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Background to the course
Architect:
Shiro Akaboshi, Japan's most revered golf course designer,
built Gotemba in 1971
Type:
Traditional Japanese hillside course
Landscape:
Gotemba offers stunning views from the course itself
with contoured fairways surrounded by forests, bridges
over ravines, and Japanese ponds. Its surroundings are
even more spectacular, with the snow-capped and enigmatic
Mount Fuji looming in the distance.
Course facts:
- Gotemba's club champion is in his 60s. Perhaps this
is because Gotemba is a course that tests every facet
of a golfer's game and requires many years of study
to master; businessmen bring their protégés
here to test their mettle on this unforgiving course.
- If you can hack the cold and ice, January to April
is a picturesque time to play here when snow falls on
Mt Fuji and you can benefit from reduced green fees.
Playing the
course
Gotemba, clinging to a tree-covered mountain, is one
of Japan's most spectacular mountain courses. It is
so steep in places that you use escalators to climb
up to the next tee. Buggies are readily available and
essential if you want to cope with the course and avoid
a coronary. |
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Score card
Address:
1924-2 Kouyama, Gotemba-shi, Shizuoka-ken 412-0033,
Japan
Website:
www.gotembagolf.com
Phone number:
+81 550 87 1555, fax: +81 550 87 1915.
English speaking golf pro Bennett Galloway:
Tel: 090
9892 4319
E-mail: ben-galloway@gotembagolf.com
Course and lengths:
18 holes 6320 yards (back tee), 5887 yards (regular
tee) (Par 72)
Dress Code:
No jeans, t-shirts, or beach sandals and a 'NO TATTOO'
policy, intended to keep out the Yakuza and crime organizations,
is still written on a sign outside the club house. Unlike
many courses in the area, spiked golf shoes are allowed.
Tee times:
7:00am to 10:30am and 2:00pm to 3:00pm for twilight
half rounds, with some flexibility on times at the weekend.
At weekends, a 1 hour 40 min lunch break is compulsory,
weekdays and some weekends through play (no lunch break)
and 1.5 rounds are possible.
Handicap:
No certificate required.
Green fees:
Weekdays 9,800 yen ($90), weekends 18,600 yen ($170),
public holidays 17,600 yen ($160). Prices are slightly
reduced in the winter between January and April.
Packages:
8,500 yen self-play on Tuesdays ($75); 14,500 yen ($130)
hotel, breakfast, and golf package on weekdays; 19,500
yen ($175) dinner, golf, and hot spring weekday package.
Other costs:
2,310 yen ($20) per person for caddy (based on group
of four sharing), or 3,675 yen ($33) per person (based
on two sharing). You can hire shoes for 700 yen ($6)
and premium clubs for 3,500 yen ($31).
Facilities:
Caddies, lessons in English and Japanese, buggies, chalets,
parking, restaurant, and Japanese Onsen bath. Near the
golf course enjoy a factory outlet shopping mall, Fuji
speedway go-kart track, Gotemba microbrewery for Gotemba
Kogen Beer, mountain biking, tennis, hiking, horse-riding,
fishing, and hiking up and skiing down Mt. Fuji.
Location:
Gotemba is 60 miles from Tokyo; by car take the Tomei
Expressway to Gotemba Interchange, then it's a 15 minute
drive. By train it takes one hour forty minutes on the
Odakyu Asagiri from Tokyo Shinjuku Station to Gotemba
Station, then take a free shuttle bus to the course. |
