Japan

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

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.

Chubu, Japan

There are two courses on the Izu Peninsula at the Kawana Resort and the Fuji course is universally considered to be the best.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

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.

Kanto, Japan

You’ll need an invite to play here at Tokyo Golf Club but if you are lucky enough to receive one, take it immediately. This is a world-class golf course that is mature way beyond its years.

Kanto, Japan

Yokohama Country Club was founded in 1960 and over the following six years architect Takeo Aiyama designed and built both the East and West 18-hole layouts.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

Influenced by Hugh 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.

Kanto, Japan

The East course at Kasumigaseki Country Club employs the traditional Japanese dual green system, one for the winter and one for the summer, which takes a bit of getting used if you’re not familiar with this feature.

Kanto, Japan

Yoshiro Hayashi won the Japan Open Golf Championship here at Abiko Golf Club way back in 1950, but the club hosted the Japan Women's Open Golf Championship as recently as 2009.

Kanto, Japan

Oarai is known by knowledgeable golfers as the location of Oarai Golf Club, one of the best golf courses in Japan.

Kyushu, Japan

Koga Golf Club hosted the 62nd Japan Open, won by Australian Craig Parry with a score of two over par for the competition.

Kanto, Japan

Originally designed by Seiichi Inoue and opened for play in 1955, the layout at Nikko Country Club is a lie of the land parkland golf course that wends its way through dense trees that frame many holes.

Kanto, Japan

Ryugasaki Country Club is another high quality parkland golf course from the prolific architect, Seiichi Inoue. Opened for play in 1958, Ryugasaki still has dual winter and summer greens in operation.

Hokkaido, Japan

One of seven golf facilities operated by the same management company in Japan, the course at Hokkaido Classic Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus Signature design that debuted in 1991.

Kanto, Japan

​Located in the northern foothills of Mount Fuji, Fujizakura Country Club is set at altitude in the heart of the popular resort area of Fuji Five Lakes.

Chugoku, Japan

Founded in 1956, the course at Shimonoseki Golf Club was designed by Osamu Ueda and proudly played host to the Japan Open in 1991 (won by Tsuneyuki Nakajima) and 2002 (won by David Smail).

Kanto, Japan

Built on the site of a former cedar tree farm, an hour’s drive west of downtown Tokyo, the course at Tokyo Classic was more than a decade in the making.

Kanto, Japan

A dual green Seiichi Inoue design from 1954, Takanodai Country Club has played host to the Japan Open on four occasions, most recently in 2011.

Kanto, Japan

A major change to the West course at Kasumigaseki Country Club was made by Taizo Kawata when he converted the traditional Japanese dual greens into conventional putting surfaces...

Hokkaido, Japan

Named after the Cercidiphyllum Japonicum, the elegant Katsura tree, the course at Katsura Golf Club is a 1993 Robert Trent Jones Junior-design and it’s one of the very best layouts to be found near Sapporo city.

Chubu, Japan

The Yuji Kodera-designed course at Karuizawa Golf Club dates back to the Golden Age and it’s located at altitude in one of the nation's most popular summer resorts. You’ll need to befriend a member to play here, however.

Kanto, Japan

Routed across undulating, wooded terrain, Nasu Golf Club measures 6,615 yards from the tips and this must have been a tough course when the Kinya Fujita and Seiichi Inoue-designed Nasu track opened in 1936.

Kanto, Japan

Designed by Shiro Akaboshi in 1954, the course at Hakone Country Club was built with no expense spared, including the importation of thousands of tons of volcanic soil from the Mt Fuji region.

Kyushu, Japan

Phoenix Country Club is located within the Phoenix Seagaia Resort on the Hitotsuba Pacific Coast and Kokichi Ohashi set out the original 18-hole course in 1971.

Chubu, Japan

Taiheiyo Club operates 18 golf courses in Japan and its flagship Gotemba course hosted the World Cup in 2001, an event won by the South African team of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Kanto, Japan

Originally designed by Seiichi Inoue in 1960 with double greens, the West course at Ibaraki Country Club was renovated by Rees Jones creating single green complexes, reopening to acclaim in 2011.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

The hilly course at Higashi Hirono Golf Club is a 1989 Yukichi Kobayashi creation, which staged the 2012 Panasonic Open, won by the architect’s namesake Masanori Kobayashi.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

Opened in the late 1980s and designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the mountain course at Golden Valley Golf Club was one of the first in Japan to employ single greens.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

The East course at the 36-hole Rokko Kokusai Golf Club is a Fukuichi Kato design from 1975 that was renovated by Nicklaus Design in 1996.

Kanto, Japan

The Umesato course at Chiba Country Club opened for play in 1960, hosting the Japan Open just two years after its inauguration.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

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.

Kanto, Japan

The Gotemba course is the flagship layout in the Taiheiyo Club’s 18-course portfolio, but the Mashiko PGA course (designed by Shunsuke Kato in 1976 and renovated by the same architect in 2002) may well be the most demanding of them all.

Kanto, Japan

Located next to Nishinasuno Golf Club, the course at Horai Country Club is a 1990 Robert von Hagge-design that twists and turns through forested terrain where doglegs are aplenty and the green complexes often large, undulating and very tricky to read. It’s a clever amalgam of modern and classic design.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

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.

Chubu, Japan

Nagoya Golf Club was established in 1929, with Mitsuaki Otani setting out the Wago course for the founding members with the double green system that’s still used in the modern era.

Kyushu, Japan

Host to the Japan PGA Championship in 2010, won by Toru Taniguchi, the course at Passage Kinkai Island Golf Club is set on the western shore of Omura Bay and was designed by Yoshiaki Fujii, opening for play in 1992.

Chubu, Japan

Established in the late 1950s, Katayamazu Golf Club brought the Hakusan course into play within three years of its formation.

Kanto, Japan

With the shortest par three measuring a mighty 239 yards and the longest par five weighing in at a whopping 705 yards, it’s no surprise to learn that The Royal Golf Club course can be stretched to an astonishing 8,143 yards from the tips.

Kanto, Japan

Caledonian Golf Club is a 1990 J. Michael Poellot design with a back nine that impressed Tom Doak: “The Cape par-4 13th around the lake at the back of the clubhouse, the par-5 15th with its approach vaguely reminiscent of the 13th at Augusta, and the par-5 closer with an alternate fairway route like the 15th at Seminole.”

Kyushu, Japan

Beginning and ending with a par five, the 18-hole Wajiro course at Fukuoka Country Club is configured with two returning nines. The layout opened for play in 1952 and its two-green system endures to the present day.

Kanto, Japan

Opened in 1994, the course at Narusawa Golf Club lies under the watchful gaze of Mount Fuji at an altitude of more than 3,500 feet. Unusually, a good number of holes on the outward half dogleg to the left, while coming home holes invariably dogleg right.

Hokkaido, Japan

Kokichi Yasuda designed a new 18-hole golf course at Otaru Country Club in 1974 and the layout was selected to host the Japan PGA Championship four years later.

Hokkaido, Japan

The Mashu and Akan nines form the preferred 18-hole layout at Eniwa Country Club, where tree-lined holes designed by Hirochika Tomisawa are set out on the flood plain of the Izari River, making this an easy-walking place to play.

Tohoku, Japan

The sixth and final Japanese golf project from Ron Fream of Golfplan in the 1990s, the course at Bonari Kogen Golf Club occupies a spectacular location in the foothills of the Azuma Mountain Range.

Tohoku, Japan

Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed all 36 holes at Grandee Nasu Shirakawa Golf Club in 1995. The Nasu Mountains provide a magnificent backcloth to a challenging course that has hosted the Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open on the Japan Golf Tour since 2014.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

Situated to the north of Akashi, the 18-hole layout at Onotoyo Golf Club bears the architectural mark of Osamu Ueda. Playing corridors have narrowed a lot since the course debuted in 1971, placing a real premium on accuracy off the tee.

Kanto, Japan

Sagami Country Club is a 1931 design from Rokuro Akaboshi, who was not only a pioneer of Japanese golf course design, but also the winner of the inaugural Japan Open in 1927.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

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.

Kanto, Japan

Laid out by the flamboyant American architect Robert von Haage, the tree-lined fairways at Nish-Nasuno Country Club are framed by tall Japanese red pine trees, providing golfers with a real sense of seclusion when they play here.

Hokkaido, Japan

Venue for the ANA Open on the Japan Golf Tour, Sapporo Golf Club has all but three times annually hosted this professional event on its Wattsu course.

Kyushu, Japan

Featuring bent grass greens, the Kaimon course at Ibusuki Golf Club is a late 1960s Seiiche Inoue design that lies at the foot of Mount Kaimon, on the southern tip of the Satsuma peninsula, where strong sea breezes often heighten the challenge.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

With the forested mountains of Tamba looming on three sides, the course at The Cypress Golf Club comprises two distinct nines; an outward half routed over hilly terrain while the inward half occupies flatter ground to the east of the property.

Kanto, Japan

Located a short 20-minute drive northeast of Narita city centre, Narita Golf Club was founded in the late 1980s, with Taizo Kawata setting out the course. Surprisingly for a tree-lined layout, playing corridors are relatively wide and forgiving.

Kinki (Kansai), Japan

Established in 1990, the course at Tsu Country Club is a Masashi Ozaki and Kentaro Sato co-production which lies less than ten kilometres from Ise Bay, where fairways are laid out on hilly, forested terrain to the west of Tsu city centre.

Kanto, Japan

Located an hour’s drive northwest of downtown Tokyo, the 36-hole golf facility at Musashi Country Club celebrated fifty years in operation in 2009 by hosting the 74th edition of the Japan Open on its Seiichi Inoue-designed Toyooka course.

Hokkaido, Japan

Not to be confused with the Wattsu course which annually hosts the ANA Open on the Japan Golf Tour, Sapporo Golf Club’s other 18-hole design, the Yuni course, is also a 1950s Seichi Inoue design located thirty kilometres further east.

Tohoku, Japan

Established in 1992, Natsudomari Golf Links lies at the northern end of a peninsula that protrudes into Matsu Bay in Aomori Prefecture. In truth, the course is more seaside than links in nature but don’t expect local golfers to argue about the difference.

Kanto, Japan

The Sumire course comprises the private 18-hole layout at the 36-hole Murasaki Country Club. Pascuzzo Pate Golf Design began a phased upgrade in 2012 which resulted in the 85th edition of the Japan Open being held here in 2020.

Chugoku, Japan

Set in the westernmost region of Honshū, the course at Kinojo Golf Club is a 1992 Robert Trent Jones Jr. creation. The club hosted US Open sectional qualifying in 2015 and the course has staged the KSB Open on the Japan Golf Tour three times between 1994 and 1996.

Kyushu, Japan

Keiji Matsuyama designed the layout at PGM Golf Resort Okinawa in the early 1970s, with Isao Aoki subsequently modifying the set-up. The Hibiscus and Bougainville nines make up the 18-hole course of first choice at a fabulous 27-hole facility.

Kanto, Japan

The East and South nines at the 27-hole Kawaguchiko Country Club form the premier 18-hole combination at this 1977 Robert von Hagge and Bruce Devlin creation. The course is routed over gentle, forested terrain at altitude of about 1,000 meters at the northern foot of Mount Fuji.