"Sony basically saved golf on the island of Oahu." Golf analyst Mark Rolfing said that to Hawaii News Now in July, after the PGA Tour and Sony confirmed that Waialae Country Club would keep a January tournament. It will be a different tournament, though. The Sony Open in Hawaii, played at Waialae every year since 1965, becomes the Sony Championship Hawaiʻi on PGA Tour Champions, Jan. 11 to 16, 2027.
In Kahala, that January week has always ended a holiday stretch in which much of what happens also raises money for someone. That's still true this year, but the numbers have moved. The new tournament is cheaper to attend and more open to families. The amount it has promised to Hawaiʻi nonprofits starts lower, so more of the season's giving now runs through the December events at Kahala Mall.
The January Event Kept Its Course and Changed Its Tour
The PGA Tour announced on Apr. 20, 2026, that it was ending its Maui tournament and looking at moving the Sony Open to PGA Tour Champions. The Associated Press reported that The Sentry at Kapalua was not held in 2026 after drought and water-delivery restrictions left the course unready. The AP also reported that Sony's title-sponsorship term was ending. The Sentry name survives on the 2027 PGA Tour schedule, but the event now runs at Torrey Pines in San Diego, Jan. 25 to 30.
Waialae got the replacement. On July 1, the PGA Tour announced a 78-player field of pros age 50 and older playing for a $3 million purse. Pro-ams are set for Jan. 12 and 13, with competition rounds Jan. 14 through 16. Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and 2007 Sony Open winner Paul Goydos have all confirmed they're coming back. All three rounds will air on Golf Channel. In the PGA Tour's July announcement, Waialae Country Club President Meredith Ching said the club "is proud to continue its 61-year tradition of hosting championship golf."
The charity numbers are where the change shows most. According to the PGA Tour announcement, Sony's 28-year partnership with the Sony Open generated more than $27 million for Hawaiʻi nonprofits. Hawaiʻi Public Radio reported in July that Friends of Hawaiʻi Charities had given out $1.2 million raised by the final Sony Open, held in January 2026. For 2027, Sony Group Corporation, PGA Tour Champions and the operator IMG have committed to donate at least $500,000 to local nonprofits after the event. That is a minimum, not a forecast, and it is under half of what the last Sony Open gave out.
Kahala Mall's Charity Events Come First
Before the January tournament, the mall's December events do the neighborhood-level giving, and they run on small amounts. The 13th Annual Very Merry Event at Kahala Mall is Dec. 11 to 13, 2026. The setup:
- Hawaiʻi 501(c)(3) groups sell $5 tickets to their supporters. That includes school PTAs, project graduation committees, sports teams and community groups.
- Each group keeps 100% of its ticket sales, and the tickets and pamphlets cost the nonprofit nothing.
- Each ticket comes with a pamphlet of offers from more than 45 participating merchants, good for ticket holders that weekend only.
- The mall's listing for nonprofit sign-ups runs through Nov. 14.
The mall's other big giving event is the Salvation Army's Angel Giving Tree, set up by Macy's from Nov. 16 to Dec. 13. It's open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and gifts are due back by 6 p.m. on Dec. 13. Both events end the same weekend, about a month before the first pro-am at Waialae.
The Next Nine Weeks, in Order
| Date | Event | Where | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14, 5–8 p.m. | SIP + SHOP: The Holiday Event | Kahala Mall | $60 ticket; check in at Center Court; sips until 7 p.m., shopping until 7:45 p.m. |
| Nov. 16 – Dec. 13 | Angel Giving Tree | Macy's, Kahala Mall | Daily 10 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Holiday Mom Made Market | Kahala Mall | 35+ Hawaiʻi vendors; DJs at Center Court and Macy's Wing |
| Wed.–Thu., Nov. 25–26 | Thanksgiving To Go pickup | The Kahala Hotel & Resort | $435, serves six to eight |
| Dec. 11–13 | 13th Annual Very Merry Event | Kahala Mall | $5 tickets sold by nonprofits |
| Sat., Dec. 12, 1–3:30 p.m. | Tea with Grinch | The Veranda | $135 adult, $67 child |
| Sat., Dec. 19, 1–3:30 p.m. | Tea with Santa | The Veranda | $135 adult, $67 child |
| Jan. 11–16, 2027 | Sony Championship Hawaiʻi | Waialae Country Club | Grounds passes from $30 |
SIP + SHOP is two days after this post goes up, and the mall says it happens only once in 2026. Ticket holders get a commemorative wine glass, an event guide and a tote. They can try wine or mocktails and light bites at 11 participating stores, and there are one-night discounts. Tickets are sold through HNL Tix. On Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, Kahala Mall lists a few stores with holiday hours: Whole Foods Market from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Longs Drugs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Consolidated Kahala Theatres from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The Resort's Calendar Runs Past New Year's
The Kahala Hotel & Resort's holiday dining continues after the mall's events end. Plumeria Beach House has buffets on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at $145 per adult and $55 per child, plus tax and gratuity. From Dec. 1 to 23, the same restaurant sells Christmas stollen and cookie boxes. From Dec. 12 to 23, an Elf on the Shelf scavenger hunt runs through the resort's restaurants. On Dec. 31, Plumeria Beach House has an early buffet with seating at 5 p.m. for $125 per person. Its New Year's Eve Lūʻau Dinner, seated at 8 p.m., is $215 per person plus tax and a 20% service charge. Alan Wong's holiday dinners at the resort are for in-house hotel guests only.
A Molokai Loaf Where the Sunglasses Used to Be
The newest stop at Kahala Mall is Molokai Hot Bread, which opened in October in the former Sunglass Hut space, all 300 square feet of it. The bread follows Kanemitsu Bakery's recipe, which dates to 1935. Loaves come plain in one- or two-pound sizes or filled with strawberry cream, blueberry cream, cinnamon butter, ube cheesecake or strawberry guava. Monthly flavors have included pumpkin cream, haupia and chocolate haupia. Prices run $8 to $15. The shop is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while supplies last. On Oʻahu, the bakery had only sold at open markets until now. "We've always wanted to establish a location at Kahala Mall," Oʻahu manager Darren Tsuchiya said in the mall's announcement.
Tournament Week Is Priced for the Neighborhood
At the January event, the ticket prices are the clearest sign of the new tour. The official ticket page lists:
- Grounds access for $30 on Wednesday, Jan. 13, a pro-am day.
- Grounds access for $40 on each tournament day, Thursday through Saturday.
- A weekly grounds pass for $100.
- Free admission for juniors 15 and under with a ticketed adult. Each junior still needs a ticket.
- Free access for active-duty and retired military personnel and their dependents.
Hospitality packages at The Welo Club cost $275 to $290 per day. The tournament says offsite spectator parking and a free shuttle will be detailed closer to the event. It is also signing up volunteers for Admissions, Gallery Management, Parking, Standard Bearers and a general Volunteer Pool.
Many Waialae–Kahala households already know the tournament from the inside. Volunteer Evelyn Eng told the Star-Advertiser in January that losing the PGA event would be "sad for a lot of reasons," and the volunteer community that came back every year was one of them. The 2027 week still has those volunteer jobs, running Jan. 11 through 16 at the same course.
If you're thinking about how a week like this shapes life on your street, or what January looks like for homes near Waialae, Don Dietz has watched this neighborhood through a lot of tournament weeks and is happy to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation.
