International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama. Image: Shutterstock
In 2019, Japan will host the Rugby World Cup, one of the world’s biggest sporting events. With rugby fans partial to a game of golf, combining the two sports in one holiday makes perfect sense. We round-up the key venues and the nearby courses
Sapporo Dome, Sapporo
Sapporo — capital of of Japan’s most northerly island, Hokkaido — is the gateway to some incredible scenery
as well as being a culinary and cultural hub. Strategically located, the city makes a fine base from which to set out to the mountains and hot springs.
However, it’s stylish cafes, neon-lit nightlife and shopping opportunities provide ample excuse to linger. The city’s famous for its eponymous beer, one of the best-known brands in Japan. It’s also home to numerous fabulous restaurants specialising in Hokkaido seafood,
regarded by connoisseurs as the finest and freshest in the nation.
Golf Course: Hokkaido Classic
Located a short hop south of Sapporo, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Hokkaido Classic really is as pretty as a picture. Modelled on what many consider to be the Golden Bear’s greatest design feat, Muirfield Village in Ohio, the Hokkaido Classic course winds through beautiful woodlands and is dotted with lakes and creeks. Standout holes abound at the layout. Pick of the bunch includes the 14th, a beautiful par four with a gentle dogleg to the left with a lake bordering the fairway all the way to the putting surface. Also notable is the 10th, a long hole that is divided into three parts by creeks that meander through the fairway.
Website: en.hcgc.jp
Length: 7,059 yards
Green fees: from £225
International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Although it’s just a short journey of about 20 minutes by train south of Tokyo, Yokohama has its own distinct identity. More manageable than the sprawling capital, this city of around three million souls has numerous highlights for visitors. As one of Japan’s most important ports, the ocean plays a starring role in the life of the city and the breezy bay front with its promenades, parks and open-air dining venues is a magnet for locals and tourists alike. Other star attractions, meanwhile, include Japan’s largest Chinatown and the beautiful Sankeien Garden. More eccentric diversions, meanwhile, include the Cup Noodles Museum which, as the name suggests, provides a potted history of instant ramen noodles.
Golf Course: Yokohama Country Club
Golfers are spoiled for choice in Kanagawa Prefecture, of which Yokohama is the capital. A particularly prestigious test can be encountered at Yokohama Country Club, which dates to the early 1960s. Its two courses – the East and West – offer similarly magisterial golf, with cherry trees, mature deciduous trees and thick grasses creating a peaceful oasis within viewing distance of Yokohama’s high-rise skyline. The West course was substantially reshaped in 2015 by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw of Coore & Crenshaw, who reconstructed and raised the height of every tee, reshaped greens and converted old holes into new ones. Their efforts will be showcased at the 2018 Japan Open, which will be held on a composite course at the club.
Website: yokohama-cc.jp/en/index.html
Green fees:from £152
Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka
Japan’s third-largest city prides itself on being different. Rambunctious, brash and fast-moving, Osaka is full of colour and is known for having some of the friendliest and funniest locals in the nation — this is the stand-up comedy capital of the country, after all. Although by no means a conventionally pretty place, Osaka has several banner sights worth visiting including its imposing 16th-century castle, quality museums such as the National Museum of Art and Osaka Science Museum and one of the world’s most impressive aquariums. Also notable is the city’s dining scene. Osaka’s unofficial motto is kuidore (‘eat until you drop’) and that maxim is borne out in izakayas (pubs with food) and sushi bars across the city.
Golf Course: Naruo Golf Club
An absolute classic, Naruo Golf Club is one of a handful of gems in Japan designed by great English course architect Charles Alison. Like his other masterpieces in the Far East (of which Hirono Golf Club near Kobe is another pinnacle), the course at Naruo would not be out of place among the great heathland courses of Surrey. At just 6,612 yards from the back tees, the course is not particularly long. However, Alison’s canny design — with heavy bunkering guarding elevated greens — makes it an exacting test even so. Especially distinctive are the four par-three holes, which all play to small elevated putting surfaces.
Website: naruogc.or.jp
Length: 6,612 yards
Green fees: from £103
Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe. Image: Shutterstock
Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
One of Japan’s most attractive cities, Kobe is a fantastic all-rounder with easy access to Osaka and its international airport. The city itself is pleasingly cosmopolitan with many indicators of its history as an important base for foreign trade. Ijinkan (foreign houses), 19th-century residences of Kobe’s foreign traders, are architectural highlights, while the city’s Chinatown is a popular spot for dining. Another Kobe highlight is Arima Onsen, a famous hot spring town within the city limits but on the opposite side of Mount Rokko from the centre. With more than 1,000 years of history, it’s one of Japan’s oldest hot springs resorts and makes an ideal place for a soothing post-golf soak.
Golf Course: Hirono Golf Club
Rated by many as the finest course in Japan (and the best in Asia), Hirono Golf Club is a magical design. Like Naruo, the course was laid out by Englishman Charles Alison and the two layouts bear similar hallmarks such as elevated green complexes protected jealousy by deep, bold bunkering. The holes at Hirono are isolated from the others by dense trees, creating a marvellous sense of peace. Such isolation should not result in a false sense of security, though, as questions are constantly being posed. Highlights include the 12th, a double dogleg par five with OB along the left side and the beautiful 13th, a short hole played over water.
Website: kimigolf.com/japan/hirono/hirono-E.htm
Length: 7,169 yards
Green fees: from £201 (members’ guests only)
Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka
The sixth largest city in Japan, Fukuoka is a burgeoning metropolis with all the modern conveniences of a contemporary hub. Conversely, it’s also one of the most highly regarded places in Japan, with a trading history dating back some 2,000 years. Learn about the city’s history at Hakata Machiya Furasato-kan, an excellent folk museum that expertly recreates a Hakata ngare (neighbourhood unit) from the late Meiji era. The modern face of Kyushu, meanwhile, is on show at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, which exhibits art from around the region. As in other Japanese cities, eating is a highlight and the city’s signature tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen is particularly good.
Golf Course: Koga Golf Course
The premier layout on the southern island of Kyushu, Koga Golf Course offers a combination of parkland and seaside golf. The course is laid out over a compact parcel of land near the coast. But despite its proximity to the ocean, the holes run through an undulating pine plantation. The result is a pretty layout, given teeth by the presence of tricky trade winds that blow in from the west. There are numerous enjoyable holes on the course including
the par-five 12th, which tumbles across the best contours on the course and is especially enjoyable if you can draw a drive around the corner and propel forward off the downslope.
Website: kogagc.co.jp
Length: 6,820 yards
Green fees: from £107
City of Toyota Stadium, Nagoya
One of Japan’s more unassuming metropolises, Nagoya is most famous as the birthplace of Toyota and pachinko — a pinball-style game conducted at ear-splitting volumes at gambling venues throughout the archipelago. Although overshadowed by Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and other big cities on Honshu, Nagoya has its fair share of sights including an impressive art museum (the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts), a castle and the Toyota Automobile Museum. The city is also well placed to visit the mountainous heart of the Chubu region, with the Japanese Alps in Nagano within easy striking distance.
Golf Course: Nagoya Golf Club
A pretty parkland layout, the Wago course at Nagoya Golf Club is synonymous with The Crowns tournament, a Japan Golf Tour event hosted here since 1960. Previous winners of the event include illustrious names such as Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Justin Rose and Darren Clark. Despite its championship credentials, the course is far from being a monster. Indeed, its relatively modest 6,545 yardage makes it something of a pussy cat — a fact reflected in 2010 when Japanese wunderkind Ryo Ishikawa exploited its gentleness with a final round 58.
Website: nagoyagolfclub-wago.com
Length: 6,545yards
Green fees: from £137
Fuji course
Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa Shizuoka
Known as the Japanese Riviera, the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Central Japan, is home to rugged coastline, lush greenery and a laid-back surf vibe, making it one of the country’s most beautiful and accessible destinations for visitors. Shizuoka city itself, further south of the peninsula, is rather light on attractions, despite being one of the largest metropolitan areas in Japan. It’s a very pleasant base nevertheless, with views of Mount Fuji and its surrounding mountains as well as the deep blue ocean adding to its allure.
Golf Course: Kawana (Fuji)
Another gem from English architect Charles Alison, the Fuji course at Kawana Resort is a favourite of many Japanese golfers — with good reason. Laid out on an elevated promontory, the course offers amazing Pacific Ocean views and has Mount Fuji as its lofty backdrop. The visual manna extends to the golf itself, with the course featuring sunken folded fairways and plateaux greens surrounded by mature woodland. Outstanding holes at the course include the 15th, a downhill par five that runs along the ocean edge and the short 16th which is played uphill to an elevated green.
Website: princehotels.com/en/golf/kawana
Length: 6,691 yards
Green fees: from £167
Tokyo Stadium. Image: Getty
Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
The largest city in the world by metropolitan area, Tokyo lives up to its supercharged reputation. The skyscrapers of areas such as Shinjuku and Shibuya tower over a hyperactive landscape of giant video screens, busy street crossings and racy “entertainment districts”. Other stereotypical scenes, meanwhile, can be witnessed in the upscale Ginza, Aoyama or Roppongi districts with their trendsetting department stores and in Akihabara, the city’s electronics Mecca. Reminders of ancient traditions can be seen in historic enclaves and neighbourhoods around the city. Whether it’s getting acquainted with Tokyo’s truly extraordinary food scene — from everyday ramen vendors to a vast range of luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants — or witnessing a sumo show, Japan’s hyperactive, but historic, capital never gets old.
Golf Course: Tokyo Golf Club
Everything about Tokyo Golf Club screams prestige — from the course’s status as a regular host of the Japan Open to the upper crust facilities and the exclusivity of access (guests need an invitation from a member to play). Indeed, there’s something pleasingly old fashioned about the entire set-up at the club, which is apt given that golf has been played continuously at the site since 1953. The course itself is as immaculate as you would expect with stately trees standing guard over expansive, manicured green complexes. The layout bares its teeth on the back nine. The 10th is a fine example of how fairways narrow and snake their way towards the greens. The short 17th, a beautiful, downhill par-three, meanwhile, places a high premium on hitting the putting surface due to heavy bunkering around the green.
Website: tokyogolfclub.jp
Length: 6,904 yards
Green fees: from £230
