The Royal Golf Club: Japan's Longest and Most Demanding Championship Course

The Royal Golf Club in Hokota City, Ibaraki Prefecture is unlike any other golf course in Japan. At 8,143 yards from the championship tees with a course rating of 78.4 and a slope of 138, it is the longest course in the country and one of the most demanding in Asia, a purpose-built world-standard facility that reopened in March 2017 following major renovations under the ownership of Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings Inc. The club's stated ambition is equally ambitious: to provide an environment that develops the skills of elite domestic players while meeting the expectations of the world's finest international golfers, raising the standard of Japanese golf through the quality of the course itself.

The layout sits on the flat coastal terrain of Ibaraki's Pacific shoreline, where the terrain rises and falls by no more than two metres across the entire property. That flatness is deceptive: the 8,143-yard length, the strategic placement of ponds and bunkers throughout the forest-lined corridors, and the minimum of five tee boxes on every hole create a course that functions simultaneously as a genuine monster for professionals and a manageable experience for recreational golfers who choose their tee position intelligently. The sixth hole, at 705 yards from the back tees, is the longest hole in Japan and one of the longest anywhere in the world. The 17th hole, featuring a pond and beach bunkers in a setting that demands precise wind reading and disciplined club selection, is consistently cited as one of the most visually and strategically memorable holes on the course.

The Royal Golf Club's tournament credentials are equally extraordinary. The course hosted the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open in both 2018 and 2019, a Japan Golf Tour event offering places in The Open Championship, and in 2019 it staged the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, one of the R&A's flagship international amateur events. Hosting two of the sport's most significant events in consecutive years confirmed The Royal Golf Club's standing as a venue capable of meeting the highest requirements of professional and elite amateur golf.

8,143 yards, rated 78.4, with a 705-yard sixth hole and a championship resume that includes The Open qualifying and the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific: The Royal Golf Club is Japan's most ambitious golf destination.

Playing The Royal Golf Club

The five-plus tee boxes on every hole are not a marketing detail but a genuine design commitment: the course was conceived to offer a meaningfully different experience from each set of tees, so that the same routing can be played as a manageable round from the forward positions or as one of the most demanding tests in world golf from the tips. The flat terrain means that yardage is the primary challenge from the back, while the ponds throughout the course and the deeply contoured bunkers placed in conversation with the green complexes provide strategic difficulty at every tee position. The natural forest that frames the fairways creates visual separation between holes and gives the course a sense of privacy and scale that is unusual on flat Japanese coastal land. Designed by Yoshikazu Nagato, the layout reflects a philosophy of maximum strategic variety within a fundamentally open, accessible setting.

Getting to The Royal Golf Club

The course is located in Hokota City on the Pacific coast of Ibaraki Prefecture, approximately 45 minutes by car from Narita International Airport, making it one of the most conveniently positioned major courses in Japan for international arrivals. From Tokyo, the route via the Higashi-Kanto Expressway to the Itako Interchange takes approximately 90 minutes, with the course 22 kilometres from the interchange. The coastal location near Oarai offers additional sightseeing attractions including Oarai Sun Beach and the iconic torii gate of Oarai Isosaki Shrine rising from the Pacific surf.

Staying and Visiting The Royal Golf Club

The Royal Golf Club is a private members club. Visiting golfers should enquire in advance about guest access arrangements. On-site accommodation includes four room types: the Suite, Corner Deluxe Twin, Deluxe Twin, and Double Room, all designed with wooden furnishings in a natural aesthetic suited to the forest course setting. The on-site restaurant and bar are available before and after the round. Use the booking form on this page to enquire about guest access, current availability, and accommodation packages.