ShotLink: The ins and outs of Waialae Country Club

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR
Flat, flat, flat: The course at Waialae is probably the easiest walk on TOUR all year.
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Jan. 11, 2011

Waialae produces some the toughest fairways to hit on TOUR year in and year out. In 2010, players were only able to find 47 percent of the fairways from the tee (toughest on TOUR).

Courses with the Toughest Fairways to Hit
Rank Course Percentage of drives in fairway
1 Waialae CC 47.17
2 TPC Four Seasons 48.94
3 Quail Hollow Club 49.44
4 East Lake GC 49.82
5 Torrey Pines North 50.46

Despite its short length and location at sea level, Waialae ranks high in the number of drives exceeding 300 yards:

Courses with Highest Percentage of 300-yard plus drives
Rank Course Percentage of 300-yard plus drives
1 Montreux G&CC 41.15
2 Plantation Course 36.67
3 Waialae CC 34.6
4 East Lake GC 33.57
5 Aronimink Golf Club 33.5

The thick rough at Waialae is tough to navigate, even with a wedge:

Courses with the Longest Proximity to Hole Inside 100 yards (rough)
Rank Course Proximity to Hole Inside 100 yards
1 Montreux G&CC 32' 0"
2 Waialae CC 31' 3"
3 Cog Hill G&CC 31' 1"
4 TPC Sawgrass 30' 10"
5 Aronimink Golf Club 29' 11"

There are only two par-5s at Waialae, and the longest, the 18th, is a mere 551-yards. Note: The only course on this list that isn't a par-70 is TPC Summerlin:

Courses Where Players Go for the Green on Par-5s:
Rank Course Percentage of Players who go for the green on par-5s
1 Waialae CC 79.18
2 Sedgefield Country Club 72.9
3 The Old White Course 69.17
4 TPC Summerlin 68.64
5 East Lake GC 63.33

The opening three holes at Waialae CC were the third toughest opening holes of the 2010 season (Second toughest in non-majors behind the first three holes of Bay Hill Club & Lodge):

Toughest Opening 3 Holes on TOUR
Course Over Par Average on Opening Three Holes
Pebble Beach (US Open) 0.766
Bay Hill Club & Lodge 0.470
Waialae CC 0.426
TPC Four Seasons Resort 0.378
TPC San Antonio 0.267

And finally, a note about the 480-yard first hole, which is among the toughest opening holes on TOUR. This hole was originally designed by Seth Raynor with the famous Road hole of St. Andrews in mind. Depending on the wind, the second shot can be played with anything from a 3-wood to a 9-iron.

Toughest Opening Holes on TOUR
Rank Course Yardage Average Score
1 TPC San Antonio 454 4.376
2 Bay Hill Club & Lodge 441 4.237
3 Augusta National 445 4.206
4 Waialae CC 480 4.204
5 Pebble Beach Golf Links 380 4.199
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