If I had to choose a course that I look forward to playing the most in Japan then Taiheiyo Club`s Konan course would be near the top of that list. It’s not because it's a venue that has held professional tournaments but it’s just a brilliant layout with some of the best conditioning around. The other lure of Konan is it is located in Saitama which is just north of Tokyo.

Taiheiyo Konan was opened in 1977 and designed by Shunsuke Kato who also completed the Taiheiyo Gotemba course that same year. It’s amazing how different these two courses are, not because the terrain of the properties, but because the design language of the courses is so varied.

Konan is a faders paradise. Seven of the eighteen-hole layout will fit the eye of the right-handed player who moves the ball left to right through the air. Only the short Par 5 15th requires a tee shot that moves a little in the opposite direction. The course is gently undulating with only one club difference in elevation making Konan a very comfortable walk. The course is playable for all levels at just over 7,000 yards from the men’s tees and 5,336 yards off the ladies. Short walks from greens to tees and no forced water carries ensures whatever your handicap is you will enjoy this course.

The greens are the highlight of the Konan course as they are distinct and unique. Stepped, bowl, diagonal, sloped away, rolling, domed, shallow, saddle, and blind best describe the shapes of these beautiful greens. There are 8 greens without greenside bunkers which may seem strange but never seems out of place. Thick grassy swales await errant shots and closely mown areas feed the ball away from the greens, allowing all sorts of short game options to save your par.

The fairways at Konan are generous, especially the longer holes with the shorter holes being a little tighter off the tee with their defence being creative design. Only six holes at Konan have fairway bunkers whivh are positioned a little differently than many courses. They ask the player to think carefully about what club to use off the tee as carrying the bunkers often creates no great benefit as rough awaits you. Ask the caddie how far it is to the start of the bunker and simply choose the club that will not reach them.

The Par 3 holes are all memorable and follow Jack Nicklaus’s belief that short holes should be played with irons. The 17th is the most unique with the blind bunkerless green sloping heavily from front to back.

The signature hole at Konan is the dogleg right Par 4 16th. The best position into the green is from the center/right side of the fairway but to land there you must be brave off the tee as OOB looms close. The tee shot is easy if you play down the left but makes your second shot a lot more difficult. The second shot is played over a water hazard but the angle from the right is a lot less daunting than from the left. It's a hole that is quite easy to have a bogey but very tough to make par.

My favorite hole at Konan is the 7th. A 330 yard slight downhill dogleg right Par 4 appears off the tee as defenceless. Without a fairway or greenside bunker in sight and a reasonably large fairway, this hole tends to lull you into a false sense of security. The putting green is the holes defencee and MUST be played from the fairway if you are to hold the green. The green is about 40 meters wide but is very shallow from front to back which slopes away. The left and right side of the green is raised with the middle a low area that is also bowl-shaped. The whole green is slightly raised and is surrounded by closely mown areas that funnel your ball away from the green. It’s just a really fun hole so ensure you choose a club off the tee that will find the fairway because otherwise you’ll have a curling 15 footer to save your par.

The rest of the experience at Konan is first class. The driving range at the right time of the day is a nice shady place to hit some balls and the large sloping putting greens beside the 1st and 10th tee are a good place to stroke a few putts. A bunker and pitching area is just a few steps from the 10th tee also and an easy stroll to the dining area of the clubhouse which serves the most delicious Japanese food imaginable.

As I said earlier, Konan, to me, is just a place that I enjoy being at and the travel time back into Tokyo is just the icing on the cake. Taiheiyo Konan ticks all the boxes of a great Japanese golfing experience.

Getting there

Public transport – Local

Train

From Ikebukuro station take the Shonan Shinjuku Line which takes 56 minutes to reach Kumagaya Station. 9 am the Taiheiyo Bus leaves each morning or if your tee time is earlier than a taxi ride of about 20 minutes and $25 USD will see you there.

Shinkansen

Tokyo Station has the Horuriku Shinkansen Asama which takes just 38 minutes to reach Kumagaya station. The same applies to the above in order to reach the course.

Private transport

Konan is only 90 kilometers from the center of Tokyo so private transport will only take just over an hour. Please let me know if you are interested as i am happy to organise your trip.