Karuizawa

The small town of Karuizawa lies just over an hour’s drive to the north of the Japanese capital and it’s popular with Tokyo residents who want to escape from the big city in the heat of the summer.

Karuizawa’s sporting credentials are rather impressive for a relatively out of the way place, having hosted equestrian events during the Summer Olympic Games in 1964 and curling matches at the Winter Olympic Games in 1998.

There are a number of golf courses available for public play in and around this resort town and these are pleasant places to play golf but it’s the original, private course at Karuizawa Golf Club that stands head and shoulders above all the others.

Lying at an altitude of 3,000 feet above sea level and surrounded by mountains on all sides, the old course has been lengthened a little down the years but, apart from the extra yardage, it plays much as it did when first constructed back in 1919.

It’s not an easy place to get a game at Karuizawa, with fewer than 10,000 rounds a year played here, and even though the layout has been classed as rather basic by some observers, its exclusive ambience is still rather hard to beat.