Richard Mansell 40/1 © Wilson Golf
The European Tour is back this week, but not exactly in Europe. The tour pitches up in Japan at the Taiheiyo Club, Gotemba course which opened for play in 1977 and was designed by the late Shunsuke Kato. Kato believed a golf course should evolve over time and requires constant evolution to ensure continual improvement. From 1977 to 1985, fourteen of the holes had been altered to make the course more challenging.
In 2018 and after the passing of Shunsuke Kato, the Gotemba course was completely remodelled by Rees Jones and Bryce Swanson in consultation with Hideki Matsuyama.
Rees Jones was quoted as saying:
“The Gotemba course is a beautiful, tree-lined parkland golf course with many views of Mount Fuji. It was well laid out by Japanese architect Shunsuke Kato in 1976. We left the green surfaces mostly intact, except for the par three 7th hole, where the green was rebuilt because the contours were too severe.
