Looking forward to tourney’s 50th

There’s much good in long, stable partnerships — not least of which is a unique trust that’s earned over time. That applies not only to personal relationships but professional ones as well.

Case in point: The PGA Tour’s long-standing bond with Hawaii — namely, the "Open" that’s been held at the Waialae Country Club for nearly half a century, starting in 1965 when the event was called the Hawaiian Open. The PGA has announced a four-year extension for the Sony Open in Hawaii, and if all goes well, the Waialae venue will hit the 50-year hosting milestone in 2015.

For Hawaii tourism and local nonprofits, the January event brings welcome marketing of scenics and charitable benefits, respectively. For the PGA and its players, the Sony Open is a beautiful kickoff of the tour’s first full-field event of the year — at a site that has gracious hosting down to, well, a tee.

Sometimes things take some time

Timing is everything.

Through more than two decades of fits and starts, with different real-estate developers pitching different concepts, nothing ever got built at the mauka-Ewa corner of Kapiolani Boulevard and Ward Avenue. First a luxury condo tower was proposed for the site, then a high-rise for retirees, then a retail niche and later an office building.

Finally ground has broken on what will be a 45-story condominium tower called Symphony Honolulu, with prices ranging from $500,000 to about $3 million. Many of the units have already sold, once again pointing out the demand for housing in the urban core.