Kinki (Kansai)

Located in the south-central part of Japan’s main island, Honshu, the Kinki or Kansai region of Japan is considered to be at the heart of the country’s history and culture. Five UNESCO World Heritage Listings put Kansai at the top of any Japanese region. Kansai, specifically the city of Osaka, is the food centre of Japan with popular dishes that include kitsune udon, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and kushikatsu.

In terms of golf courses, the Kinki region boasts around 350 facilities but, without a shadow of doubt, the premier golf course in Kansai is the venerable Hirono Golf Club which was laid out by Englishman Charles H. Alison in 1932. Hirono has headed most Japanese ranking lists since ratings began and it’s unlikely to be knocked off the top spot any time soon. Naruo Golf Club dates back to 1920 and it too was shaped by the intrepid English architect and has occasionally appeared within the World Top 100 rankings.

Top 100 Golf Courses - Kinki (Kansai)

Hirono

1^st

Hirono Golf Club has played host to all the major Japanese championships and, although it measures a mere 6,925 yards from the back tees, it’s a supreme test of golf.

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Naruo

2^nd

Naruo shares all the traditional aspects of Japan’s older golf clubs. The continuity in tradition here is maintained by the 700 members whose average age is 71.

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Ono

3^rd

Influenced by Charles Alison, Osamu Ueda designed the course at Ono Golf Club in 1961 and it’s often regarded as the sister course to the fabled Hirono Golf Club. Host to the Japan Open in 1969, Ono is a testy track.

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Ise

4^th

Designed by Seiichi Inoue and opened in 1965, the 18-hole layout at Ise Country Club is one of three golf courses used for Senior Tour Qualifying by the PGA of Japan.

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Pine Lake

5^th

Located an hour’s drive north of Kobe, the 18-hole layout at Pine Lake Golf Club is an impressive mid-1980s Robert Trent Jones Jnr design, one of more than twenty Japanese projects the American architect has worked on down the years.

Osaka

6^th

Osamu Ueda originally designed the course at Osaka Golf Club back in 1937 and it’s routed across high ground where panoramic views of Osaka Bay will be enjoyed from the rolling fairways.

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Golden Valley Golf Club

7^th

Opened in the late 1980s, the mountain course at Golden Valley Golf Club was one of the first in Japan to employ single greens. Fairways were carved from a pine forest, with holes skirting stone-lined creeks that run through a series of valleys.