Flat but sporty course located on the perimeter of
Waikiki along the Ala Wai Canal. Views of Diamond
Head, the Koolau mountain range and the Waikiki
skyline.
Ala Wai reports over 500 plays
per day, or about 180,000 per year, making it one of the
busiest courses in the world. With that many rounds, it
is no wonder that Ala Wai is one of the fastest playing
courses anywhere.
This 18-hole, par-70 is set on
the edge of Waikiki, with views of Diamond Head and the
Koolau Mountain Range. The popularity of the Ala Wai
golf course can be attributed to many factors, including
its reasonable green fees, prime location, and the
number of tourists just a step away in Waikiki.
The Ala Wai Golf Course opened
its original nine holes on September 13, 1931, as the
first municipal course on Oahu and the first in the
Islands. The course was built on the site of the
Territorial Fairgrounds on 150 acres of land. The second
nine holes were opened on July 10, 1937, and the
clubhouse followed in 1948. The original Ala Wai course
got its most recent reworking in 1989, when seven holes
of the front nine were redesigned and realigned by
Nelson & Wright.
The course is flat but
challenging, and the much needed renovations and changes
have greatly enhanced play.
The par-four 1st hole is now a
dogleg right. The front layout now offers a pond behind
the 2nd hole. The 3rd hole is a new dogleg right par
five. It follows much of the old number 6 hole fairway.
Number 4 is a very short par four with trees and sand
coming into play. The 5th hole is a well- bunkered par
three. The new 6th hole is roughly where the old 2nd
hole was, and the new 7th looks a lot like the old
number 1 hole. The par-three 8th and par-four 9th remain
basically unchanged.
The wide, flat open terrain has
few trees, so wind can be a factor in your selection of
clubs. Robin Nelson says the most challenging hole is
the new par-five 3rd hole, whose green wraps around a
monkeypod tree. Still one of the most challenging holes
is the 18th, with its narrow fairway bordering the Ala
Wai Canal, a tight green, and a stream trickling through
its middle. Another challenging hole is the par-three
11th, which plays 186 yards into the wind.
On the makai side (toward the
ocean) is the Ala Wai Canal, bordered by hotels and
condos which form the skyline of Waikiki. The fairways
for holes number 14 and 18 run along the Ala Wai Canal.
On the mauka (mountain) side
are condos and homes rising up the slopes of the Koolau
Range. Showers on this side of the island are usually
brief and are more likely in the early morning or late
afternoon. Downpours are rare, but light sprinkles of
rain occasionally are blown from showers falling over
the Koolau Range several miles away.
Because of the heavy play at
Ala Wai, it is necessary to reserve tee times one week
in advance. Single golfers and twosomes can usually
avoid tee times by signing up on a waiting list.
When first built in 1931, the
Ala Wai Golf Course was run by the Territorial Fair
Commission until Hawaii was admitted as a state in 1959.
The Commission was abolished, and the City and County of
Honolulu was then given control of the land. After much
controversy and deliberation, Honolulu officials decided
to permit the continued use of this valuable property as
a municipal golf course.
There was a great deal of
pressure on officials from investors to develop this
prime real estate into hotels or condominiums. In fact,
at the reopening of the course in 1989, Honolulu Mayor
Frank Fasi told newspaper reporters that the city has
been offered $2 billion for the real estate by Japanese
investors.
The newest addition is a
24,000-square-foot clubhouse. The two-story clubhouse
includes offices, a restaurant, pro shop, lockers,
storage, and a second-floor community recreation room.
