EXHIBIT 31.1

                               CERTIFICATION

     I, George H. Walker, certify that:

     1. I have  reviewed  this  Annual  Report on Form 10-K for the  period
ended December 31, 2004 of Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners, LLC;

     2. Based on my  knowledge,  this  report  does not  contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this report;

     3.  Based  on  my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other
financial  information  included  in this  report,  fairly  present  in all
material respects the financial condition,  results of operations, and cash
flow of the  registrant  as of,  and for,  the  periods  presented  in this
report;

     4. The registrant's other certifying  officer(s) and I are responsible
for  establishing  and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e) and  15d-15(e)) for the registrant
and have:

          a. Designed such disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused
     such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to be designed  under our
     supervision,  to ensure  that  material  information  relating  to the
     registrant,  including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
     us by others within those entities,  particularly during the period in
     which this report is being prepared;

          b. Evaluated the  effectiveness  of the  registrant's  disclosure
     controls and procedures  and presented in this report our  conclusions
     about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,  as
     of the  end of the  period  covered  by  this  report  based  on  such
     evaluation; and

          c.  Disclosed  in this  report  any  change  in the  registrant's
     internal  control over financial  reporting  that occurred  during the
     registrant's  most recent  fiscal  quarter  (the  registrant's  fourth
     fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual  report) that has  materially
     affected,   or  is  reasonably  likely  to  materially   affect,   the
     registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

     5. The registrant's other certifying  officer(s) and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent  evaluation  of internal  control  over  financial
reporting,  to the  registrant's  auditors  and the board of  directors  of
Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies LLC:

          a. All significant  deficiencies  and material  weaknesses in the
     design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
     are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's  ability to
     record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b. Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves management
     or other  employees  who have a significant  role in the  registrant's
     internal control over financial reporting.

                                            /s/ George H. Walker
                                           --------------------------------
                                           Name:    George H. Walker
                                           Title:   Chief Executive Officer

     Date:  March 29, 2005