Thread: Satsuki GC (Sano, Tochigi)

Six on and a two-putt for bogey, that's how it went for me on the 914 yard par 7, seventh hole at Satsuki Golf Club in Sano (Tochigi). Although the hole is in the Guinness Book for length and is touted as a highlight of the course, it is a fairly unremarkable hole, IMHO. Basically just a very long, relatively narrow snaking journey. Most in the tournament I was playing found it to be nothing more than a really long walk, not to mention how it balloons your gross score. Out par 38, In par 37 (3 par 5's on the back).

Overall, the course is quite nice and also rather difficult. The fairways are narrow with tight OB on most holes. The greens are murder. Very fast and nothing flat. There were very few friendly pin placements on this day. If you are going to score well here, you really have to bring every part of your game. Add chilly temps, a bit of rain and a light breeze and you get only 3 of 26 people breaking 100 (gross) and the winner coming in at 75 (net). Note, a third of these golfer have official handicaps under 15!

The course was reasonably priced at 14,500. There didn't seem to be much English, but then again I was the only person there that looked like they would require it. The practice range is about 50 yards and the practice green not very big. It did, however, reflect very accurately the difficulty of the course greens. The carts are remote control and painfully slow at times.

Getting there is an easy ride up the Tohoku Expressway. We made it from Central Tokyo in 1.5 hours. Coming home however is a different story. The city of Sano has an outlet mall which is right beside the expressway. Weekend shoppers combined with golfers made it a 3-hour journey back to Tokyo. Not recommended for weekend play.

Overall, it was worth the experience, but I likely wouldn't return.

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the review

Actually, we have a new place for these now (Launched last week):

Golf Courses Japan - Main Page - Gaijin Golfers