holes like that, essentially they're starting out eight shots better for the week."

Still, it's not easy out there, according to Sluman. "One and 13 are not easy par-4s. They're brutal."

The average score for the 488-yard opening hole, ranked the most difficult in both rounds, was 4.45 yesterday with 51 bogeys compared to only six birdies.

"Now, we don't have one and 13 to look forward to," said Huston, back home in Florida when he watched Els shoot a record 31-under in the Mercedes Championships last week at Kapalua's wide-open, par-73 Plantation Course.

Huston wasn't surprised.

"With four par-5s, that's at least 4-under a day for him," Huston said. "It's hard to compete with these guys. Years ago, the longer guys were wild. Now, they're straight."

There's always room on the tour for courses like Waialae, according to Kenny Perry.

"This is the way golf courses should be built. Not 7,400 yards long, but a course that makes you shape shots off the tee and makes chipping difficult."

After all the years taking heat, it's nice to see Waialae finally getting some respect.