🎌 Hirono Golf Club - Japan's Crown Jewel

Ohayō gozaimasu (Good morning) golfers,

Golfing in Japan offers an experience unlike anywhere else in the world, from its distinctive etiquette to its meticulously maintained courses. This week, I’m exploring Hirono Golf Club, Asia's highest-ranked golf course. Recently climbing from position 35 to number 14 in Top 100 Golf Courses' world rankings, Hirono represents the pinnacle of Asian golf architecture. This is definitely one to add to your bucket list as it is on mine.

Interesting Fact
Japan leads Asia in on-course golfers, followed closely by South Korea, with these two nations dominating the region's golfing landscape.

In Today’s Email

• ⏳ 5 Reasons you should play golf in Japan

• 🤿 Deep Dive into the exclusive Hirono Golf Club 

This Week in Golf 

Ángel Cabrera has shown that his past wouldn't dictate his future. Following his release from prison in 2023, where he served time for domestic violence charges, he has recently found back to back success on the senior circuit.

• Senior PGA Championship: Ángel Cabrera has made a remarkable return to competitive golf. He secured his second senior major in consecutive weeks, edging past Padraig Harrington for a one-stroke victory at the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional

• Shocking!: Trump's $1.5bn Vietnam golf resort fast-tracked in just 3 months (a timeline that usually takes years) while ancestral graves face demolition!

• Plover Cove Golf Club: The new Par 71 golf course in Hong Kong which is on track to open in 2027 is seeking USD$294 million to back the ongoing construction

• Bear Sighting: The final round of the Twinfields Ladies tournament on the Step Up tour in central Japan was cancelled Saturday after a bear was spotted on the course

 Our Fairway Feature: Bogey Boys

Bogey Boys, founded by Grammy-winning artist Macklemore in 2021, is a golf and lifestyle apparel brand combining vintage 70s and 80s styles with bold colors and modern fabrics to create versatile, stylish pieces for both golf and everyday wear.

Check them out here: 👉 Bogey Boys

 🎏 5 Reasons you Should Play Golf in Japan

1. Halfway Lunch - In Japan it is mandatory to have a sit-down lunch after nine holes. Golf in Japan, more so in the past, is a prominent form of business entertainment a sit down lunch is where deals are struck. Take Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe back in 2017.

2. Onsen - Japan is located on the Pacific Rim of Fire, where around 80% of the world's volcanic activity and earthquakes happen. The silver lining is the Onsen. Naturally, it's a hot spring bath where you can clear your mind as used as a space for healing and relaxation. The perfect place to reflect on that missed birdie putt. 

3. Automated Buggies - A clicker is given to one person in the group which allows you to stop and start the buggy where you want. At some courses, a forecaddie (a person positioned ahead of the golfers on the course whose primary job is to locate golf balls after they are hit) is compulsory. They're here to keep up the pace and help things run smoothly. 

4. Key Card - Everything you buy during your day at the golf course goes on your key card. Drinks, food, range balls, pro shop accessories. You then scan your fob at the machine at the end of the day, or pay at the desk. 

5. Drawing Straws - Some people throw tees in the air to see who tees off first. In Japan, you draw straws. On the first hole of most courses, there's a stand with four metal rods in it. Each has one to four marks on them. The order of notches on your scroll dictates the order you tee off. 

🎋 Hirono Golf Club

Location

Nestled near the port city of Kobe lies Japan's most distinguished golf club, Hirono, currently ranked 14th in the world. Access to this golfing sanctuary requires both a significant journey and member connections. Visitors typically take the bullet train from Tokyo to Kobe, followed by a drive of less than an hour, and must be accompanied by a member. The exclusivity is part of Hirono's mystique, a fitting guardian for Charles H. Alison's masterpiece.

History

The property's origins add to its allure, built in 1932 on land previously owned by a feudal warlord. The creation began when golfers from Kobe approached British designer Charles H. Alison while he was working on Tokyo Golf Club and Kawana's Fuji Course. Upon seeing the property with its natural lakes, ponds, ravines, and undulating woodland, Alison was captivated.

True to his methodical nature, Alison secluded himself in his hotel room for seven days with contour maps and notes, emerging with a design that would open to widespread acclaim sixteen months later. His impact on Japanese golf architecture during his three-month visit in 1930 was immeasurable, with Hirono standing as his crowning achievement.

Architectural Brilliance

Hirono is often called the "Pine Valley of Japan" (ranked No. 2 on Top 100 Golf Courses 2025) - a comparison evident when walking its fairways. Like its American counterpart, Hirono features isolated holes separated by dense trees, strategic bunkering, elevated greens, challenging doglegs, and forced carries over ravines.

Alison's work here demonstrates masterful manipulation of relatively flat terrain to create illusions and deceptive depth perceptions. Most greens are elevated, with challenges concentrated off the tee and around the putting surfaces. While fairway lies tend to be level, the difficulty emerges from Alison's brilliant bunkering and green complexes.

Early photographs from 1933 reveal deliberately untidy bunkers, with sand splashed up on uneven faces - a natural aesthetic Alison insisted upon. Many have since been modified with grassed-over faces, somewhat diminishing their visual impact.

Course Highlights

The course flows seamlessly through 18 holes, alternating long and short holes to create fascinating shot varieties. The par threes at Hirono constitute one of golf's most celebrated sets of short holes.

Signature Holes:

• 5th "Fiord": A 152-yard par three over water to an elevated green, reminiscent of Pine Valley's 5th

• 7th "Devil's Divot": Plays diagonally across a deep sandy ditch

• 8th "Cedar Grove": A 353-yard par four lined with cedar trees, featuring water short right and a bamboo-framed green

• 10th "Mt. Mekko": A 351-yard par four showcasing Alison's elevation and bunkering techniques, with a back-to-front sloping green

• 12th: The number one handicap hole, a challenging 596-yard double dogleg par five with O.B. left

• 13th "Loch Lomond": A picturesque 167-yard downhill par three over water

• 14th "Quo-Vadis": A deceptive 388-yard par four featuring one of golf's widest fairways with severe right-to-left slope

• 15th: A strategic 568-yard par five requiring precise navigation of two ravines

Environmental Stewardship

Hirono's environmental practices reflect a sophisticated balance between traditional Japanese precision and modern sustainability principles. The course exemplifies the Japanese concept of "shizen" - a deep cultural reverence for nature - throughout its operations.

The interconnected network of water features incorporated into Alison's original design serves dual purposes: challenging golfers strategically while functioning as a sophisticated water management system. These features capture rainwater during Japan's seasonal downpours, reducing dependence on external water sources.

The maintenance team employs specialized organic fertilization programs tailored to Japan's unique climate and soil conditions. Chemical usage is strictly limited while still achieving those famously immaculate playing surfaces that distinguish Japanese courses.

Perhaps most impressive is Hirono's woodland management. The dense trees that frame each hole aren't merely aesthetic features but are maintained by trained arborists who preserve the native forest ecosystem while ensuring playability. These wooded areas provide essential wildlife habitat for numerous bird species and occasionally Japanese macaques that can be spotted observing play from the tree lines.

The club has balanced tradition with innovation by gradually introducing drought-resistant grass varieties in non-playing areas and implementing sophisticated moisture monitoring systems that enable targeted irrigation. The clubhouse has been retrofitted with energy-efficient systems that have substantially reduced consumption over the past decade.

The result is a golf course that feels completely natural despite being meticulously maintained - a testament to the Japanese concept of "satoyama," the harmonious coexistence of human cultivation and natural habitats.

The Hirono Experience

Beyond architectural merit, Hirono's conditioning approaches perfection. The greens and fairways receive meticulous attention, and even the trees are maintained with bonsai-like precision. The bentgrass greens are lightning fast, though their relatively flat, circular shapes may be the only element preventing Hirono from ranking even higher globally.

The Japanese golf protocol adds another dimension to experiencing Hirono. Visitors arrive for obligatory pre-round coffee, followed by an efficient round, then formal lunch featuring white linen tablecloths, white glove service, and world-class cuisine. Traditional protocol dictates beer before the meal and coffee afterward - a cultural nuance first-time visitors sometimes learn through gentle correction something I like the sound of a lot.

The post-round communal hot bath (Onsen) represents another quintessential Japanese golfing tradition, conducted in an elegant setting. Hosts at Hirono typically epitomize Japanese hospitality - distinguished, fit gentlemen who uphold golf's traditions with unwavering commitment. There are no concessions at Hirono; every stroke counts, and rules are followed with precision.

Alison’s Legacy

Alison himself wrote about Hirono: "Almost every hole has some bold natural feature, and for variety of scene and strokes Hirono is difficult to beat. I can name no superior among British inland courses."

Henry Lord and Peter Pugh, in Masters of Design, noted that Hirono was unfortunately taken over by the Imperial Air Force during the Second World War and used as a runway, which led to significant damage to the course. After the war, a major restoration effort was undertaken by Toyohiko Inui and Osamu Ueda, the designer of the renowned Koga golf course, using Alison’s original designs. While the restoration was largely successful, some of Alison’s original vision was not fully preserved.

While changes over the years have somewhat altered Alison's original vision, the fundamental brilliance of his design remains evident. The club has preserved black and white photographs from 1933 showing all eighteen fairways and greens, providing tantalizing glimpses of how the course appeared when freshly completed.

Despite modifications, Hirono remains Japan's finest golfing experience and unquestionably deserves its place among the world's top 50 courses. It stands as both a classy club and a brilliant Golden Era design by one of architecture's true masters - a must-experience destination for those fortunate enough to receive an invitation.

Arigato …

I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Caddie’s Playbook Please share the newsletter with at least one of your golfing buddies and maybe they too can experience what Japan has to offer.

The Caddie