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Roth asks whether Hawaii's late-1980s golf boom—driven by tourism demand and Japanese investor interest—is coming to an end, and whether that is good or bad news. Marcia Sakai, Professor of Economics at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, links community opposition less to golf itself than to the fear that more courses signal broader tourism expansion. Bruce Plasch, President of Decision Analysts Hawaii, argues golf courses are broadly misunderstood: citing University of Hawaii research, he contends they are among the most benign human land uses environmentally and that water concerns in Oahu and West Hawaii are addressed by brackish water and treated wastewater. Both guests note that roughly 170,000 acres have left plantation agriculture since the late 1960s—enough land that golf courses, even built without restraint, would occupy only 2–3 percent of it. Plasch identifies Ewa as a model where courses serve as flood-plain drainage systems and fill zones unsuitable for housing. The sharpest divide concerns access: Sakai and Plasch agree that residents strongly oppose exclusive foreign-membership courses, and most approved projects now require a public-play component. On tourism overall, Plasch worries about the short term but expects recovery once the Japanese and California economies rebound.
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