First Cut- Sony Open

Whether this is your first time reading, or you’re a Tour Vet, the First Cut should have something for you. In this “First Cut,” we’ll cover a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time! Ultimately this article should serve as a guide for the week and what’s to come.

Here’s what you can expect to see in the article:

Tournament Intro
Course Preview= By the Numbers, Course Guide
DFS-Preview- Sweat-sheet/Contest Preview
Statistical & Player Preview

Tournament Intro: Sony Open

After some fantastic golf, and views, over the last week in Maui, the tour takes a puddle jumper over to Oahu, for the Sony Open. The tournament has been played at the Waialae Country Club (WCC) in Honolulu since the event’s inception way back in 1965. At that time, it was known as the Hawaiian Open. Before the 1975 season, this event was played in the late fall before it was moved to the early winter slot it now occupies. Now in its 52nd year hosting a PGA tour event, the WCC has the fourth longest run hosting an event of any course on the PGA Tour.

This Week’s Course: Waialae Country Club

Mountains humback whales with undulating fairways and greens are what the golfers saw last week at Kapalua. Much to the contrary this week, WCC is on much flatter grounds. The backside truly runs right up along the beach, and provides for some beautiful scenery, especially when the morning guys are out “swimming” or “galavanting” just off the par three 17th on the beach.

History and Course Designer

Waialae Country Club was designed by one of America’s great designers, Seth Raynor. He has created some of the greatest courses in the United States including Fishers Island, an exclusive private course of the coast of Rhode Island.

Course by the Numbers:

7,044 yard Par 70

The course features four par 3s, twelve par 4s, and two Par 5s which are both reachable by almost all the players in the field. The par 5s are two of the easiest on Tour, easily reachable in two shots. However, since the fairways are tree-lined, and the wind swirling in from the Bay, it is one of the hardest courses regarding fairway hit %.

The greens are Bermuda grass and are of average to small in size. The greens will play fairly fast (running around 11 on the stimpmeter) and are expected to be a bit firmer than last week.

Last years #s:

Scoring Average: 68.894 or an average of 1.106 under par.
Yearly Ranking:39/51- or the fourth easiest
Winning Score: -17
Top 5 Score- -15
Cut Number- -1
Easiest Hole: 9th Hole
hardest Hole: 13 hole
Best Chance at Streaks: 8-10 16-18

DFS Sweatsheet & Scorecard

Inside the Ropes:

Photo Cred* My Ipad- Taken on the easiest hole on the course #9 a short Par 5.

What I really like about this picture is that it depicts the entire golf course. It’s fairways lined with palm and other native trees, make it seem anything but a resort-style course.

DFS Preview:

A full preview on the best contests offered in the industry this week.

DraftKings/FanDuel/Yahoo

Player & Statistical Preview:

Player Preview:

This space will merely highlight the golfers competing and their OWGR. For full-field regular events we’ll list out the top 25 ranked golfers by OWGR:

This Weeks top 25:

Statistical Preview:

The PGA Tour has a set of “statistics” that measure golfers performances vs. each other/the rest of the field. Here is the information on “Strokes Gained” from the winners of the Sony Open over the last five years:

Commentary:

The only strokes gained category that has remained somewhat consistent is SG:App. Winners have averaged just about 1.4 per round, where as putting leads at over two strokes per round, is a lot less predictable than one’s iron play.

For now, that’s all. I’ll be updating the article the more info we get!

Until then,

Cheers! As always message me on Twitter or in the Slack Channel if you have any questions.

Author

Jason Rouslin

Jason established his roots in the littlest state that could...Rhode Island. But after 29 years of bitter cold, and only being able to play golf 4 months a year, upended those roots and moved to Florida. Now four years later, Jason is a husband to Sarah and father of two boys, James & Myles. A dog and more specifically Lab lover (Bella), he dedicates his time to serve as the lead of PGA content at Awesemo.com. In the time he is not diving into the PGA stats and covering this week's current tournament, you can find him researching and trading stocks, on the golf course, at Disney World, on a hike, or somewhere in between. Want to chat? Have a question about Golf/Stocks or anything else? Hop on twitter and give him a message @dfsgolfer23. You can also contact Jason by emailing [email protected].