You must hit an accurate second shot on this long par 4. The right half of the green borders the lake and if you hit the left side to avoid the water, a deep bunker awaits your shot.

A slight dogleg to the left with well positioned grass bunkers on the left and bunkers on the right. The closer to the green, the narrower the hole becomes with big pines on both sides. There is a steep slope in front of the green and if your shot is just short of the green, the ball will roll down the slope, so you had better hit the center of the green.

A par 3 with over a ravine. The highly elevated green with deep bunkers may intimidate you. The green is small and only 20 yards deep.

The tee shot is hard because there are trees on both sides off, hanging over the fairway. A bunker on the left of the fairway is in play.

A very long par 5 with a slight dogleg to the left with a drive over water. It is a very exotic hole which makes you feel as if you were in a jungle such as in Thailand or Malaysia. Recently a Japanese overhauled this hole to make it 40 yards longer, so the pines hanging over the left of the fairway 100 yards off the green come into play. Also the new green is excellent and could have been designed by Alison because the shape the green and greenside bunkers is almost the same and many deep “Alison” bunkers guard the green.

A gentle downhill pretty par 3 over a creek.

A steep uphill dogleg to the left. The fairway slopes sharply from left to right, so the second shot will be from strong uphill lie and you will need to hit a precise shot considering how much the ball curves to the left.

In 2000, this slightly bending dogleg to the left was selected as one of the best 500 holes in the world by US Golf Magazine. A splendid pine is well positioned on the left turning point of the dogleg and it will be a factor on your second shot. There is a 50-yard long hollow right behind the tree, and if you hit into the hollow, the rough is deep. There is another hollow in front of the green, which makes the slope of the elevated green steeper.

Not only a very long but a very demanding par 3 over a lake. If you don’t hit the green, deep bunkers guarding it might catch your ball or trees might hinder your approach shot.

A long par 4 dogleg to the left. You need to carry 280 yards on the left side of the fairway or 240 yards on the right side of the fairway. The green is elevated with big bunkers on both sides.

You need to be accompanied by a member. A Japanese curry at lunch was delicious. The golf museum at the course has many valuable displays and makes you understand the history of Japanese golf.

This was my second time to play here and I played in 2000 for the first time. Although I was impressed by the course, it didn’t feel difficult because I played from the front tees. I played this time from the back tees and I needed to struggle to save par on most holes. It is a tough course for beginners and is a challenging course for medium–advanced players because the course design penalizes you to pay a penalty for bad shots.

The course was awarded 1st place out of 2400 courses in 2002’s Japanese golf course rankings by the Japan Golf Classic Magazine. More impressive is that US Golf Magazine ranked it the 35th best course in the world in 2005. The other selected courses in Asia and Oceania are Royal Melbourne GC (10th), Kingston Heath GC (Australia, 20th), Cape Kidnappers (New Zealand, 27th), New South Wales GC (Australia, 34th), Barnbougle Dunes ( Australia, 49th), Royal Adelaide GC (Australia, 54th), Kauri Cliffs GC (New Zealand, 58th), Kawana GC – Fuji Course (Japan, 80th), Tokyo GC (94th) and The Club at Nine Bridges (Korea 95th) and Naruo GC (Japan, 100th).

Charles Alison designed other courses in Asia and Oceania are Kawana GC – Fuji Course and supervised Naruo GC and Kasumigaseki GC – East Course. He designed Huntingdale GC in Australia, too.

Regarding the great hanging pine on the left of the fairway on the signature 15th hole, it is not an exaggeration to say the hole wouldn’t have been selected as one of the top 500 holes in the world without that tree. Too many players have hit balls into the tree trunk, so it is now covered by wire nets to protect it. The club has insured this tree for about 5 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to US45,000 dollars). I imagine that this is the tree with the highest insurance coverage of any tree at any course in the world.

Bunkers as deep as your height are often called “ Alison bunkers” only in Japan. They are called deep bunkers elsewhere.