Scott Nakase is 2022 Japan Hickory Players Champion

There is a beautiful but mysterious lake in front of the first tee box at Naruo Golf Club called the ‘Ijiwaru Ike,’ which means ‘mean-spirited lake’ in English. The mysterious part is that it’s small and picturesque. But when you tee up with your hickory golf clubs, it grows larger and meaner…and…I will leave the rest for you to discover when you visit.

Naruo Golf Club was laid out in 1920 by a few British expatriates and the three Crane brothers, with advice from Charles Hugh Alison.  Today’s layout is unchanged from 1920, graced with the famous ‘Korai’ Japanese carpet greens.

On Dec. 8, 2022, in glorious weather, an enthusiastic group of 40 hickory golfers gathered on the first tee box for the 2022 Japan Hickory Players event.

As always, there was a collection of fashionable and flamboyant characters on the tee box to cheer (and jeer) the players. And after a few welcome comments, the first group teed up, and the ‘Ijawaru’ lake grew larger and meaner.  The first group were our top players, whose skills gracefully shaped their shots over the lake and onto the first fairway, and they set off on their merry way. The ‘Ijiwaru’ lake feasted on us less skilful souls.

Let me introduce a few famous Naruo Golf Club holes and bunkers to tempt you to visit Japan one day.

The 12th hole at Naruo Golf Club is a 142-yard par 3.  It’s a small green, and only the best players can spin and stop the ball on the green with hickory clubs.  The safe shot is to land short and right and use your putter up the small run-up area ‘ Hana Michi’ (flower road) onto the green.  Anything else is a first shot into a nightmare. A missed shot will likely be in the cavernous front bunker, and you may be able to blast a niblick up in the air 3-4 metres to get up and on the green – eventually.  It normally takes a few duds to find the blast. Also, a word of warning, always avoid the doomsday complex of bunkers on the left. We have sadly lost a few of our hickory friends who played into those left-side bunkers.  They were never seen again; they may still be there. Kidding, of course, but those bunkers are formidable.

The 13th hole is a 310-yard par 4, which, with a solid brassie, you are 100 yards out and with a shot for the green. But make sure you hit and stop the ball on the green. If you are off the green, all types and dungeons and dragons in the surrounding bunkers are waiting for the niblick-armed hickory players. It is a challenge to get out of the bunker, and keeping your ball on the carpet green is an art.  The joy of getting out of the bunker. And then the slow pain of watching your ball roll and roll and roll into the greedy bunker on the other side. Playing tennis over the green between the bunkers.

The pioneer of hickory golf at Naruo Golf Club is called “The Duke.” He is the first member to own hickories and played many rounds alone while the members watched, puzzled, scratching their heads, from the clubhouse.  Asking themselves, why is he playing with funny trousers and wooden clubs? They politely left him alone, giving him space, assuming he may be suffering from madness. I mention him since I witnessed him hit a baker’s dozen niblick shots around the 13th green one day. To that point where the jokes run dry, it’s embarrassing to give more encouragement, and you silently pray for him to get it on the green. Anyway, as he lined up for his 11th niblick shot from the deep sand,  he stopped, looked around for a few moments, and shouted to us, ‘the cherry blossom trees look stunning from this bunker’.

So, we all went over and looked.  And they were stunning.  And he was radiant.

Our 2022 Japan Hickory Champion was Scott Nakase, which did not surprise us. We all saw Scott earlier hit a Tom Stewart mid-mashie off the first tee that went further than our woods, and as we watched his ball fly, high and far and sure, and saw him confidently smiling, we could tell he was ready to have a great day.

And after 18 demanding holes at the Naruo Golf Course, our 2022 Japan Hickory Champion was, indeed, Mr. Scott Nakase. His 83 total is the best score in a JHGA hickory golf tournament event at Naruo Golf Course.

Scott scored a birdie and seven pars to score an impressive gross score of 83. At the prize ceremony, he commented, “This course always demands you play courageous golf, and there are no safe roads to a Par. It’s even more challenging with my hickory clubs to imagine and find the right road. I had a really fun day and am delighted to win.”

The runner-up was Ken Ishihara, on his hickory golf debut with a gross of 87,  and Masahide Tokuyama (our 2022 JHP Champion) was in third place with a gross score of 89.

Our Ladies’ champion, Rie Mitsubishi, is also new to hickory golf and scored a gross 109.  She was a victim of the lake on the first hole, but recovered well and elegantly crafted her way around the course to a deserved win.

Our full list of 2022 Japan Hickory Player Champions:
Champion – Scott Nakase, 83
Runner-up – Ken Ishihara, 87
Third Place (joint) – Masahide Tokuyama, Yuuji Nakamura, 89
Ladies Champion – Rie Mitsuhashi, 109
Senior Champion – Masanori Kurita, 109
Net Champion – Katsuyuki Fukumoto, 76 (net with 14 handicap)

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

We thank Naruo Golf Club, St Andrews Golf Co and The Hickory Golf Shop for sponsoring the event.

We thank Brad Wakamatsu, Scott Nakase, Shinji Nakahata and Satoru Hanaoka for organising this JHGA event.

I am often asked why (with a club handicap of 18) I play hickory golf. It’s simple. No matter how many bad shots I hit, there is always at least one shot per round that I see and hit, and the ball magically goes exactly where I want it to go. It’s just a wooden golf club and me, and it feels great. I call them my ‘champion shots’ since, for a moment, they make me feel like a champion. I play hickory golf for those joyful moments.

I mention this because I love witnessing other players’ champion shots, and I saw a wonderful one at this event.  My playing partner, Bill, had 200 yards to the 16th green, and as a fellow mid-handicapper, he could easily have played a safe mashie and niblick to get on the green in three with a putt for par. He hesitated for a minute when he lined up for the shot and returned to his bag for his baffy wood. He saw a shot. A 200-yard-high fade with a baffy that had to go teasingly close to overhanging trees on the left, then slightly fade around just enough to land softly on a small area next to the pin on the top left of the green.

He smiled to himself just before he hit that shot. When the ball flew off the wood with a thud and his head came around with his swing, there was pure joy on his face as we both watched the ball magically (like slow motion) fly exactly as he saw the shot, and with a soft bounce it ended up one yard away from the hole. What a shot! Bill’s champion shot. There’s another reason I play hickory golf. To enjoy my friends’ champion shots.

We can’t all be champions, but we can all have champion shots.

As twilight fell, a few of us went back down to the first tee box to take photos and pay respect to our favourite golf course lake. She was beautiful – so small and calm, sleeping and content – with a belly full of golf balls. As we turned to go home, I swear she whispered, ‘Haste ye back’.

Click on any of the photos below to see the gallery. Presenting the awards in the photos is Alex Bruce, one of the organizers of hickory golf in Japan.