Kiyokawa Country Club

Overview: Kiyokawa Country Club places a Jack Nicklaus design into the wooded hills of Kiyokawa, where the shape of the land is as visible in the fairways as it is around the greens. The par-72 course is approximately 6,700 yards and uses ponds, grass bunkers and an undulating surface to make poor angles costly.

History: Kiyokawa's 1985 opening established the present course. Kiyokawa opened on 22 September 1985. The official club describes the layout as designed and laid out by J. Nicklaus, with a single bentgrass green built on an American-style sand base. The green system and the surrounding contouring remain central to the club's identity and to the way the course is played.

Did You Know? The official description calls attention to glass bunkers, a Japanese rendering of grass bunkers, rather than relying only on conventional sand. They are both a visual signature and a reminder that the Nicklaus vocabulary here includes recovery hazards as well as fairway bunkers. The single bent green and grass bunkers give its Nicklaus identity a practical edge: approach distance and landing angle matter as much as the view from the tee.