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The whole fairway is tilted from left to right, so if a tee-shot over the
pond lands on the right side of the fairway, you will hit the second shot
is tough because trees will interfere with your shot to the green. You could
hit a low ball under the trees but the deep bunker in front of the green
will likely catch the ball. |
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The fairway between the two bunkers in front of the green is extremely narrow
and both sides of the elongated green are guarded by bunkers. |
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A downhill, slightly dogleg to the left. You can hit longer due to the steeper
downhill slope when you hit the left side of the fairway. The second shot
is over a steep hollow which used to be a river until the 1940s to a green
which is small and elevated with many guarding bunkers, so an accurate shot
is required. |
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The tee shot is a little downhill and the second shot is uphill. There is
an OB line close to the left edge of the narrow fairway, so you want to
hit the right side of the fairway. However when you hit to the right, the
downhill rolling fairway sloping from left to right will bring your ball
near the right edge of the fairway where the big trees in front of you will
make it difficult to aim for the green on the second shot. You need to be
brave enough to drive to the left side of the fairway on this hole. |
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A slight dogleg to the right with beautiful trees on the far left side of
the fairway. There is an OB on the right. The long, sloping green has deep
bunkers in front of it and at the back, so you need to hit the approach
shot with a precise & high ball biting the green. To hit a shot to the
pin from the bunker behind the green is very tough, so you should never
be long of the green. The best route is to hit to the right of the fairway
close to the OB line on the second shot, the only place the bunkers front
and back are not in play. |
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| From the tee, it is a slight downhill, dogleg
to the left, par 4. You need to hit a long ball on the right side of the
fairway; otherwise, the trees on the right side of the fairway will hamper
your second shot.
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A long downhill par 4 with an excellent view from the tee. The second shot
is over a deep hollow which used to be a river many years ago. You had better
carry over the wide bunker 50 – 60 yards from the center of the green, and
then you can have an easy approach shot to the pin from flat lie even if
you don’t hit the green in regulation. If you are short of the flat area,
even if only slightly, the next approach shot will be difficult because
the ball will roll back down to the bottom of the steep slope or will be
caught in a bunker where the long bunker shot is needed. This hole was selected
as one of the best 500 holes in the world by GOLF Magazine in 2000 (the
latest version to date) |
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The green is elevated, small and surrounded by bunkers, some of them 10
feet (3 meters) deep! You need to be careful to avoid those bunkers. |
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| The fifteenth is a beautiful signature hole over
a valley. The green slopes from back to front and are protected by bunkers
on all four sides of the green. You can’t hit the green in regulations unless
your shot is not only the right distance but also very accurate. If you
hit left to right too much, the ball will roll down the valley on the right
side of the fairway, which leads to the OB. |
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| It might be hard to use a driver because the right
side of the fairway is extremely narrow due to hanging trees. The second
shot is downhill and you should avoid hitting on the right of the green
because it slopes steeply and a deep bunker awaits the ball. This hole is
unique because it looks like the trees surround the green. |
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Because it is uphill, it plays about 40 yards longer than the distance.
The location of the fairway and greenside bunkers is excellent. |
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Visitors need introductions from members to play on weekdays. On Saturdays
you need to be accompanied by a member and are not allowed to play on Sundays.
It seems that various competitions are set on Sundays and members want to
enjoy its club life. The clubhouse is a classic and very relaxing.
The course is awarded the 36th 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 100th 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), Hirono
GC (Japan, 35th), 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). The Naruo GC has a great “personality”, with lots of fully-grown
old trees over years giving you a great feeling of its tradition. But
the only demerit is to see the wire nets at the tees to prevent drives
from landing in the number of houses. But it is not the club’s nor designer’s
responsibility at all because there were no houses around the course 80
years ago when it was built.
Almost all Japanese courses adapt par 72, par 36 for the
front 9 and par 36 for the back 9 but there are many poorly designed 72
because unfortunately the designer occasionally needs to be forced to
make the holes 72 on a difficult terrain. Although this course is par
70, it stands out with great layout.I think that it is natural to have
par 68 or par 74 if the natural followed. There are many cases of poor
layouts if owners of the gold courses stick too much to Par 72.
I bought a “Naruo” pudding as a souvenir for my family and
it was very delicious.
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1st Par 4 386 yards (2)