Hanna Country Club

Overview: Hanna Country Club is a woodland course in the hills between Osaka and Nara, close enough to the city to feel urban in context but separated by mature tree lines and the open ground around the fairways. Shunsuke Kato's par-72 course is listed at 6,365 yards, with the outward nine playing to 35 and the inward to 37.

History: Hanna's documented chronology points to 1974. Hanna opened on 25 August 1974. The official overview gives Kato the design credit and identifies an area of 622,322 square metres. Its later history is inseparable from the nearby Ryoma Onsen area and from the effort to keep a substantial forest course within reach of the Osaka metropolitan area.

Did You Know? The course's par split gives the inward nine two extra strokes, creating a slightly more assertive finish than the outward half. The 18-hole table also shows how the designers used the forest corridors to make the shorter holes depend on line and green position. The 622,322-square-metre property gives the course enough room to retain a woodland feel even though it sits within reach of the Osaka metropolitan area.