After a spleepless night in Tokyo, still recovering from the jet lag, and after admiring a marvelous dawn around the Fuji Mt. from my hotel room, I took my clubs and headed towards Shinjuku Station.
I was so eager to play this golf course located in the Ibaraki prefecture, 85 miles north of Tokyo.
25 minutes on the Jr Yamanote Line to Ueno, 60 minutes on the fast Super Hitachi Train and about 30 minutes on the free golf club shuttle bus from Tomobe Stn. after, I was passing the gates of the club and by 9,00 am I was ready to tee off surrounded by an incredible country landscape ideally so far away from megalopolis Tokyo, the vibrant area of Shinjuku and its skyscrapers.
The first thing I noticed was the magnificent British Style clubhouse. Perfectly settled on the location, it features every facility and can also accommodate up to 29 people with 18 bedrooms.
Then I noticed the color of the fairways...incredibly yellow-brown!!!The fairways of almost every golf course in Japan turn from green to light brown during the winter season as the bermuda grass goes dormant. Amazing contrasts with the green grass of the greens.
After some practice I started my round on a beautiful sunny and cold day riding the typical Yamaha remote controlled golf cart.
Some traces of snow where visible here and there, sign of last week snowfall, making the scene even more fascinating.
The design of WPGCC, due to the conformation of the rolling territory, features several elevation changes and undulated fairways. The designer, architect Kentaro Sato, did a great work considering the location wasn't properly made to host a golf course.
OBs are present on almost every hole, with some strategically placed lakes.
The layout is not extremely long (7,007 yds from the tips and 6,577 from the where I played, the blue tees) but you have to go straight or you won't be forgiven for missed shots.
After all the course is not extremely difficult, with a great variety of holes providing fun and good time to every golfer.
Conditions of the golf course were more perfect.
Overall I loved this course, with some beautiful holes such as the 9th and the 18th, two long downhill par 5, both finishing in front of the majestic clubhouse sharing a lake which surround for 3/4 the two greens, or the long downhill par 3 5th, 218 yds from the tips with the green protected by a lake on the right and a huge bunker system on the front.
Thanks to its location WPGCC is one of the favorite courses among Tokyo golfers and not only. Due to the fact that english is spoken almost by every member of the friendly staff, WPGCC is really popular among internationals leaving in Japan as well...even if the day I played I was the only "gaijin".
Great customer service and a special thanks Mrs. Yano who helped me a lot on organizing this "Japanese Golf Experience".
 |
| Dawn on Tokyo and Fuji-san from my hotel room |
 |
| So many golf courses around the Ibaraki Prefecture |
 |
| Super Hitachi Train @ Tomobe Stn, near WPGCC |
 |
| The main entrance of the british style clubhouse |
 |
| View of the putting green from inside the clubhouse |
 |
| #2 Hole 354 Yds Par 4 (from the tee boxes) |
 |
| #3 Hole 577 Yds Par 5 (from the tee boxes) |
 |
| #3 Hole 577 Yds Par 5 |
 |
| #5 Hole 218 Yds Par 3 |
 |
| #6 Hole 434 Yds Par 4 (from the tee boxes) |
 |
| #7 Hole 314 Yds Par 4 |
 |
| #7 Hole 314 Yds Par 4 |
 |
| #8 Hole 163 Yds Par 3 |
 |
| #9 Hole 561 Yds Par 5 and the clubhouse |
 |
| #9 Hole 561 Yds Par 5 (green) |
 |
| #12 Hole 536 Yds Par 5 |
 |
| #12 Hole 536 Yds Par 5 |
 |
| #13 Hole 465 Yds Par 4 |
 |
| #13 Hole 465 Yds Par 4 (view from the 14th fairway) |
 |
| #15 Hole 205 Yds Par 3 |
 |
| #17 Hole 167 Yds Par 3 |
 |
| #18 Hole 542 Yds Par 5 |
 |
| #18 Hole 542 Yds Par 5 |
No comments:
Post a Comment