Dave Nakama says preparing the golf course at Waialae Country Club in Kahala for the annual Sony Open in Hawaii is almost a year-long job.
The week-long event that begins Monday draws more than 50,000 spectators with 144 of the world’s best golfers scheduled to play.
To get the course up to PGA Tour standards, work begins in early November to create “uniform” playing conditions on the par-70 layout that plays 7,125 yards from the championship tees. (For members, the course is a par-72 that tips out at 6,627 yards.)
Nakama, who has been course superintendent since 2003, and his crew of 26 maintenance employees focus their attention on the course’s greens, rough and bunkers.
“For the tournament, we have to keep things consistent throughout the course to get the greens all playing at the same speed and getting each of the 83 bunkers to play the same,” he said. “We try to maintain it at tournament conditions throughout the year and keep the aesthetics looking right.”
Workers start an hour earlier — 4 a.m. — during the preparation months and work six days a week.
The Waialae course is flipped for the Sony Open, meaning the usual front nine holes become the tournament’s back nine. Nakama said Waialae’s ninth hole is roomier to accommodate grandstands and skyboxes as an 18th hole during the Sony Open.
With the tournament held during the tail end of Hawaii’s wet winter season, Nakama said growing conditions are a challenge.