Golf in Japan 🗻

Greetings! As we gear up for this week’s Zozo Championship — which is held about an hour outside of Tokyo — I thought it would be fun to learn a little bit about what it’s like to play golf in Japan. Growing up, my dad would tell me stories about his golf rounds on business trips there, and I’ve been intrigued ever since.

Lucky for us, friend of the newsletter and Quick Nine contributor Reid Deramus is roaming around Japan right now and was nice enough to jot down some notes about his golf experience.

At the bottom, we have our Zozo preview. But first, here’s Reid!

Golf in Japan 🗻

If I ask you to think of a golf destination, you’re likely to rattle off the usual suspects: Scotland & Ireland, Bandon Dunes, Pinehurst, and so on. Let me plant a seed for a new option: Japan.

In many ways, golf in Japan seems to reflect important aspects of Japanese culture: craftsmanship and attention to detail, as well as striving for perfection and always pushing to elevate the experience. As part of that, there are some notable differences in the experience of playing in Japan – let’s dive in!

Self-driving golf carts

Many of the courses in Japan only offer self-driving golf carts, with no ability to override and go back to a previous hole, say, if you forgot your wedge.

• The carts stay on the path the whole time, and they’ll automatically stop at predetermined spots (like at a tee box or the green). Players can manually choose when they stop and go with buttons on the cart itself or with a hand held remote that looks a bit like garage door clicker. This comes in useful if you decide to walk.

• The carts are rather large with two rows of seats to accommodate all four golfers in a group. They have tons of useful accessories (like a water bucket to clean clubs) and a monitor for scoring, as well as yardage and course info.

Reid’s take: At first, I’m all in on the carts. I love walking when I play, and it’s nice to do so without carrying clubs. Over time, though, the novelty wears off. For one, the carts are very slow. And, like any cart-path-only situation, you constantly find yourself walking back-and-forth to retrieve your clubs.

Mid-round breaks

The next surprise: after you finish the 9th hole, instead of immediately making the turn, you have 45 minutes to enjoy a sit-down lunch. I’m used to grabbing a Gatorade and a hot dog at a shabby stand, so this is new.

After playing three rounds at solid public courses in Japan, I can say the dining experience was always excellent. (I mean, check out my frosty mug and views in the photo above!) My mid-round meals meals ranged from sizzling steak to a soba noodle dish to tonkatsu, lightly breaded pork.

This approach does take coordination and there’s usually no way to make the turn immediately.

• All groups have to go through the same break, or else you would have groups running into each other off the 10th.

• You’re given a “tee time” for the back 9, but you can also see how close you are to teeing off by where your cart is in the rotation heading to the 10th tee.

Reid’s take: I’m mostly in favor of the sit down meal at the turn. The only downside is that it can kill momentum. If you’re competing or focused on shooting a low score, you may want to skip the break, which again isn’t really an option.

Another beer-related point. The course had a few small buildings on the course with vending machines where you could pick up drinks. The best part: the prices are totally normal! I got an 8-ounce Asahi for less than ~$2 (okay, maybe I got three of them).

Attention to detail

Most of the nicer public courses around Tokyo are an hour or two away, up in the mountains. While it’s a bit of a trip, these courses offer up amazing views throughout the round.

The fairways, greens, and rough are immaculate and consistent throughout the course. And, there are tiny landscaping details that will continue to catch you off guard.

• On one course, there were ~6 foot Bonsai-like trees marking the 150-yard and 100-yard points from the green.

• In some spots, there was obvious effort to create epic views. In the image above, you can see Mount Fuji on the left side, mostly because someone created a clear avenue in the trees to perfectly frame the famous volcano.

Post-round onsen

After the round, you’re ready for one of the best parts of golf in Japan: hopping in an onsen. An onsen is a natural hot spring with mineral-rich water (basically a larger, natural, better-feeling hot tub).

Before diving in, a few things to note:

• No clothes or towels are allowed. Yes, there’s lots of nudity, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

• It’s important to wash yourself before getting in the onsen.

• Usually, there’s an area to shower after the onsen, with shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. Some people just quickly rinse off with water to allow the minerals to soak in.

All three courses we played had great onsen areas. One had a sauna and cold plunge as well.

A special experience

Overall, golfing in Japan was a unique and luxurious experience. Best of all, it won’t break the bank. We played three top-notch public courses, each of which cost $100 for greens fee, cart, food and drinks, and the onsen (a rental set was about $30 per round).

And, of course, there are so many other reasons to visit Japan beyond the golf. Here’s the best guide I’ve found if you’re considering making the trip.

A special thanks to the team at LoopGolf for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

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Zozo Championship Preview

Ready or not, the Zozo Championship is upon — literally.

With the time difference, the PGA Tour’s only tournament in Asia kicks off tonight (Wednesday) at 7:45 pm ET. Coverage starts at 11 pm ET on the Golf Channel (also streamable on ESPN+ and Peacock).

Storylines to follow

• The boys are back in town. It’s the first time we’ve seen big names like Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Rickie Fowler tee it up in a PGA Tour event since the Tour Championship in August. Will they come out firing or show rust, like they did at the Ryder Cup last month in Rome?

• Keegan Bradley. The defending champion this week in Japan, Keegan is also playing for the first time since US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson decided against offering him an invite to Rome. It’ll be fascinating to see how the Ryder Cup snub impacts Keegan’s play this week and into next year.

• Local favorites. Hideki Matsuyama, who won the Zozo in 2021, is the betting favorite among other Japanese golfers at this week’s tournament — which has a limited field and no cut. But don’t be surprised to see other players from Japan finishing towards the top of the leaderboard, especially Takumi Kanaya (who’s been lighting up the Japan Tour) and Ryo Hisatsune (who won the DP World Tour’s French Open in September).

Best Bets

I don’t often bet, but if I did, these would be some wagers I’d consider.

Beau Hossler top 20 (+130): I think the oversized visor will travel well! Beau finished T16 at the Zozo last year and has four top 30 finishes in-a-row, including a T7 last week at the Shriners.

Keegan Bradley over Rickie Fowler (+100): I can’t get the image out of my head of Rickie hitting it into the water on Sunday at the Ryder Cup, which pretty much sealed the deal for the Europeans. I’m also buying that the chip on Keegan’s shoulder is going to work in his favor.

Cam Davis top Australian (+180): Min Woo Lee is the slight favorite for top Australian, sporting a fresh mullet and coming off a staggering -30 performance last week to win in Macau. But Cam Davis has also been playing world class golf with four top tens in his last five starts on the PGA Tour (!!).

Collin Morikawa, outright winner (12-1): Morikawa wasn’t good in Rome, but I’m betting the time off will help and that he’ll continue the trend of favorites faring well this fall. Also, doesn’t a trip to Jiro’s cure all?

More news

Gordon Sargent, a junior at Vanderbilt University and the current #2 ranked amateur in the world, has earned his PGA Tour card for the 2025 season. (Golf)

Ivor Robson, The Open’s official starter for over 40 years, passed away at the age of 83. Watch some of his iconic first tee introductions here.

The Netflix Cup, the company’s first ever live sporting event, will feature four PGA Tour players and four Formula One drivers in a matchplay golf tournament on November 14. (CNN)

And finally…

With the additions of Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Lucas Glover, Min Woo Lee, and Kevin Kisner this week, the TGL’s 24-man roster is set.

Now the fun part begins — will this thing actually work?

I have many questions, including — will the Palm Beach-area stadium even be completed by the time matches are slated to begin in January? Here are some construction photos from earlier this month that don’t look promising.

Not to be too much of a downer here (I think it could actually be a fun watch!), but I still can’t get over the name TGL, which a spokesperson confirmed with me this week “doesn’t stand for anything.”

Not Tiger’s Golf League. Not Tech (infused) Golf League.

Just TGL. 🤔

That’s all for today! Thanks so much for reading y’all and as a programming alert, I’ll see you here next for a Zozo recap on Monday. I have some friends making the trek from California to Central Illinois this weekend to celebrate my birthday, and lots of golf is in store! Alas, no mid-tournament recap, which I hope is okay!

Until then, Nick B. 🏌️‍♂️ 🎂