3 Most Unique golf courses in Japan

Like many professional golfers out there, I played on a lot of golf courses—especially in Japan.

Unfortunately, and this is embarrassing for me to admit, I’m not very good at remembering the courses that I played at. After playing so much golf, the holes eventually become a blur to me. That’s why when I find a course that’s different and stands out to me, I remember it for a long time.

I thought I’ve seen a lot of golf courses around the world, but these three would have to be at the top of my list for most unique courses. When I say unique, I mean that these courses either have weird-looking bunkers, random statues, or something that’s not normally found in nature. I hope you find these three golf courses entertaining like I do.

1. Golf 5 Country Oak Village Golf Club

• Course architect: Desmond Muirhead
• Yardage: 6,610 yards
• Established: 1994

I was told that Muirhead was fascinated with medieval history. He designed this golf course with the legend of King Arthur in mind. Each hole is related to the legend. For example, that hole with the odd smiley face (10th hole) is called “St. George and the dragon.” I guess the bunker is the dragon? This course makes you think…

I played out there a couple times and let me tell you, not only is this course unique, but it’s also super challenging. Two out of the four par 3s have semi-island greens and there is one par 4 with an island fairway. The course is not long though, I played from the very back tees and even for me it was doable. You won’t need to hit driver often.

I do not recommend this course for beginners as there is just too much trouble on almost every hole. If you’re like me though and love the challenge, then by all means have a go at it! But don’t forget to bring a lot of golf balls.

Oak Village GC hosted several professional golf tournaments including the Tohato Ladies in 1994-1997 and the Golf 5 Ladies in 2017. It’s about an hour and a half drive from Tokyo.

2. Segovia Golf Club

• Course Architect: Desmond Muirhead
• Yardage: 7,056 yards
• Established: 1993

When I first made this list, I didn’t realize that Muirhead designed both Oak Village GC and Segovia GC haha. It makes a lot of sense though because both courses follow a specific theme (and they’re both challenging).

As you probably noticed from the name, the course has a Spanish theme with gorgeous architecture.