Subwavelength hole arrays in thin gold films were fabricated in a low-cost and parallel fabrication process on 2" wafers. Polystyrene beads were used as an initial pattern template which is transferred into a thin gold film by sputter etching. Hole arrays with two different periodicities were characterized in optical transmission measurements in air and in liquids of varying refractive index. Despite the conical hole shape and long-range disorder of the arrays, the optical transmission spectra are similar to those obtained for precise hole arrays fabricated by serial writing methods, e.g. focused ion beam milling (FIB). We further show the use of the fabricated hole arrays for sensing of molecular binding events.