Mr. Yuji Yasuda is the 2022 Japan Hickory Open Champion

By Alex Bruce

Our first major hickory golf event in Japan in 2022 was the Japan Hickory Open played at the glorious Kobe Golf Club (1903), Japan’s first golf club.  The Kobe Golf Club members provided us access to the original 4,090 yards layout and par 71 scorecards, so we could all play the course the way it was designed. We were pleased to have sponsorship from Jaguar Land Rover and Moët Hennessy Private.

The players gathered excitedly at the historic clubhouse on April 22 to check in and gather for the pre-event festivities provided by Moët Hennessy Private and the group photographs.  

A few of our previous Japan Hickory Open Amateur Champions were in attendance: Yuji Asakawa-San (2019 gross score 74) Brad Wakamatsu (2020 gross score 81), and joint champions Katsuyuki Fukumoto and Yoshimasa Takahashi (2021 gross score 35 – nine holes only due to fog). Kenji Kikuchi (2018 gross score 75) was not able to attend.

The Kobe Golf Club is Japan’s first golf course, built on Mt. Rokko (3,054 feet) in 1903 by the English expatriate Arthur Hasketh Groom. It was originally built as a 9-hole course in 1903 and extended to an 18-hole layout the following year. There were a few small modifications, but it has been largely unchanged since 1928. It is a short but tricky 4,049 yards course originally designed to be played as a par 71. Recently a few par 5s were moved to par 4s, and a few par 4s were made par 3s to accommodate modern clubs. Playing Kobe Golf Club with hickory golf clubs allows you to experience the course as it was originally designed to be played.

The first hole, “Dumpie” (Grooms’s favourite whisky), is a tricky par 3 of 180 yards with a wonderful view of Osaka Bay in the background. You have hit your ball over a deep valley onto a green that tilts from back to front, showing you the full green and teasing you to go for the pin. The back of the green has heavy rough, and the left side has a steep declining bank so that a poor shot can be a punishing first blow.  It’s a hard shot if you are not fully warmed up and have been enjoying a few glasses of Glenmorangie. The deep valley (and whisky) confuses many players as to the correct distance, and they are tricked into hitting an extra club right into the back heavy rough. The better players aimed front right of the green and two-putted for an opening par.  Only five players managed par, as this hole played an average of 4.6 and was the second toughest hole.  The hole-in-one* prize of the Jaguar Convertible Car was never in danger of being driven home with hickory golf clubs in the back boot.

The seventh hole, a 275-yard par 5, is called “Pons Asinorum” (“Difficult Pond” in the logic of Euclid, the mathematician), is a 275-yard par 5. This is a thinking man’s hole, with many routes to the same destination. The layout is designed to hit a baffy or mid-mashie to the top of the hill, just enough to see the green but not run over into the rough on the back side of the hill.  Then another mashie down to the tiny green surrounded by deep rough that has a great appetite to swallow up balls never to be seen again. Some more optimistic players are seduced into going for the green with a brassie and a long draw ball around the pond (to the great entertainment of onlookers). An exciting shot is to hit a long brassie straight over the hill past the rough on the backside, onto the 8th fairway (the author’s aspired shot), and then a mashie niblick onto the green. Our players excelled with three birdies and eighteen pars for an average of 5.66.  An enormous amount of worry and stress gave us the focus to make it the second easiest hole of the day.  

The eleventh hole, “Doctor’s Nob” (because it looks like the first chairman Dr. Tony Kraft’s head), is a 167-yard par4 with a small mountain directly between the tee box and the green. You cannot see the green, but there is a target 10 cm-wide pole directly on top of the hill (I saw a wonderful soft baffy shot directly towards the green that ricocheted off this pole back towards the tee box; a result that interestingly allows you to play again. So, it must be a regular occurrence). The Kobe Golf Course plays 10 holes on the front and eight on the back. So, this is the first shot after lunch. I have learned that the best way to navigate this hole is to play long since it is relatively safe over the green.  If you play short, you can be in the deep rough on the backside of Knob Mountain. Our players again played very well and hit three birdies and 14 pars for an average of 4.86.  The third easiest hole for the field.

The closing hole, called Does & Doruis (or ‘Deoch & Doris’, is a Scots term for “let’s have a drink”), is a 258-yard par 4. The best way to experience this hole is to enjoy a cocktail on the clubhouse patio while watching the others playing for home. I see the better players don’t get too ambitious on this hole and play short for a safe spot on the fairway and then a mashie niblick onto the green.  The bunkers are deep and notorious and provide great entertainment for the gallery on the patio.  

Following our round, all players gathered in the historic clubhouse for post-events, dinner and drinks, and the prize award ceremony.  The clubhouse is a true historical gem with an original charm that sinks you into a wicker chair, takes you back in time, and you never want to leave. It’s easy to imagine Arthur Hasketh Groom strolling in after an enjoyable game of hickory golf and sitting down for a chat as the sun set over Kobe City. 

The event winners were as follows.
2022 Japan Hickory Open Champion; Yuji Yasuda – Gross 75
Professional Champion; B. K. Sobahani  – Gross 74
Ladies Champion; Hiromi Aratani – Gross 81
Senior Champion (over 65) Hisashi Aratani – Gross 91
Super Senior Champion (over 70) Yuki Asakawa – Gross 84

The overall winners were everyone who attended to enjoy hickory golf with friends. 

At the prize ceremony, our new champion, Yuji Yasuda, commented, “I had an enjoyable day playing hickory golf with my friends and feel truly honoured to win today’s event on this historic course that has remained unchanged since 1903.  I will continue to do my best to share the charm of hickory golf.”

Thank you to the Kobe Golf Club Members (in particular, Harry Harita) for allowing us to host this event at this wonderful golf course.

We have three major annual events in Japan:  the Japan Hickory Open, the Japan Hickory Masters, and the Japan Hickory Players. We welcome global hickory players to join our events.  Our Japan-based hickory golfers will ensure you have a choice of classic hickory golf courses to play during your trip to Japan.

* Hisashi Kunie, did score a hole-in-one at our 2020 event on the 155-yard par 3 10th hole.  He used a mashie he had received from a friend and hit it for the first time.  A beautiful strike, flight, and two bounces later, it dropped into the hole.  He now has the mashie proudly on display in his home, with the Kobe Golf Club pin flag signed by all players. He only hit that mashie once.

Click on a photo below to view the gallery pictures.