Waialae Country Club is one of those places that genuinely earns its reputation. We visited the property earlier this year as part of Smartgolfcourses' ongoing exploration of Oahu's golf landscape, and we were lucky enough to be there for the Sony Open in January, catching the Pro-Am and staying through the Final Tournament on January 18th. Watching Chris Gotterup close out the 2026 edition on that Sunday was something we won't forget quickly.The course itself, designed by Seth Raynor back in 1927, is a masterclass in strategic layout. It doesn't rely on length or drama to challenge you. It relies on precision, wind reading, and the kind of greens that keep even tour professionals honest. The iconic coconut tree formation on the 16th, the redan-style par 3 on the 8th, the way the nines flip for tournament week, it all adds up to a course experience that feels genuinely different from anything else on the island.The facilities are polished without being pretentious. The atmosphere during tournament week was electric in the best possible way. Families, golf fans, sponsors, and players all sharing the same space on one of the sport's historic properties. That's a hard thing to manufacture and Waialae has it naturally.Now, the recent news that the PGA Tour is stepping back from its Hawaii presence starting in 2027, ending The Sentry in Maui and exploring a transition of the Sony Open to the PGA Tour Champions circuit, has understandably stirred conversation. We read it carefully and our honest reaction is this: it doesn't diminish golf in Hawaii one bit. If anything, it opens a door. Hawaii has always been bigger than any single tournament on any tour's schedule. The courses, the culture, the players who developed their games here, and the global audience that has tuned in for decades, none of that goes anywhere. What changes is the format. And new formats bring new creative energy, new sponsor opportunities, and frankly, new room for the kind of innovation the sport needs. We're optimistic.

Waialae Beach is among the Absolute Best Beaches on Oahu. We really love visiting Waialae Beach. It involves a little drive from Waikiki Beach. We go here by Uber that way we can completely and entirely Relax.

We were lucky enough to be able to have our wedding ceremony at this location! It was so beautiful and made our day so very special! We were blessed by early morning rains with a beautiful rainbow, then sunshine during our ceremony in the afternoon!

Nice neighborhood beach, hard to get to, parking can be a challenge.The sea breeze is nice if you come on a summer day, the green foliage covers the sitting area, you can sit there and very much will bring you back in time to a youthful and worry free day. Winter can be a bit cold though.

This beach is a nice rug away in a residential neighborhood, hard to get to, but worth a trip. It is especially nice in a sunny hot afternoon, because of the nice foliage covered sitting area, you have the sea wind directly below in front of you， cool and calming experience , parking can be very challenging, as the parking lot is small for the purpose of the visit crowd.