Japan Trip Update

The Japan trip was a qualified success. I visited several golf courses, ranges and stores in the Tokyo/Yokohama areas to demonstrate my lines of putters and wedges. It seems that, as golf-crazed as the Japanese are, they are also brand-crazed as well. The most common comment I received was "These are very nice clubs, but Japanese golfers only prefer clubs from the major brand names." So, no deals with the courses or stores, but I handed out a lot of business cards to actual golfers, and received a substantial number of hits from Japan IP addresses. I have made for and sold clubs to Japanese customers before (along with many other international customers) so I believe the opportunity is still there, and will continue with my yearly trips to the country.

Now, to the golf: While I was in Japan, I had the opportunity to play a couple rounds with local golfers. One round was at Tokyo Kokusai Country Club in Tokyo, a beautiful private course near the Yokohama border (http://www.kokusai-net.co.jp/tkgc/, mostly in Japanese). Although it was March, and course conditions were not ideal, the weather was fine, and the course was in more than adequate conditions. The course has two sets of greens: bent grass for the cooler months, and "kosai grass" for the hotter months. We played the "BG" greens and I found them to be smooth and fast. The fairways, despite being sprayed with green food coloring, were a different story: mushy in the best places, and wetter than that everywhere else. I blame my 94 completely on the mushy fairways, although the lack of foliage in the woods might have saved me a stroke or two, so it wasn't all bad news!

The second round I played was at Ashigara Shinrin (http://www.as-cc.co.jp/, in Japanese only) was in better shape. No food coloring to get on my pants and shoes; the fairways were a uniform coffee color throughout the course This course is stunningly beautiful in the warmer months, but it was no slouch, even in March. Severe elevation changes increase the challenge on this somewhat short course. Several of the holes offer panoramic vistas of Mount Fuji. Despite 8 pars, I couldn't break 90 on this course, what with all the ridges, dropoffs and OB stakes. Several times I hit what I thought were great drives, only to drive up and find I had blown right through a hidden dogleg behind a hill. Too bad SkyCaddie hasn't mapped this (or many other courses in Japan) yet!

At both courses, the facilities were first rate. There is definitely something "old school" about having a leisurely lunch at the turn, and an even more leisurely soak in the spring-fed hot baths afterward. And the snack shack midway through the back nine at Ashigara Shinrin would put many a US golf course's clubhouse to shame--it was that nice. The view of Mt. Fuji ,from the counter overlooking the 14th green and 15th tee, is priceless! (see photo at left)