Rokko Kokusai (East)

Situated less than half an hour’s drive from Kobe city centre, Rokko Kokusai Golf Club is home to two 18-hole courses, the par-72 East and the par-71 West. Designed by Fukuichi Kato in the mid-1970s then renovated by Nicklaus Design in 1996, the East is by far the longer and tougher of the two tracks.

Measuring 7,416 yards from the back tees, the West is laid out as two returning nines, with water coming into play on several occasions, most notably at both the par threes on the front nine (#3 and #6) and at the par five 12th and par four 15th on the back nine (where small ponds protect the putting surface on both holes).

The club hosted the 1983 Japan Open championship when national golfing legend Iao Aoki won the first of his two home open titles. The East course then staged the Panasonic Open championship in 2010, with Australian Brendan Jones claiming the ninth of his fifteen tournament victories on the Japan Golf Tour.