Kasumigaseki

[Brian_Ewen]

Meet the Tokyo Host Olympic Golf Course Designer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtTXl6BR2aA

[Quinn Thompson]

That is great stuff Brian !! Thanks for sharing.


Some, if not most, of those golf swings at the range in 1960's Japan are beautiful...graceful and "loopy".


Thankfully, not much has changed since then...though the maintenance practices have become more...practical.


what a Country.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Love this quote from the architect.


“Every great golf course must present some dangers. If certain holes make the golfer angry, well it is just part of the game.”

[Peter Flory]

Here is a still from that video.  Looks like more the original bunker style?

[Tommy Williamsen]

That's an interesting picture. It displays the two greens that every hole is said to have: one for winter and one for summer.

[Charles Lund]

I played Kasumagaseki East and Tokyo Golf Club in April, 2018.  I  had earlier played Hirono on a trip in 2017.


I think the two green photo was an old photo or was from Tokyo Golf Club.  Tom Fazio had completed his redesign in anticipation of the Olympics.  There was only one green per hole and no mention of another nearby green.  On the other hand, Tokyo Golf Club was open for play during the Gil Hanse renovation and redesign.  My understanding is that they were maintaining two greens per hole, but changing to a type of grass suitable for play year round.  The redesign added additional tees so the multiple tees and multiple greens made for many playing options.  At Tokyo Golf Club, the renovation included large scale tree removal.  The course had become over-forested over time.  I believe the Fazio redesign involved quite a bit of tree removal and I have photos of representative trees retained and supported in some cases with bracing to protect desirable forms of branching in the winter season from the weight of snow and ice accumulation, along with stabilizing branches growing in a close to horizontal direction.


Charles Lund

[John Emerson]

Here’s a wonderful video about turf maintenance at Kasumigaseki. 


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MDH8SoNdDsk&feature=youtu.be

[Joel_Stewart]

Do the Fazios speak with the press anymore.  Read that Tom made only one trip to Japan and Logan had multiple trips but don't see any video of them or comments?

[Tom_Doak]

Do the Fazios speak with the press anymore.  Read that Tom made only one trip to Japan and Logan had multiple trips but don't see any video of them or comments?

Actually, it's been quite a while since I have seen either of them interviewed, now that you mention it.


It's also possible that The Olympics, or their client the Kasumigaseki CC, did not want them taking credit for anything publicly and especially not while the Games are on.

[Kalen Braley]

Trying to figure out the look of it from what I saw from the TV Footage.  A bit of cross between Lincoln Park for its pruned cypress trees and smallish earthy-looking bunkers with the fine conditioning, ponds, and rolling terrain of Muirfield Village.


P.S.  Has Bonnar got his invite yet?

[Marty Bonnar]

Trying to figure out the look of it from what I saw from the TV Footage.  A bit of cross between Lincoln Park for its pruned cypress trees and smallish earthy-looking bunkers with the fine conditioning, ponds, and rolling terrain of Muirfield Village.


P.S.  Has Bonnar got his invite yet?

NO! And I’ve even been making sushi, revisiting my childhood passion of origami, re-reading Shogun, buying more Canon photo gear, investigating buying a Nissan and painting watercolour views of Mount Fuji every day. What more must a man (Anjin-San) do?
F.

[Bruce Katona]

FBD:

Pack your sticks and weekend travel bag, book a flight to Tokyo, catch an Uber to the course, don your sumo thong in the Uber, and dance on their practice green upon exiting said vehicle...........that should move you up to the 10:08 starting time that day.

[Tom_Doak]

FBD:

Pack your sticks and weekend travel bag, book a flight to Tokyo, catch an Uber to the course, don your sumo thong in the Uber, and dance on their practice green upon exiting said vehicle...........that should move you up to the 10:08 starting time that day.

Ha!  I don’t think I have ever gotten a dirtier look than going from #9 green straight to #10 tee at Kasumigaseki, without stopping for lunch, which used to be obligatory back in the day.  We were set up to play 36 holes there and next door at Tokyo Golf Club, on a muggy August day.  Tough sledding in those conditions!

[Greg Gilson]

Tom, you would have gotten a dirtier look if you had gone straight from 18 green to the warm bath without stopping to bathe first.


Fellow GCA'er (AB...full name withheld to protect the guilty) did exactly that when we were at Kasumagasecki about 10 years ago. We got the bath protocol down eventually. However, Kasumagasecki was our first stop - all the old Japanese members & the little lady attendants were gasping as his white body plonked straight from the changing area into the bath. Not sure what shocked them most....his size, his pale body or his lack of protocol!

[Charles Lund]

FBD:

Pack your sticks and weekend travel bag, book a flight to Tokyo, catch an Uber to the course, don your sumo thong in the Uber, and dance on their practice green upon exiting said vehicle...........that should move you up to the 10:08 starting time that day.

WTF?


What a pathetic attempt at humor!


Charles Lund

[Bruce Katona]

Charles Lund:

Carry over from another thread where FBD said he would don a sumo thong to play there.....