Katano Country Club

Overview: Katano Country Club presents is a mature wooded course on the eastern edge of Osaka, with a 6,763-yard par-72 route that repeatedly asks how much of the fairway a player wants to use. The established tree lines and changing approach angles make it feel older and more settled than the surrounding city.

History: Katano's course opened in 1973. Katano opened on 17 July 1973. The club's 50th-anniversary history records that Shoichi Suzuki was entrusted with the design and that early construction began in 1971. Later work straightened and re-shaped selected holes, but the basic identity remains Suzuki's hillside parkland routing.

Did You Know? A 1982 improvement programme changed the first hole from a dogleg into a straighter starting hole and also altered the ninth tee and green. That is a useful piece of course history because it shows how the club has refined the routing without replacing its original character. The club's 50th-anniversary history also records construction beginning in 1971, placing the 1973 opening within a longer development story.