Nishinasuno Country Club

Course Data

Location	Tochigi, Japan
Yardage	7036 yards Par 72
Course Rating	72.9
Playing Date	25 Oct. 2003
Desingner	Robert von Hagge
Opened	1993
Caddy	Yes
Golf Cart	Yes

Rating

Overall Rating

4.60

Course Layout	5
Difficulty Level	4
Greens Conditions	4
Fairways Conditions	4
Landscaping & Views	5

The course is laid on the picturesque countryside, adjoining the Horai CC. It is a lovely forest course with links flavors. Each course features tall Japanese red pine trees of the same height and there are bent grass fairways and big greens with undulations. It provides you with a very challenging layout and beautiful scenery. All greens have complex undulations and they are difficult to putt on like a snake line. Views of 10th and 18th holes from the clubhouse restaurant are beautiful.

2nd Par 5 546 yards

2nd Par 5 546 yards

A par 5 with a dogleg to the right, followed by a dogleg to the left. The fairway between 150 yards to the green and the green is narrow and there is a pond from the left side of the fairway up to the front of the green.

3rd Par 4 419 yards

3rd Par 4 419 yards

The landing area from the tee shot is tight and a long fairway bunker is positioned on the right side. The green is 3 tiered and 50 yards long.

5th Par 3 162 yards

5th Par 3 162 yards

There is a water hazard from the left to the front side of the green. It is not a long par 3 but you need to be careful if you tend to hit the ball from left to right. Because there are delicate undulations on the green, putting is not easy.

6th Par 4 427 yards

6th Par 4 427 yards

A very long fairway bunker exists on the left side of the fairway and crosses the fairway at around 280 yards from the tee. Then, another huge bunker guards the front of the green. The green has steep slope that makes it difficult to save par.

9th Par 4 436 yards

9th Par 4 436 yards

You need to hit the tee shot over a lake and there is still the lake on the left side of the fairway and the green. The green is has 5 tiers, so 3 or 4 putts are possible if you hit the green far from the flag.

10th Par 4 435 yards

10th Par 4 435 yards

This hole is impressive because of the beautiful red pine trees bordering the fairway. It is a long and difficult hole, too.

14th Par 4 372 yards

14th Par 4 372 yards

There are two routes of attacking the flag, from the right or the left. The fairway on the right is more generous and safer but it is hard to judge the distance because the second shot goes downhill. The left fairway is narrower and shorter but the second shot is over a pond.

17th Par 3 175 yards

17th Par 3 175 yards

The green is elevated and slender, sloping from the front right to the back left. If you hit the ball short, a bunker in front of the green will surely catch the ball.

18th Par 4 413 yards

18th Par 4 413 yards

The fairway is not generous and a pond on the right side comes to play on the second shot. The green is big except for the front side of green where it is extremely narrow with only 13 yards or so between the bunker and the lake. You might be penalized if you are brave enough to shoot directly at the front flag. There are 5 bunkers on the back of the green that are not in play but the bunkers and the unique rough between bunkers, combined with the modern architecture of the clubhouse, make the course really beautiful.

19th hole

It is a 2 hours 30 minutes drive from central Tokyo. By train, it is an 80-minute ride of Shinkansen and a 20-minute ride of taxi. Visitors can play as it is a semi-public course.

The course is awarded the seventh place out of 2400 courses in 2002’s Japanese golf course rankings by the Japan Golf Classic Magazine. The 7th green is memorable although I did not mention it above. It is a double-tiered green but the back is lower than the front. It is a unique shape and if your ball flies too far after hitting from the deep rough, it is easy to roll down to the water hazard at the back of the green. When you look at the hole over the pond from the 2nd green, the unique green with a beach sand next to it are lovely.

I stayed at a lodge next to the golf club. It is suitable to spend time on reading books or meditating because there is nothing nearby. When I woke up in the morning and opened the curtain, I was surprised to see some cows in front of the window. I found out later the lodge is located inside a ranch.

The Hourai GC is adjacent to the course, also designed by Robert von Hagge. Robert von Hagge has designed and re-designed about 250 courses all over world. In Asia, as far as I know, he has designed only in Japan. The course was awarded 7th place out of 2400 courses in 2002’s Japanese golf course rankings by the Japan Golf Classic Magazine. Within the top 100 Japanese golf course rankings, Robert von Hagge has designed 4 courses, Horai CG (5th), Kawaguchiko GC (48th) and Ube 72 CC – Ebataike Course (83rd). The designer features bunkering and he is called as “ a magician of bunkers.” He designed The Lakes GC in Australia, too.