[Michael Wolf]

I'm back and recovering from the jetlag of a 11 day trip to Japan from October 29th to November 8th. I thought I'd share what I learned and observed during my visit.


Day 1: Landed at Narita and took the train North about 3 hours to Nasu Golf Club. Nasu was built in 1936. Design is credited to Kinya Fujita and Seiichi Inoue.


Day 2: Played Nasu in the morning with a group of 7 Japanese members and guests. My observations from Nasu GC...


- Very hilly property, situated on the edge of a national park. Spectacular views of the mountains bordering the course. The course was extremely hilly, with some holes taking better advantage of the land movement than others.


- Course measured 6,548 from the back tees, and 6,039 from the member tees. Par was 72, with 2 P3's and 2 P5's on each side. The course was well maintained.


- Bent grass greens. Overall very little internal movement on the greens. But most greens tilted pretty sharply back to front or sideways. The green pads were badly shrunken on almost every hole. An undated overhead photo in the clubhouse showed maybe 6? dual greens at some point. All long gone when I played.


- First hole started with medium length par 4, which turned gently from right to left. Drives blocked out to the right were left with a blind shot to a green pretty far below the surface of the fairway. An interesting starting hole.


- The 5th hole was the favorite of my host, and it turned out to be one of my favorites as well. Certainly one of the most memorable on the golf course. The 5th is a straight uphill 437 yard par 5. The entire challenge of the hole is a massive hill that sits right in the middle of an already uphill 2nd shot. In other words the middle of the fairway is even steeper than the rest of the steep hole. So on your second shot you are faced with a quandary of going left or right of the hill on a hill. Or if you've hit a big drive you can challenge the hill and try to carry the crest. Doing so successfully would leave only about 30 yards in. Further enhancing the memorability of the hole is the beautiful teahouse sitting behind the green. The property is severe enough that we stopped for a drink after the 5th, full lunch after 9, and another drink after 15.


- The 11th looked like it might have had a rebuilt green. It looked out of character with the other 17.


- The 15th had the best green, and was the only one with any internal contouring. The up and back down par 4 14th and 15th had absolutely spectacular views of the mountain. Including a private trail behind 15 tee that took you up to an overlook that like something straight out of Kauai.


- It was my pleasure to watch the group ahead of us as the Japanese golf course photographer Mr. Hosada smoothed a driver to about 20ft on the sharply downhill 228yd 16th.


- Nasu felt like a very wealthy club. Lots of Hirono and Tokyo GC golf bags on the clubhouse railing. I was told it's used by the fortunate national membership as an escape from the heat and humidity of Tokyo and Kobe in the summertime. The club is very proud of it's long association with the Japanese Royal family.


- Attached to the clubhouse is a very spartan dormie lodge. Attached to the lodge was a wonderful outdoor onsen. After 24+ hours of travel and hiking Nasu's hills, the post round hot soak was a welcome relief for my back and legs.


- I've posted pictures from Nasu on my @bamabearcat twitter account on October 30th.


Next up: Tokyo GC and Kasumigaseki West

[Michael Wolf]

Day 3: Was a big day, as I played Tokyo GC in the morning and walked Kasumigaseki CC in the afternoon. This is very unusual in Japan. Most of the courses I played had tee times off of both 9's from 8am until 10 or 10:30, but then that was it for the day. The courses were all deserted in the afternoons. I was surprised that we played in 4 hours most days, when factoring out the hour we'd stop for lunch.


Tokyo GC was founded in 1913, but they are on their 3rd golf course. The present course was designed by Komyo Ohtani and opened in 1940. Gil Hanse has been involved with the club for the past decade and has led some significant changes. Some observations:


- Significant tree removal since the pictures I had seen before my trip. Lots more scheduled to come down over time.


- The golf course was in immaculate shape, and the greens were rolling 11-12ft?

[/size][size=78%]-  [/size][/size]Tokyo GC was the only course I played on the trip that still had double greens, the Chichibu and Asaka greens. Both were now bent grass surfaces. We played the Chichibu tees and greens, which had just reopened in July. The course as we played it from black tees on Chichibu was 6,617 yards. It could be stretched to just under 7k for tournaments. The Asaka combination was slightly longer at 6,813 and 7,215.[size=78%]

[/size]- The club is currently rotating between Chichibu and Asaka greens every other day. My host was excited about a new project to get Gil Hanse to create a composite rotation of tees and greens for use on special occasions.

[/size]- From what I could observe on the course and from listening to members, the Chichibu greens were more severe. Certainly on the day we played there were some tough tough pin positions.

- The 2nd hole shows up in lots of photographs, and it's as good as advertised. Beautiful diagonal cross fairway bunkers that reward a drive which carries them with a much more open look at the green.- 9 was a tough golf hole. 448yds from the member tees to a severe Chichibu green that rejected mediocre shots.- The redesigned 11th hole was the most debated among the members i met. The dual greens are set farther apart on this hole than any other. And there are several large round mounds about 100 yards short of either green, right in the middle of the landing zone both versions of the hole shared

- The double tees and greens crisscrossed on 3 of the 4 par 3's[/font]

- The short 14th was my favorite hole. A drive and pitch P4 that would fit in well at Merion[/font]

- The 15th with its split fairway and multiple routes to both greens was very clever- The club definitely gave one a sense that you were in a special place. And the club clearly took their role as one of Japan's leading clubs seriously. There is a decent sized museum in the clubhouse, a trophy case full of impressive club silver, and an honor board which caught my eye - one that listed all members who have shot their age on the course. After 105 years there was exactly one name on the board, with another to be added soon after a recent conquest by a 69 year old member.- The club borders Kasumigaseki, and several of the greens are close enough between the clubs that you can hear the other clubs groups discussing their putts.- The membership isn't very happy that the IOC will put up a tarp around the Kasumi property for the duration of the Olympics. Nor that the local traffic would be a mess.- I thought overall this was a very fine golf course. Decent amount of elevation change. Very well kept. The double greens were a nice leftover from bygone days. I wouldn't want them at every course, but since Tokyo GC can afford their upkeep, it's nice that at least one good example of "doubles" survives for the time being.Next up Kasumigaseki

[Michael Wolf]

After I played Tokyo GC I was able to go over and walk Kasumigaseki CC's East Course with a knowledgeable member of the club.


- "Kasu" will of course be hosting the 2020 Olympic Golf. It was also the host of the 2010 Asian Amateur which Hideki Matsuyama won.


- The 18th hole on the West course will be used as the driving range for the Olympics


- Play is already restricted to 20 groups a day. The East course will close to members in April, and the entire property will be turned over to the IOC in mid-May. It was by far the hardest course to access in the planning for my trip.


- A crowd of 25k a day is expected for the Olympics


- The golf course was in absolutely perfect shape. I was the only single person on it at 4pm on a beautiful Fall day.


- Kasumigaseki is par 71, 7,466 from the back tees. Good variety of dogleg lefts and rights


- It looked like a long tough golf course. Many fairway landing zones at 21-25yds at pinch points.


- Several of the holes had single, massive newly planted trees planted very close to greens. They reminded me of the tree planted on the 18th at Pebble about 10 years ago.


-The 4th was a long tough 237yd P3. The 5th was a 640yd P5 with some trouble around the greens. I'd think those will be good viewing areas for the Olympics


- The 10th is the most controversial of potential changes right now. It's a 189yd P3 over water that has two large evergreen trees that visually block the right side of the green. The trees are about halfway to the hole, and old pictures show they've always been on the hole. The IOC wants them taken out. Club leadership wants them left in.


- The 12th is a tough 499yd P4 with runoff around the greens, I'd think it's the hardest hole.


- I thought the 14th was the best hole. A long tough P5 that rewards a perfect drive with a big payoff. You need a draw off the tee and a fade with your 2nd.


- The 17th is a drivable par 4 that I thought was the one hole most out of character with the rest of the course. It has a massive green that horseshoes around a center bunker. This was the hole that shouted "Fazio" to me.


- The 18th has been converted to a 500yd p4 finishing hole. Water short right, and the right FW bunkers in the landing area are dead.


- I was told the Kasu renovation cost $15M compared to $10M on the recent Hirono restoration. No idea if that was apples to apples. Tom Fazio visited once, Logan Fazio visited 5-6 times.


- There will definitely be another renovation as soon as the Olympics are finished. Piecing together several conversations, I got the sense that the previous restoration decision making process was rushed along less than 90 days after being awarded the Olympics. The club seems to be taking their time with the post-Olympic work. But everyone I discussed the matter with said it was happening. One person thought Martin Ebert was almost definitely getting the work.


Day 4: No golf on day 4. It was a chance to go down to the old Tsukiji fish market for breakfast, and then wander the Jimbocho district looking for books. The famous tuna auctions and wholesale seafood operations are now totally moved out of Tsukiji. But the bustling outer market remains. Still a great place to buy reasonably priced sushi, world class kitchen knives, and get a tiny glimpse of old Tokyo. It's a 15 minute walk from the main Tokyo train station in Ginza.


The Jimbocho is the district in Tokyo where many universities are located, and therefore where a large number of small independent bookstores have thrived over the years. My visit coincided with the Kanda used book festival, where the bookstores display their wares on tables on sidewalks in front of their stores. And there is also a series of auctions of rare books.


The best bookstore for golf books is a baseball book store whose name translates to Biblio. The owner Yoshiyuki Ono only speaks a little English, but his daughter will check for emails that come through their website Biblio@blue.ocn.ne.jp in English.


I had a successful hunt, with books acquired from Hirono, Naruo, Kobe, TokyoGC, Kasumigaseki and several other pre-WW2 clubs. All are 99% in Japanese, but they all had great old b&w photos.


On to day 5 in the next post...

[Michael Wolf]

Day 5: I headed down to play Yokohama golf club West Course with longtime Japanese resident and golf shaper Benjamin Warren, Tyson Flynn, a young Aussie who said he's played 97 of the top 100 golf courses in Oz - but was playing his first round outside of OZ, and Quinn Thompson. Quinn worked along with Rob Collins on the Yokohama West renovation for Bill Coore. Quinn was at Hirono working on bunkers for Martin Ebert for the past year, and just this week moved back to Yokohama to start work on their East Course.  We couldn't have asked for a better host and tour guide.

Yokohama GC had a strange overall feel to it. The clubhouse is slated for a rebuild and parts of it had tarp around it. There is only the tiniest of counters selling balls and gloves, but not a single item with the Yokohama name. There were honor-bars full of cold beer on about every 3rd hole.


- As we went along, Benjamin and Quinn explained some of the differences in working on courses in Japan vs other countries. A key factor in large scale renovations like Yokohama is the costs (or value) in the earth itself. Simple mounds of topsoil that sit in between golf holes can be worth $100's of k's of $ to the course owners. So every cubic yard of dirt in a cut or fill needs to be considered financially as well as strategically. I'm told at Yokohama the strategic usually won out over the financial, which is not at all common in modern Japanese golf economics.


- The West course had the unmistakable feel of a C&C golf course (or I guess a Coore golf course). The bunkering and greens all had a familiar feel.


- The lush grass really framed the bunker edging well and helped to show off the shapes.


- The weak point of the course was definitely 4&5th IMO. Stuck in a hilly back corner of the property, both required drives into just weird landing zones. The approach to the 4th was then severely downhill over a lake, whereas the 5th was back uphill and played up a serious of plateaus.


- The 6th was an interesting hole -you'd swear it was uphill standing on the tee, but when you get down to the fairway it's obviously downhill. A good hole.


- 10 and 11 were down and back from the clubhouse, and the 12th was a great medium par 3 that would have fit at Hirono, which is as high of praise as I can give it.


- Quinn's favorite hole was the 14th, a good solid p4


- The p3 16th is marred visually by power lines, although they aren't in play


- 17 is the almost drivable par4 with the tree in the fairway exactly where you'd normally want to hit the ball. It's Yokohama's most photographed and debated holes. But I personally didn't think it was that outrageous after playing it. It'd be driver for me every time. Worse cae you hit the tree and drop down underneath it. Which is a better option than mishitting an iron off of the tee and ending up blocked by the tree. If anything I thought the green could have been even more severe for such a short hole late in the round.


- I thought the 18th was a great driving hole. The small pot bunker in the FW less so after I smashed a 300yd drive right into it.


- And finally a cool short 19th hole back up to the clubhouse that can be played with a putter, a wedge or a punched 5 iron.


We had a nice soak and a beer afterwards. And then it was time to head back for a final night in Tokyo before heading down to Kawana for the weekend and eventually to Kobe and Hirono.

[Charles Lund]

Thanks for the postings.


I waa able to play Hirono in April , 2017 and Kasumigaseki and Tokyo Golf Club in April, 2018.  Tokyo Golf Club was in the process of renovation and a large amount of tree removal occurring.  Many new tee boxes were under construction, so that having more tee boxes along with multiple greens offered the potential for creativity in setup. 


I have photos of Kasumigaseki East and had an enjoyable day with the man who hosted me.  The course is sort of a blur.  One thing that struck me was the extent to which the course followed common Japanese bracing and structural practices to preserve pine trees and protect them from winter snow and ice damage and keep them going despite recurrent strong winds and typhoon influences.


 My experience at Hirono was at a time when grass was still dormant.  I thought the course had adequate width.  It appeared to me that extensive effort was made to prune and shape trees in a manner compatible with  centuries old practices across the country.  The 2018 typhoon damage in the Kansai region was extensive.  I am sure it created some strategy changes in the renovation, which was to be more of a restoration.  Since November of 2018, I have been back to Japan four more times and cleanup is is still ongoing in terrain around gardens I have visited.


Hope you get a chance to see some gardens around Kyoto and sample some of the cuisine in Osaka.


Did you use club and luggage forwarding in Japan?  Did you schlep clubs on the Shinkansen? They changed some rules on luggage on the Shinkansen.


Charles Lund

[Peter Pallotta]

Michael, Charles -
now that would be something we couldn't read anywhere else - a joint essay by you two well-travelled souls, detailing not only the golf/golf courses but the extra-curricular experience of the game in Japan. I'm still thinking about the soaks and the hour lunches and the empty afternoon courses and the tree-bracing; but am curious also about the extent to which they have embraced (what I think of as) 'western' concepts like tree removing renovations and the Bill Coore sensibilities.
At any rate, I don't expect you to actually join forces on such an essay -- but just to say: I think many of us would much enjoy reading as much as you'd like to share about the 'culture' of golf in Japan.
P

[Michael Wolf]

Charles - I used the Black Cat system to ship my clubs and suitcases everywhere. The golf bag moved from course to course via the caddymaster or small shipping desks inside the locker room. When I finished playing each day i simply counted my clubs, signed off on the caddy chit, and told the Black Cat rep where I was playing the next day. At the higher end clubs they even wrapped my bag in bubble wrap before loading it into the club glove. I never lifted a finger.


For luggage, i took two smaller suitcases and had them leap frog each other as I moved from dormie house to hotel to hotel etc. As the trip went on the bags transitioned into a clean clothes suitcase and a used clothes and souvenir case.


My last round was at Hirono and by the time I left their wonderful library, it was probably close to 5pm. Since my flight was from Narita the next day, I decided to take the clubs with me. I was staying at the Crown Plaza right in the Kobe Shinkansen station. When I got back to the station I used my JR rail pass to reserve a seat the next day at the visitor window. I asked the JR guy to book me a seat in the last row, as I knew there was a tiny space behind the last row of most cars where you could fit a larger piece of luggage. I got a frown when I explained what I was planning on doing , but the next morning i never had even a whiff of problem.


Arrived early to the train platform so I'd be first in line to board (the train stations literally have painted lines where you queue up for each car). Pulled the club glove on board and propped it up in back of last row. Had a pleasant 3 hour Shinkansen (bullet train) ride to the airport and only occasionally saw others with bigger luggage. Plan B if I needed to would have been to stand with luggage in the aisleway and hold onto the strap. I have been told that that space in the back row is supposed to be for wheelchairs. But I never saw a sign or saw any wheelchairs back there.


For those who haven't experienced the Shinkansen - Imagine traveling from Southern Hills to Prairie Dunes to Sand Hills to Ballyneal at 150mph each day, while you sip a beer and snack on some sushi. And still having your luggage and golf clubs beat you to the hotel and golf course each day. Once you build up trust in the system, it's incredibly liberating to travel without luggage. (It's called Black Cat because the largest transport system uses a black cat on a yellow background as its logo)


Also the hotels have everything you'd need for personal care in the odd case that something was delayed. Even basic hotels have razors, brushes, deodorant, etc


Michael

[Michael Wolf]

Peter,


Once I get (if i get!) finished working through my course by course observations, I'll post some overall things I witnessed in my two weeks.


But I want to be careful in trying to ascribe what I saw to a larger thesis on Japanese golf. Because the courses I played were all clearly in the very top echelon of either private clubs or expensive resort courses. Japan has/had 2,400 golf courses and i'd guess the majority had vastly different budgets, "golf IQ" of memberships, and traditions to guide them than the 8 courses I was fortunate to play. Also - I'm certain that Charles is a better writer than I would be!


I can say that two big assumptions I took with me - slow playing times and an affinity for trees -were not evident, at least at the places I played. If you take out the mid round lunches  -which are fantastic but not required - we played every nine holes of golf in 1:45-2:15. And re:trees, almost every course i visited had already removed hundred of trees and most had proposals for additional thinning from Hanse, Ebert, Coore etc posted in their locker rooms for members to look at.


I know for sure that even more trees are coming down at Tokyo, Hirono and Kobe. My understanding is the aversion to tree removal was overcome with education and example - the same as in the US. In particular I think the opening up of distant views at Kobe and Hirono and the highlighting of remaining specimen trees at Tokyo were keys to getting the chainsaws running.


Hope this helps,
Michael

[Nigel Islam]

How many courses did Alison work on in Japan? I know of Hirono, Kawana, Kasumigaseki, and Naruo. I just know so little of Japanese golf history.

[Carl Nichols]

Michael--
Thanks very much for your interesting observations.  I'm traveling with my family to Japan next summer and am trying to figure out whether it's worth the effort to play a round or two (or more), and if so, where.  Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

[Jeff Schley]

How many courses did Alison work on in Japan? I know of Hirono, Kawana, Kasumigaseki, and Naruo. I just know so little of Japanese golf history.

Heading there in April and I know Ibaraki East (Old) is where Alison did a major renovation. There is some evidence he did some advising on a few others. Also have to weed through the "inspired by" tags that some courses have claimed with a Japanese architect doing the design and work.

[Michael Wolf]

Day 6 - headed South and played the Kawana Hotel's Fiji Course. This is the famous of the hotels two golf courses. The hotel sits up about 300 yards from the edge of the seaside cliffs of the property. The obvious comparison is to Pebble Beach. THis is by far the top publicly accessible course in Japan, as long as you are will to fork over big $ to stay in it's gloomy old hotel.

- The course still has the problematic korai putting greens, and they are a drawback. Slow and inconsistent, but the Fuji greens were much better groomed than the ones on Oshima that we'd play the next day. The Fuji course still had 4 or 5 leftover double greens from the old days. A couple of those did not appear to be in use.

- We played the 6,242 regular tees. The championship tees were 6,701. Par 72. 2 5's and 2 3's on each side.


- The Fuji course runs up and down the hills to the East of the hotel. The first tee is about a 500yd walk from the small clubhouse in the basement of the hotel.

- The first hole has as dramatic a falloff as any starting hole on a top course I can think of. It makes Kapalau or Riviera seem gentle. #1 is a slight dogleg right with an elevation change of 48 yards. It's gotta give #10 at ANGC a run for steepest downhill par 4.

- The 2nd hold was a solid two shotter, but it also began to reveal Kawana Fuji's biggest weakness - the hundreds of trees lining the edges of the cliffs. In many cases comically blocking what would be spectacular views, and in more serious offenses, really affecting playability of the holes. THe 2nd was only affected visually. A high greenside bunker short left was in a pretty bad state of deterioration. There was grass growing in it, and it was in danger of losing its spectacular high face.

- The 3rd is one of Fiji's best -a long tough uphill P5 of 450 yards that curves gently to the right. The hole could be shortened by challenging one of three well placed and well shaped fairway bunkers going up the right hand side.

- THe 4th was another P5 straight back down the same hole towards the water. Again, it would be much more spectacular visually if their were significant tree removal.

- The 7th was a cool quirky shor p4 over a hogsback in the landing zone. A good drive could carry the entire hogsback. Anything else kicked left or right and while still in the fairway, left a more difficult 2nd to a difficult sloping green. Fortunately for this correspondent, I holed out a SW from 110 yards for the highlight eagle of my trip. It was a great hole to make a deuce on. This hole could have easily fit right in at Crystal Downs.

- 9 was a cool uphill shorter p4, that at least visually gave the player a couple of different angles to choose off of the tee. The reality now that I've played it is driver up the right hand side would work every time.

- 11th is a great hole - a downhill rolling P5 towards the edge of the cliff and a lighthouse perched up back left of the green. On clear days this is the hole where you can see the top of Mt. Fuji for the first time. It's also the farthest point you reach from the clubhouse.

- 12 should be a much better hole. It's a short dogleg left P4 where the edge of the cliff should come into play both on the drive and 2nd shots. But unfortunately numerous trees block parts of the view the entire length of the hole.

- The 14th is used on the cover of the CD  V5, with Mt. Fuji visible when looking from the green backup to the fairway. After you play the hole there is a little tee house that has bathrooms and a little porch where you can take in the views from the highest clifftop point on the course, while you wait your turn to take pictures and blast off of the famous 15th tee box.

- The 15th hole is the most famous and photographed golf hole in the country. I think it deserves to be. Uphill par5 along the cliffs edge which starts with a drive from high atop the cliff and carries over a little inlet down to the landing area on the other side. From there you climb the fairways quirky twists and rolls up to a green guarded by a huge bunker short right. Here I did see some encouraging signs of tree removal - or at least a willingness to let mother nature's hand remove some of the trees along the cliffs edge. The tee ball doesn't really need to flirt with the cliff. There is in reality plenty of room to bail out on the right. But a big drive up the left hand side does open up the approach into the green with a hybrid or long iron for an expert player.

- the 16th is a boring P3 that gave me fears the rest of the round would be anticlimactic. But the 17th is a nice tough uphill P4 of 388yds with a yawning FW bunker that must be dealt with about 225 yards from the tee on the left side of the FW.

- And then the finishing hole I thought was great. Saddle fairway with a ridgeline about 240 to carry from the tee. From there a nipped wedge to the only pushup green on the course. Drain the 8fter for birdie and the end of a great day.

- It was hard overall to separate the gloominess of the hotel from a wonderful golf course that's in some desperate need of love. The bunkers in particular are reaching a point of no return in some cases. The greens played better than I'd expected ahead of time. The korai is clearly inferior to the bent greens we played on the rest of the trip. But these at least weren't "that bad".

- Kawana is part of a string of golf hotel and spa properties owned by a group. Clearly they are having financial troubles, and have been for quite some time. The rooms and common areas were nowhere near the standard of any of the other facilities we stayed at, and couldn't begin to justify the pricing - other than on past reputation.

Day 7 played the Kawana Oshima Course.

Kawana's B course, this golf course sits below and to the west of the Kawana Hotel. Tipping out at 5,711 and P70, but it still offers the same great views and in some cases bunkering as it's big sister to the East.

Unfortunately the quality of care on the greens was nowhere near it's sister act.

- The 2nd and 3rd holes badly suffer from tree growth. Both would be much better with less trees.

- By the time you reach the 6th and 7th, the land is so severe that you abandon your cart or caddy trolley and walk over a pretty lengthy swinging bridge (over a deep! canyon) to play the 6th green and then tee off on the 7th hole before retracing you way back across the bridge.

- I thought the p4 408yd 9th was a highlight. Good solid hole with an interesting green that brought you back to the turnhouse for a bite to eat while waiting on the final groups to tee off of the backside.

- The 13th, 14th and 15th all got a little silly with blind tee shots and severe drop offs.

- But 16, 17 and 18 had better land and offered a decent solid finish.

- Overall I thought the Oshima course was "ok". It was a fun resort course at a decent price of I think $110. I've certainly overpaid for worse in Hawaii, and this property is just as spectacular as something you'd find in Maui or Kauai. But absolutely not worth extending your stay at the Kawana Hotel/Mausoleum in order to play.

- Kawana should be a stay one night/play Fiji and continue on with your journey North or South immediately afterwards.

- The best way for a non-native speaker to access Kawana is via the train station in Ito, and then just taxi to/from the hotel. The hotel also offers free transport down to the train station a few times a day. IMO not worth it to try and save a few bucks by using the city bus to get from the train station to the resort front door.

As I was leaving the hotel I ran into Peter McDonald from ShoreAcres, who was also attempting to get from Kawana down to Kobe. He had a game at Hirono the next morning. I was playing Kobe GC the next day, and finishing at Hirono the day afterwards. So we had fun comparing notes on where we'd been and where were headed as we backtracked from the Ito train station up to the larger station in Atami and then caught the bullet train down to Kobe.

More on my two days in Kobe next...

[Michael Wolf]

Day 8: I knew the least about Kobe GC than of any of the courses I would be playing on the trip. So I must begin with thanking Benjamin Warren for the suggestion that Kobe was a "must visit", to Mr Chisa and Mr Okuda for hosting Benjamin, Tyson Flynn and myself at a spectacular meal of Kobe beef on the night before we played. And to Mr. Shinmen, then club Captain, for meeting us for a beer in the clubhouse when we were done, and for patiently answering so many of my questions.


Kobe GC was Japan's first golf course, formed by Arthur Groom and fellow expats looking to get out of the heat and humidity of Kobe and Osaka. The Club absolutely oozes history. Their small old-school clubhouse is perched on top of a mountain overlooking the Kobe and Osaka waterfronts thousands of feet below. It's one of the most spectacular settings for a pre round breakfast or post round beer I've ever seen. You sit in wicker furniture and look out windows that can cleverly be raised or lowered into the walls. A limited menu of classic dishes, all simple and tasty, are on offer.


- The course itself is still original - it's 18 holes that play over only 4K yards. Par is 61


- But they make it interesting by playing with sets of 10 hickory clubs. Loaner sets available


- The first 6 holes play over a hilly common ground of short grass. It's mostly back and forth, up and down par3s


- You go across the road up behind the clubhouse for 7-10. Seven is among the most severe holes I've ever seen. You hit a 5i up to maybe hybrid that all land on the side of a massive hogs back and then kick hard left around the corner of the 70 degree dogleg. It almost works like a turn at Talladega.


- 11 thru 15 are a longer run of holes that will have you reaching into your cloth carry bag for at least a spoon off the tee. Benjamin liked 13, with its green framed by a backdrop of evergreens in the far corner of the property


- I though 16-18 wonderful. 16 and 18 share a fairway, but played in opposite directions. 18 finished downhill and just below the clubhouse veranda.


- The club is currently testing two small pot bunkers with straight vertical grass faces in front right of 18 green, with the idea of using more of them on the course.


- Hundred of trees have been removed, and one of our hosts, referring to the current greens chair as "Mr Chainsaw", was happy to point out a large row of trees separating 18 green and 1st fairway that were slated for removal this winter. Removing this row will make the 1-6 hole paddock visible from the clubhouse porch, as well as open up even more views of the harbor below


- The more trees removed the better - I bought a copy of the clubs 100th anniversary book for sale at the members counter, and the pictures of the treeless vistas when the club was founded are absolutely spectacular. The only sense of scale I can give would be if you've stood at the rim of the grand canyon and watched the colorado river flow miles below. At Kobe GC, the massive feeighters moving about in the port below look like tiny toy boats in a bathtub


- Kobe membership certainly knows what they have and they celebrate it. They have a large hickory tournament on their anniversary each year. The clubhouse is filled with photos, paintings, and mementos from the earliest days of golf and Japan.


- The newest project is the construction of a sand and oil green behind the present 18th green, to show off what was used in the earliest days of Kobe GC. The club even still retains the original stone rollers used to smooth the original sand greens.


I would not feel a golf trip to Japan was complete without a visit to Kobe GC.


After we finished playing we took a taxi back down to the hotel where we were staying next to the Kobe bullet train station. I needed to begin packing up for the trip home, but also knowing that my one last day of golf remaining would be the one I'd most looked forward to: a round at the newly renovated and just reopened Hirono Golf Club,,,

[Michael Wolf]

Day 9: For my final round of this trip I had the pleasure to play Hirono Golf Club alongside Quinn Thompson. Quinn was a member of the Martin Ebert team that has been working on Hirono for the past year.


- Hirono GC can be accessed via an older train line from Kobe that makes a stop right outside the Clubs front door. The stop is literally called "Hirono Golf" station.


- Prior to arriving, I had expected Hirono to resemble Pine Valley as far as the surrounding property. This was way off - Hirono is in a fairly well populated area surrounded by streets, houses and water retention ponds used for farming on several sides. Most visible from the 12th and 17th tees. But still a quiet peaceful place to play golf while you are on the course.


- Like the other courses played in Japan, Hirono sends groups off of the 1st and 10th tees from 8-10:30 or so each day. And then that's it for play for the day. Additionally, I was told that the Club is further restricting play each day while the final touches of the restoration are being completed.


- There was still some stump removal, etc being finished up, and a few small areas where new sod was roped off.


- There is a new himalayas style putting course being grown into a plot immediately adjacent to the 10th tee.


- We started on 10, but I'll go in order of holes for what caught my eye. We played from the white tees at 6,441, p72. The back tees are listed at 7,292.


- Overall the new greens have significant internal movement and are among the most difficult greens I've experienced anywhere in the world. I was told the club directed Ebert they wanted greens with distinct areas for each days hole locations. And that is certainly what they now have. I had multiple putts throughout the round that were difficult to lag within 8-10ft of the hole. We played with green speeds at probably 10? Hirono would in my opinion be one of the worlds most difficult golf courses with speeds at 12


- The first 2 holes are pretty straight forward p5 and p4, although in reality more of a 4.5 & 4.5, which I liked as a way to start the round.


- The 3rd and 15th holes both have had waste areas added between the tees and beginning of the fairway. Neither require much of a forced carry. Just an added visual touch, although apparently the club is having a hard time convincing Japanese players it's okay to walk through them!


- The 4th has a back tee that's at least 100 yards behind the member tees. This was also true on the 9th, 11th, 15th and 18th. So a majority of the difference between member and championship yardage was on a handful of tee boxes. On several of the shorter holes the same tees are shared. A little reminiscent of Augusta National in this respect.


- 5, 6 and 7 were a wonderful triangle. I like how the ditch and bunkers on 7 were also in play for a sliced drive on 6. The newly restored Devils Divot bunkers on 7 are even more impressive in person than the photos that have been online recently.


- I'm undecided on the lone manicured pine to the left of 7 green. Possibly because my ball was underneath it.


- The green on 8 is the wildest on the course, with a huge gully in the middle of green. Sort of a biarritz turned 90 degrees.


- The 9th and 18th greens look to me like they've been raised several feet compared to pictures taken prior to the renovation.


- The right fairway bunkers on the 10th hole have been moved farther into the fairway. And now require a little fade of probably 225 yds to carry. Quinn pointed out to me the former airplane runway that ran diagonal through the 10th and 18th holes.


- Additional trees behind the 10th and 11th greens are being discussed for removal in order to open up views of a mountain in the distance.


- I was surprised to learn the huge pond to the left of the 12th tee box is not controlled by the club, and in fact is almost completely empty at present time. Somewhat of an eyesore. For the hole itself I thought the fairway in the landing zone could have been a little wider on the left. Significant tree removal down the right hand side of the hole.


- We played the 13th hole from the standard far left tee complex. But there is an alternate tee to the right of the 12th green that lets you play the hole 30? yards shorter and from the original angle. The new 13th green is among the most severe of the changes. It's a dramatically sloping back to front down towards the water. I was told by a member that the club is exploring ways to get rid of the wood bridge on the left side of the hole. It certainly doesn't match Hirono's other famous stone arch bridges.


- 14 I didn't like. Lots of trees removed on the left side of the hole, and an aiming bunker added dead in the middle of the fairway at almost the crest of the hill. But the hill is still steep enough in the landing zone that even a well driven ball that carries the aiming bunker can kick hard left and roll back 60 yards down the hill, leaving the player blocked on his second shot. As it stands the play for all but scratch golfers is now a slice that starts at the centerline bunker and ends on the hillside right edge of the fairway. Leaving a second shot of 175 yards with the ball above your feet.


- Someone has asked me if the Nicklaus tree was still on 15? I didn't notice any trees in play, but I also wasn't especially looking for one. Large swale in front of green but a hybrid or 3 wood does have a chance to run up onto the green. Anything long is death. Another difficult back to front green, and a deep bunker over the back of the green which would be almost impossible to keep a ball on the green when playing out of.


- Water left of 17 has been extended up almost to the left of the green.


- Overall, Hirono is a beautiful place to play golf. With the new greens, it is also very, very tough. I think the set of par 3's up there with Shinnecock, Cypress Point and Camargo, and overall Hirono is among the best parkland courses in the game of golf.


A few other misc observations on Hirono:


- I'd never seen it in any Hirono info, but apparently wearing the color red is a faux pax at the club. A player in our group was gently advised by our member host.


- The onsen looked like a new addition or remodel at least vs pictures I'd seen of the old one. You could boil an egg in that sucker.


- The JGA museum is immediately adjacent to the Hirono clubhouse and is a must visit. You can request to go in from the caddymaster or at the front desk of the club and they send someone over with the key to chaperone while you are inside. Down in a back room on the first floor is a spectacular library of books and periodicals from the birth of the game up through about 1970. Much of it in English language. The 2nd floor contains trophies, paintings and mementoes from every significant milestone in Japanese golf history. It's a must visit.


- The grill room and lockers cleared out at precisely 4pm. So much so that I assume there is a Seminole type rule about being off of the property.


- We made the mistake of assuming it was a short cab ride back into Kobe. Either we weren't paying attention on the train ride up, or the cabbie had a unique way of delivering foreigners back into town, but our taxi ride was 15,000 yen vs the train we should have taken for 800


Michael

[Michael Wolf]

A few final thoughts to wrap up this far too long summary,,,,


- Because of distance and language barriers, Japan is by far the most under appreciated golfing country in the world. The number of players and courses even after their economic troubles is still staggering. My hosts at the clubs, the employees, the female caddies, the taxi drivers, hotel reception workers, bartenders, etc etc - it seemed like everyone played golf, followed professional golf, and had their opinions on the best courses, places to hit range balls etc.


- The country does seem to still be pretty bifurcated in their golf courses - the members at the top clubs play all of their golf at other top clubs, and the other 98% of Japanese golfers will never visit a top course even once in their lives, except maybe for a bucket list trip to Kawana. When I asked for suggestions for my next trip, the recommendations were always the same 10 courses.


- For these reasons, I'll go out on a limb and make a prediction - if there is still a Doak 7 or 8 that hasn't been discussed anywhere on this website yet, I'll bet it's a Japanese golf course somewhere off the beaten trail. With more than 2,000(!) golf courses, there have to be a few really good ones that the English speaking golf world doesn't know about, right?


- Slow play, at least at top Japanese clubs, is a myth. We played every 9 holes on the trip in under 2:15, and most were under 2:00.


- Education on the benefits of tree and irrigation management are being felt. Every course we visited had plans underway to remove trees and cut back on water.


- This trip I saw Nasu, Tokyo, Kasumigaseki East, Yokohama West, Kawana Fuji and Oshima, Kobe and Hirono. My list for the next trip will be Naruo, Tokyo (Asaka greens), Hakone, Ibaraki East, Abiko, Orai, Ono and Oak Village. Plus Kasu and Yokohama East if they are renovated before I return.


- I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a trip to Japan for golf. In many ways I felt like the effort needed to overcome the language and cultural barriers only enhanced my appreciation on this trip.


Thanks for reading,


Michael

[Tom_Doak]

So, am I to understand that the restoration of Hirono also included some major changes to the course?


I know that the greens had been destroyed and rebuilt once before, a few years before my one visit, but if the greens on 9 and 18 are several feet higher now, I'd be surprised if that was a restoration.  Did your host address that element of the work?

[Greg Gilson]

Michael, many thanks for taking the time to document this report. I enjoyed very much reading your thoughts. I wish it were easier to access these great courses because , I agree, a golf trip (any trip) to Japan is a wonderful experience.


Thanks again.

[Michael Wolf]

Tom,


My understanding is new greens with new contours. Not an attempt to restore back to anything that was original. This was my first visit, but as a wrote earlier, the new greens are very severe compared to the photos in the most recent club history. Re:locations - I know the 12th is about 20ft from where it was before the latest work. I believe several others have been moved a little as well.


I'll post a photo of the 9th on my @BamaBearcat twitter. Perhaps someone can screenshot it and post it here - I still don't know how.


Michael

[Michael Wolf]

As far as playing corridors, from what was described to me, the 14th is the most changed from tee to green. It doesn't look anything like what was in the yardage book from 3 years ago.


Also just so I'm clear - I played with Quinn - but we were hosted by a member of the club. So when I reference my host - that's the member comments and not Quinn.


Michael

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Great stuff Michael, have enjoyed following your journey on Twitter

[Adam Uttley]

Thanks Michael a really good write-up and it’s nice to get some on the ground insight into the work done at Hirono.  Just a few thoughts from me:


1.  I don’t think the 9th green has been elevated.  I’ve posted a picture on your twitter of the old green and they look the same height.


2.  I agree with your assessment of it being one of the toughest courses in the world now.  It was very tough before and the greens weren’t that tricky.  If they are now heavily contoured it will be a very tough course. 


3.  It’s a shame about 14.  I thought it was an excellent hole before, ultimately giving you a choice between a 6-iron from a flat lie way right or a 9-iron from a severe hanging lie.  When I saw the plans for a centre bunker I couldn’t imagine why it was needed or what it would add to the hole and it sounds like that’s the case.


4.  I think the red thing is the same at all private clubs.  We were told to wear clothes that lacked much colour so no yellows, reds or oranges at any of the clubs (apart from Kawana).  It made me notice that in car parks there were hardly any cars with colour,  even away from golf clubs.  I guess it’s a cultural thing.


Away from Hirono, a few other thoughts from my trip last year, I would be interested in your take on them.


5.  I thought that Hirono, Kawana (and Naruo) were superb courses and offered something really unique in the world of golf, whereas Tokyo and Kasumigseki were good courses but (apart from the double greens at Tokyo) the courses could have been anywhere in the world.  I loved Kasumigaseki at the time but now I can only really remember the 10th.


6.  What did you think of the 4th at Kawana Oshima? Granted,it could do with some trees removed but it was my favourite hole on the course but you didn’t mention it as good or bad. 

[Adam Uttley]

Ok I haven’t quite worked out how to embed the photos - I look soon - but here is a link to both in Flickr.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/153243156@N06/shares/K8524J

[Michael Wolf]

Adam,


1) You are correct re: the 9th - it looks the same height as in your picture. What year was yours taken? I can't find a date in English for the picture in the club history book i'm referencing as the basis of my "before"


2) When I say tough - for me that means "frustrating" as much as scoring. Since there are only a few forced carries and very little water, I guess I'd average lower scores as a 10 handicap than someplace like Doral or PGA National. But yikes from 100 yard in it would be frightening if/when they dial up the speeds


4) I'd welcome feedback on wearing red. There were plenty of colorful outfits on the courses, and since Hirono was our final stop I didn't get a chance to pay attention at any other courses. I was guessing maybe something carried over from the Rising Sun era?


5) Agree on this point in general, although the level of conditioning at both Tokyo and Kasu and especially the bunkering at Tokyo would make them stand out in most parts of the world. Kobe was unique in every way.


6) You are correct on the 4th at Kawana Oshima. I just forgot to put it in the summary - although I wasn't sure how I'd "fix" it?Obviously you'd want to remove trees for the stunning clifftop views. But the hole is so short that if you took down all of the trees it'd make it a fairly simple to play hole? - just bomb driver right of the green?


Here's where I'll throw out a HOT TAKE ALERT - If the Fuji had a full restoration AND the Oshima was turned over to an architect that knew what they were doing for a full renovation/redesign - could Kawana in fact be the best 36 hole facility in the world? I was looking at google maps trying to get a sense of what would be possible with the Oshima property. But I'm way out of my league on this.


Good question for the professionals on this site who have been to Kawana?

[Adam Uttley]

Adam,


1) You are correct re: the 9th - it looks the same height as in your picture. What year was yours taken? I can't find a date in English for the picture in the club history book i'm referencing as the basis of my "before"

November 2018

[Charles Lund]

Thanks for the posting on Hirono Golf Club and your review of other Japan courses.  I olayed in Hirono in late March of 2017.  I described my experience somewhere on GCA.  I uploaded some photos to Google Albums about a year later.  They are mostly par threes but #15 is also included.  Jack Nicklaus famously made eagle 3 many years ago there.  The photos depict the tree I was referencing and cable bracing to protect it from typhoons and other damage.  Link to photos:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/9jtvqKZfWj24wxTr1


Link failed to post.  If curious,I can send link by email on  request.
I have a few trips planned to Japan to pursue non-golf interests.  I hope to coordinate my schedule on one of trips with the member who hosted me on my previous visit.


One observation about pace of play.  Lunch iwas part of golf on all five rounds I have played in Japan. There is an assigned second nine start time.  Punctuality is an integral  part of Japanese culture, which includes other Ps - polite, precise, patient.  Trains arriving and departing on time seems like a cultural metaphor.  In three rounds I played there were competent female caddies, each handling two players.  I would guess pace of play is carefully monitored.


Charles Lund

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