Ala Wai Golf Course is a flat, par-70 municipal course on the edge of Waikiki along the Ala Wai Canal, designed by Donald MacKay and opened in 1931 as the first municipal course on Oahu and the first in the Hawaiian Islands. With over 500 rounds of golf played per day and approximately 180,000 rounds annually, it is widely cited as one of the busiest golf courses in the world by number of rounds. Views of Diamond Head and the Ko'olau Mountains frame the experience on a course that has served Honolulu's residents for nearly a century.
History
Ala Wai Golf Course opened its original nine holes on September 13, 1931, a date that marks the founding of municipal golf in Hawaii. Designed by Donald MacKay, the course was built on the site of the Territorial Fairgrounds on 150 acres of flat land along the Ala Wai Canal, adjacent to the rapidly developing resort district of Waikiki. Its opening represented a significant commitment by the City and County of Honolulu to provide affordable golf access to Hawaii's working residents at a time when the game remained largely restricted to private clubs and military facilities. The selection of the Waikiki canal-side site gave Ala Wai its defining characteristics: flat terrain, easy walking, and views of Diamond Head framed against the Ko'olau Mountain Range to the northeast and the Waikiki skyline to the south. MacKay's design made the most of these features, creating a course that is visually inviting and relatively forgiving while remaining genuinely engaging as a round of golf. The course was built during the territorial era, before Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959, and its governance transferred from the Territorial Fair Commission to the City and County of Honolulu at that milestone. The second nine holes were opened on July 10, 1937, giving the course its full 18-hole configuration, and the clubhouse followed in 1948. The Bermuda grass surfaces that cover greens and fairways are characteristic of tropical municipal golf, providing durable playing conditions under the intense use the course demands. The full 18-hole layout has operated continuously since 1937, accumulating a history of USGA championship play that belies the course's modest rating. The 1960 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship was held at Ala Wai, followed by the 1983 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links — recognitions that placed a municipal Hawaiian course in the company of the nation's finest public-access venues for championship golf. Ala Wai's claim to the title of one of the world's busiest golf courses is well-documented: the course regularly processes over 500 rounds per day, translating to approximately 180,000 annual rounds. This extraordinary volume reflects both the course's central location — it is among the most accessible golf facilities on Oahu — and the deep golf culture that has developed among Honolulu's permanent residents. Tee times are sought-after and the starter's sheet fills rapidly, a testament to the course's enduring role as the primary outlet for public golf in Hawaii's largest city.The course sits between the Ala Wai Canal and Kapahulu Avenue, within walking distance of the densely developed Waikiki resort corridor — a geographic position that has made it simultaneously a heavily used and highly visible golf course in the state. Diamond Head's silhouette rises above the eastern horizon from the tees, creating a backdrop that no resort course can replicate. Despite its status as a high-traffic municipal facility, Ala Wai maintains a genuine connection to the island's golf heritage, and rounds played here carry a sense of participating in a tradition that stretches back nearly to the territorial era of Hawaiian governance.