Walking on Waialae Country Club’s lush grass as a player is the dream of a lifetime for lots of golfers.

Playing inside the ropes for $5.8 million with Jimmy Walker, Jim Furyk, Jason Day, Zach Johnson and Adam Scott is a dream few Hawaii golfers can even fathom.

For the second straight year, Dunes at Maui Lani head pro Garrett Okamura will play the Sony Open in Hawaii. He won the Aloha Section PGA’s sponsor exemption in September, beating his coach, Eddie Lee, by a shot.

The Baldwin graduate will be living the dream when Sony tees off Jan. 14. To hear him talk, he pretty much lives the dream everyday.

At 33, he is comfortable with his choice not to pursue an all-out assault on the PGA Tour.

“I thought about it when I was younger, but I don’t have any regrets,” Okamura says. “I was doing mini-tours. I’m pretty satisfied. Sony was one of my hugest goals and, of course, playing full-time on the PGA or Web.com tours, but I think I’m pretty satisfied with myself. I’m happy at Dunes.”

After Baldwin, Okamura played for University of Hawaii-Hilo, graduated in 2005 and tried a few mini-tours. His first golf job was as a caddie at Kapalua.

He became a PGA member in 2010, passing the battery of tests that demands, and was Aloha Section Player of the Year in 2011 … and 2013 and 2014. And now, quite possibly, 2015.

He is in contention pretty much every time he tees it up in Hawaii, with the possible exception of next month at Sony. There, the goal is always the same, according to his coach.

“Any club pro from our section who makes it into the tournament with the special exemption, the goal is making the cut,” says Lee, Director of Instruction at Wailea’s David Leadbetter Golf Academy. “It seems to be falling on the same number every year — even par or 1 or 2 under. You know what you’ve got to shoot.”

A secondary goal gives you little time to get comfortable in front of galleries and some of the greatest golfers on the planet.

“You don’t want to shoot yourself out of it the first day,” Lee says. “If you shoot 76 the first day, then you have to shoot 63 or 64 the next day. So you have to shoot around par. Making the cut is a big deal.”

Lee says Okamura’s greatest strength is that he has no real weakness, and a swing so consistent it’s spooky.

“Since he was a kid he has had this tempo,” says Lee, who has taught Okamura half his life. “You can set your watch by it. It is so smooth.”

What Okamura learned at Sony last January, beyond finding a way to deal with that initial burst of nerves, was that he felt comfortable with the tour pros until they approached the green.

“The biggest difference with the pros is their short game — chipping and putting and bunkers,” he says. “They are really good around the greens. It surprised me how much touch they have around the greens.

“As far as distance, I’m not too far back. But the angles in their swings — they hold it a lot better so they are able to hit better golf shots, have better control. They really control their body when they swing. It’s amazing.”

Okamura shot 73-72 at this year’s Sony, didn’t make the cut and couldn’t wait to get back. It isn’t like any other event he plays, with the possible exception of the PGA Professional Championship.

His win in September also qualified him for the 49th version of that championship next June in New York, along with Lee, Kevin Carll, Kevin Hayashi and Kirk Nelson. They will compete on The Golf Channel with 300-plus other club pros from around the country, for $550,000. The Top 20 get an invitation into the 98th PGA Championship at Baltusrol.

All will be treated as if they were in a PGA Tour event. For Okamura, tucked away on Maui, that can only happen twice a year. He knows he is blessed to have that happen twice already in his lifetime.

Moanalua senior Shawn Lu won Sony’s amateur exemption. The rest of the exemptions have been given to Punahou alum Parker McLachlin, Fred Funk, Daisuke Kataoka, Toshinori Muto, Hideto Tanihara, Hyung-Sung Kim, Hao Tong Li and Y.E. Yang.