Kasumigaseki Country Club (East)

Overview: The East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club is a mature parkland layout in Saitama, routed through rolling ground and mature pine forests. Kinya Fujita’s original design gives the course its broad framework, while the deep sand hazards associated with C.H. Alison’s work remain central to its strategy. The result is a course that asks for a precise relationship between tee position, angle of approach and the complex green sites, even when the fairways appear generous from the tee.

History: Kasumigaseki was founded in 1929 with the opening of the East Course. In the early 1930s, C.H. Alison surveyed the property and oversaw a redesign that introduced the steep-faced bunkers now associated with his name in Japan. Tom and Logan Fazio carried out a major East Course renovation for the Olympic era, with the work finished in 2016, updating the greens and length while retaining the historic routing. The club’s West Course was added in 1932, making Kasumigaseki Japan’s first 36-hole golf facility.

Did You Know? The East Course hosted the golf competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. It has also staged three Japan Opens and a Japan Women’s Open, giving this private club an unusually broad championship history. The Olympic setup was built on a course whose most recognisable architectural details still trace back to Alison’s early work in Japan.