Gotemba Golf Club

The Gotemba Golf Club is situated in the city of Gotemba, which lies on the island of Honshu in the Japanese region of Chubu. It runs along a hilly area at the foot of the Fujiyama in the western Hakone valley, with a grand panoramic view of the mountain and the Pacific, including Suruga Bay. From Gotemba’s city center, the Gotemba Golf Club can easily be reached via Route 246 in 15 minutes, while the drive from Tokyo takes about 90 minutes. Founded in 1971, the club boasts an 18-hole hillside course with par 72, the design of which was created by golf course architect Shiro Akaboshi. The short course with 5,802 meters is strewn with long, narrow fairways and very large, curved, difficult greens, some of which are two-tiered. The layout displays many changes in elevation and difficult hanging holes that make the course at the Gotemba Golf Club tricky. A natural river crosses the course and constitutes one of the only water hazards on the course in addition to two small ponds. It also only has few sand bunkers, as a result of which the course’s challenge mainly lies in mastering the steadily changing levels and the wind. Due to its athletic and tactical demands, the Gotemba Golf Club – which ranks among Japan’s most picturesque courses – hosted the World Championships in 2002.