Oahu attracted the majority of these luxury layouts. Certainly Oahu needed an infusion of courses to satisfy the golf demands of a resident population exceeding 850,000 and an annual visitor count of nearly seven million. Today, the 35 golf courses on Oahu are made up of 17 privately owned daily-fees, four private country clubs, eight military courses, and six municipal courses belonging to the city and county of Honolulu. An estimated 525 rounds per day are played on Honolulu's Ala Wai course, one of the busiest golf courses in the United States. The pressure on the municipal courses has been relieved somewhat by the Japanese-built courses, which offer a host of diversified golf.
Courses range from placid to brutal, with some nestled into mountain ravines, others at surf's edge.
There is a veritable garden of golf available all around Oahu. One of the brightest legacies of the furious Japanese investment is planted on the windward side of the Koolau Mountains, and named for the majestic peaks which frame the property. The fatal attraction for masochistic golfers is the widespread notion that you can expect to lose one ball for every stroke in your handicap. The par four requires two lengthy carries over dense brush, and is peppered with 22 fairway and greenside bunkers. A GPS monitoring system was also installed on all golf carts, providing satellite distance measurement and pin position.