Oarai Golf Club

About the club

Seiichi Inoue was one of the most in-demand designers in Japan in the years between the end of the war and Japan's celebrated and pivotal Canada Cup victory in 1957. His course at Oarai Golf Club is one of the rare Japanese layouts to be built right on the ocean, though in fact the holes themselves are defined more by the trees that were planted as a barrier against erosion of the shoreline before golf was played here. There is a rural feel to the site that extends even to the relatively recent clubhouse. In many places the tree branches render the rolling and otherwise generous fairways somewhat tight. The greens are likewise spacious in proportion to the overall dimensions of the course, but are kept interesting with hidden perturbations. The club has hosted most of the significant events in Japanese golf, including the 1998 Japan Open.