Golf in Japan - Round 1

A Blog about my travels in Japan would not be complete if I did not write about my golf experiences over there. I had always wanted to play golf one day in Japan. I knew the Japanese were very keen on the game, and I wanted to see what differences were apparent between golf in Japan and golf in the U.S.

That day came along in May of 2005 when a number of us went out on a weekend to play the Matsushima Chisan course up near Tagajo. Matsushima Chisan is quite a nice facility. It is a private 36 hole Country Club. One of our coworkers was thankfully a member and arranged for our days play. We had between 10 and 12 players that day, and split into three groups. What I remember most about that round was NOT the golf. No, the course, the play, and most everything associated with the actual golf were very similar to play over here in the U.S. What did stick out to me the most was the LUNCH!!! All foursomes stop in for a 45-60 minute lunch after the 9th hole. It operates with an incredible degree of efficiency. Your sit down at a table. Your order is taken quite quickly. Your food (and drink) is delivered quite quickly and the quality of the lunch was fantastic!!! Then, at precisely the time when you finish, you walk out on to the 10th tee and miraculously your foursome is up to hit and the group ahead is well down the fairway or on the green. Every group must stop in for lunch. There is no jumping ahead of other groups.

The other thing I do remember that was different was that the golf carts at this course seated four golfers (in the U.S. it is almost always two golfers).  Having an entire foursome sitting in one cart was quite strange, but brought about a nice sense of togetherness for your group.

It was a very fun experience playing golf in Japan for the first time.  We did get rained on for a few minutes on one hole during the round.  Just long enough for us to stop in and have a beer at a small on course shelter building.  Thanks to all of my friends who joined us!