The spotlight will be bright and our attention will be piqued for golf as played in Japan when the PGA Tour’s Fall Series heads to Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba for the Zozo Championship on Oct. 13-16.
Golf is wildly popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, which is home to more than 2,400 golf courses, as many as the United Kingdom and Ireland combined. The PGA Tour event will be a virtual postcard for the game in Japan, which seeks to increase the number of golf tourists from the West.
Japan is renowned for its dramatic geography and natural beauty among its hustle and bustle. The country has a number of isolated areas as well as some outstanding golf courses. In fact, half of the golf courses in Asia are in Japan.
Most of the tourists that come to play golf are from other Asian countries, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
The tournament
The Zozo Championship will sport a 78-player field that will compete over four rounds with no cut. It’s Japan’s only official PGA Tour event and will be played for the fourth time and the third in Japan after being forced to California in 2020 because of COVID.
Tiger Woods garnered the inaugural title in 2019 with a three-shot victory over Hideki Matsuyama, in the process equaling Sam Snead’s record 82 PGA Tour victories. Matsuyama is the defending champion, winning here in 2021 to capture his seventh PGA Tour title.
The tournament will be contested on a hybrid course fashioned from the two tracks at Narashino Country Club – the King and the Queen – at 7,079 yards and to a par of 70, with two holes usually played as par-5s (the 11th and 12th) changed to par-4s. The layout will have five par-3s, three of them on the front nine, and three par-5s.
Narashino Country Club
Narashino Country Club’s two courses were designed by Shinya Fujita and opened in 1965. Located just east of Tokyo, the courses feature narrow, tree-lined fairways making club selection from the tee box an important part of play.
There are doglegs to the left and the right, requiring an ability to shape the ball both ways. Like many courses in Japan, Narashino Country Club has two greens on each hole to enable golfers to use the course year-round as different seasons require different grass types. The greens complexes themselves are quite tricky.
Golf in Japan
Japanese golf history dates back to 1901, when an English merchant, Arthur Hesketh Groom, created the Kobe Golf Club. Unlike others with 18 holes, the first Japan made golf course only had four holes.
The PGA Tour, which opened an office in Tokyo in 2016, has a long history in Japan, starting with its involvement in the 1957 World Cup of Golf in Tokyo. Japan subsequently hosted the 1966 and 2001 World Cups.
PGA Tour Champions also has had a presence in the country, starting with a team event from 1989-91 in which four Champions Tour players competed against counterparts from Japan. The Tour returned in 2017 and in 2019 with a tournament at Narita Golf Club.
Playing a round of golf in Japan is typically an all-day event with a lunch break of around one hour at the turn. At the end of the day, tired golfers head off to the clubhouse to relax in the property’s public bath. Towels, soap and shampoo are usually provided, so there is no need to bring your own.
While many of the courses in Japan are considered “private,” almost all can be played if you’re willing to pony up the cash or have a home club that can make a contact for you.
Other golf options near Tokyo
Hakone
Just south of Tokyo in the shadow of sacred Mount Fuji, the prefecture of Hakone is one of the most famous and exclusive golf retreat areas in Japan. The Hakone valley is set on a plateau almost a mile above sea level and is home to eight of the region’s top golf courses.
The first course built in the valley was the Fujiya Hotels Sengoku Golf Club, which was constructed in 1917 making it the third oldest course in Japan. Highlights here include:
Daihakone Country Club, Sengokuhara
Spread out on a majestic plain with against a backdrop of the broad mountains of the outer rim of Hakone Crater, Daihakone Country Club – designed by Komyo Otani and Yasuhiko Asaka and opened in 1954 – offers a par-73, 7,121-yard course. The signature offering here is No.17, known as the “Lotus flower,” a very difficult hole surrounded by tricky bunkers.
Hakone Country Club, Sengokuhara
Set in the middle of picturesque Hakone Highland, the course here has a surprisingly vast variety of fauna and flora as well as the hot springs for which the region is famous. The club was founded in 1954 and was designed by Shiro Akahoshi, a renowned golf architect in Japan. The course, which plays at 7,020 yards from the tips, has hosted the Japan Women’s Open as well as other premier tournaments through the years.
Odawara Yumoto Country Club, Yumoto
Carved on the side of the Hakone mountains just above the city of Odawara, this club opened in 1961 and is a favorite for locals and Tokyoites alike. The lush hillside location provides panoramic views of Odawara and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Not long at 6,542 yards but still a good challenge for any golfer and is always in good shape.
Ibaraki
Just located in the northern part of the Kanto region, golf courses in the Ibaraki prefecture are within easy reach of Tokyo and Narita/Haneda International Airports. There are literally hundreds of course in the area – here are three that we recommend:
The Royal Golf Club, Hokota
The course, designed by Yoichi Nagato and opened in 1990, can be stretched to 8,143 yards from the back tees, making the course a rarity that land is very limited in the country. The longest hole is 705 yards. Since 2018, The Royal Golf Club has been hosting the Mizuno Open, which is a prestigious professional golf tournament in Japan.
PGM Ishioka Golf Club, Omitama
This Jack Nicklaus-designed course is the host site of the ISPS Handa Championship on the Japan Golf Tour. Opened in 1994 and plating to almost 7,100 yards from the back tees, the track challenges golfers with its tight fairways lined by mature trees. It’s a relatively flat course but Nicklaus placed various obstacles throughout the course and there are many risk/reward opportunities.
Windsor Park Golf and Country Club, Higashi
Designed by Kentaro Sato, this 7,007-yard track is laid out across some highly interesting terrain, and it is testament to the designer’s flair and imagination. There’s a discerning British feel to the course, with its parkland routing reminiscent of forested courses in the United Kingdom.