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A par five with a sharp dogleg to the left. With a downhill tee shot, a creek
runs along the left side of the fairway. The creek crosses diagonally in
front of the strongly undulated green and pass through its right side. |
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| A par four with a dogleg to the left
with a creek running for the entire left side from the fairway to the green.
The further the tee shot hit, the narrower the landing area becomes. It
is a wonderfully designed hole with a diagonal fairway that runs along a
meandering creek. |
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A difficult par 3 over a lake facing the left and front sides of the green.
While it’s safer to hit long rather than short, the approach from the back
side of the green isn’t easy as the green has subtle undulation and slops
from back to the water. |
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| A S-shaped, very long par four with
a slight dogleg to the left followed by the green swung to the left. The
water on the left of the green and the fairway will come into play on the
approach shot. |
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A strong uphill par four with a dogleg to the right. A deep bunker fronting
the comes into play. The green is large, and 40 yards long. |
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| A slightly uphill par four. From the tee, players
will notice that a creek and bunkers come into play on the left side of
the fairway. So, aiming to the right would be a safe play. It is also smart
to avoid the bunker fronting the green as it is deep. In addition, a sharp
drop-off on the left side of the green comes into play. If players hit the
ball, even if it is a little toward the left side of the green, the ball
can roll down the slope and fall into the creek. Players should also note
that the approach shot will be hit from a side-hill lie where the above
the feet, therefore, should be careful for a too much right to left ball. |
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A long par three with a creek that faces the right side of the green. |
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A peninsula-shaped beautiful par three that projects into a lake. While
distance isn’t so much of a problem, the lake on the left can offer a considerable
pressure to players. |
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A signature hole. The finishing hole, par five is a dogleg to the right
with a large lake on the right. The tee shot is downhill over the lake,
and a fairway bunker on the left and the lake on the right come into play.
The second shot will force players to cross a lake, and since the water
encroaches into the fairway, the landing area will become limited. There
are bunkers that protect both the front, right, and back sides of the green.
Since the right side of the green tilts toward water, it would be safer
to aim towards the left half of the green. |
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It is an hour & half drive from Osaka and an hour &10-minute
drive from Kobe. Booking is possible by a visitor on weekdays.
The 2020 edition of Top 100 Golf Courses (top100.golf.courses.com)
ranked this course as No.27 in its category of top 80 courses in Japan
that has 2230 courses as of 2019.
Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed 15 courses in Japan and the above photo
are 15 course pictures of his designs. Katsura
GC, Kinojo GC, Golden Valley GC, Pine Lake GC, Oak Hills CC, and Cherry
Hills GC,Spring Fields GC, Miho GC, Regus
Crest GC, East Wood CC, Oak Hills CC, and Cherry Hills GC are his famous
works.
I played with an acquaintance who use to be an aspiring-professional.
While he was originally a draw hitter, during a play at an important tournament
at this course, his drawered balls to end up with the left water hazards
for many times. After the game, he changed his swing from draw balls to
fade ones. This course’s impact was so powerful that it affected a top
armature player like him. Furthermore, when a men's professional tournament
was held on this course in the early 1990s, many pros seemed to be dissatisfied
with this course because it was too difficult.
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1st hole seen from green