Waialae Country Club is a private country club in East Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1927 and designed by Seth Raynor, it is a par 72 championship course at 7,125 yards (6,515 m) from the Championship tees. From the Members tees at 6,456 yards (5,903 m), the course rating is 71.8 with a slope rating of 136.[1]
The Waialae golf course hosts the Sony Open in Hawaii on the PGA Tour in January, the first full-field event of the calendar year. The event has had several corporate sponsors since its founding in 1965 as the Hawaiian Open.
Wai'alae is a Hawaiian word for spring water of the mud hen, which comes from mud hen ('alae) and spring water (wai).[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
wai
In the 1830s and 1840s, the location of the artesianspring for the spring water (or wai) in Wai'alae was a closely guarded secret known only by an elderly couple. King Kamehameha III drank from this spring while visiting. During the twentieth century, the location of the spring became unknown.[12][13]
'alae
The wetlands in the Hawaiian Islands are a winter habitat for the American coot which is also known as "mud hen".[14] The Hawaiian mud hen (or 'alae), which is referred to in Wai'alae, is the endemicGallinulasandvicensis and is a close relative of the coot.[5][15] Mud hens, moorhens, marsh hens, and swamp hens are closely related.[15]
^Andrews, Lorrin (1922) [1865]. "12"(pdf). In Parker, Henry Hodges; Bishop Museum; Emerson, J. S.; Mahaulu, Stephen; et al. (eds.). A Dictionary of the Hawai'ian Language (see wai). Honolulu, Hawai'i: The Board of Commissioners of Public Archives of the Territory of Hawai'i. p. 612. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
^Andrews, Lorrin (1922) [1865]. "13"(pdf). In Parker, Henry Hodges; Bishop Museum; Emerson, J. S.; Mahaulu, Stephen; et al. (eds.). A Dictionary of the Hawai'ian Language (see Waialae). Honolulu, Hawai'i: The Board of Commissioners of Public Archives of the Territory of Hawai'i. p. 672. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
