Japan · Japan · Charles Hugh Alison
Hirono Golf Club
James Kinloch
Golf Travel Specialist · played this course
Hirono Golf Club is the Augusta National of Japan — not as a compliment borrowed from American golf, but as an accurate description of its standing in the country. The 1932 Charles Hugh Alison design was largely untouched during post-war reconstruction and plays through pines and azaleas with a quiet grandeur that no modern course has replicated in Japan or anywhere else.
Private. Member introduction required. Green fee approximately ¥75,000 (£400 at current rates). We secure access for small groups twice yearly — these slots are always the first to fill in our Japan programme.
What Hirono has that few courses in the world can match is silence. The course operates at a pace and a volume that makes contemporary resort golf feel like an airport departure lounge by comparison. You play eighteen holes in a state of focused quiet. The azaleas bloom in April. Plan accordingly.
Signature hole
Par-4 12th, 390 yards, azalea-lined fairway
"In April, the azaleas on both sides of the fairway are in full bloom — deep pink against the dark pine backdrop. The best-looking golf hole in Japan. Possibly the best-looking in the world."
Designer
Charles Hugh Alison
Par
72
Yardage
6,625
Green fee
from £400
Best for
Best time to go
March to May for azaleas. September to November for autumn colours. Both are extraordinary.
Play Hirono
James can arrange tee times, transfers, and accommodation around this course. One call is all it takes.
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