Konnichi-wa

[Kotogoshu]

Hi All,

I've been a lurker on the forums for a while but have just joined up. I'm a Queenslander (Sunshine Coast/Brisbane) currently living in the Tohoku region of Japan. Back in Oz, I was a member at Headland Golf Club (Buderim) and Victoria Park Golf Club ('til the bitter end!) in my student days.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to participating in the forums and hopefully playing some golf with a few of you when I get the chance to come back to Oz. If anyone wants to know anything about Japanese golf (courses, equipment, etc), feel free to drop me a line anytime.

[markTHEblake]

I was a member at Headland Golf Club (Buderim)

sorry to hear about that, but looks like you have some good clubs to play golf at now. :lol:

[Jarro]

Welcome to OzGolf mate :)

What's the story with the move to Japan ?

[Grunt]

Greetings to OzGolf
Do you get to play much Golf over there?, have heard stories of it being ridiculously expensive and many Japanese golfers actually do no more than Range hit in those mid city Driving Ranges. Is that true?

[goughy]

Welcome. It'd be great to hear of some of you experiences with the golfing world in Japan. And I'm sure there'd be a few here interested in your take on golf equip in Japan ;)

[AndyP]

Welcome Kotogoshu.

I have a friend that has lived in Japan for several years and has even married there. He teaches English and is based in Nagoya.
He used to be pretty handy at golf in Oz, but now he rarely plays.

[BrisVegas]

Hi Kotogoshu,
Welcome aboard. I think you're our first Japan-based ozgolfer. I've got a few Japanese (Oita, Yokohama & Osaka) homestay golfers at my place, but they don't get on the forum. I think some of the subtleties of forum "language" is a bit tough to follow.
Hope you find plenty here to interest. Keep an eye out for courty & davemason - they'll be all over you to grab Japanese-only Adidas and TM gear for sure!
Cheers,
Dion

[Jarro]

Keep an eye out for courty & davemason - they'll be all over you to grab Japanese-only Adidas and TM gear for sure!


ahem :-\"

[Kotogoshu]

sorry to hear about that, but looks like you have some good clubs to play golf at now. :lol:

Not a fan of Headland, markTHEblake? :) While I'd agree the course condition can be marginal at times, I've always enjoyed playing there because of the course layout. In my opinion, it's a more interesting course to play than Horton Park.

[Kotogoshu]

Welcome to OzGolf mate :)

What's the story with the move to Japan ?

Thanks for the welcome, Jarro. Nothing special behind the move to Japan. I'm an engineer by trade and the opportunity came up to continue some work I'd been doing in Japan. I'd lived here before in 95 (exchange student) so was interested in coming back. That was almost 4 years ago now ....

[Courty]

Welcome to the forums, Kotogoshu. Nice to see we're going global now. ;)


Keep an eye out for courty & davemason - they'll be all over you to grab Japanese-only Adidas and TM gear for sure!

:mrgreen:

Watch out for BrisVegas, too. He'll be after some gear from that small mob owned by Acushnet. Tet.. Tyt.. oh, yeah... Titleist. :roll: ;)

[BrisVegas]

see above Courty. I have my own sources in Japan.

[Kotogoshu]

Greetings to OzGolf
Do you get to play much Golf over there?, have heard stories of it being ridiculously expensive and many Japanese golfers actually do no more than Range hit in those mid city Driving Ranges. Is that true?

Thanks for the welcome, Grunt.

I play when I can - maybe every couple of weeks or so. Golf in Japan was ridiculously expensive during the bubble period in the late 80s but things are much more reasonable now. A lot of the courses have been bought out by American-based golf management companies - two of the big ones are Accordia Golf and Pacific Golf Management - and costs have come down a lot as a result.

The Tohoku region where I live is also one of the cheaper places to play golf in Japan. There are a lot of quality courses up here and not as much demand as in Tokyo and Osaka. As an example, there's a Jack Nicklaus designed course about 15 minutes away from me where you can get a weekday game for about $60 inc cart:

http://www.golf-in-japan.com/course.php?ID=1766

A cheap game on the weekend is harder to find though. Even the local public course nearby costs $50 then! Membership is also usually not worth it. Most nice courses charge several thousand dollars a year and still require you to pay green fees of $50-60 each time you play.

[markTHEblake]

Not a fan of Headland, markTHEblake?

I am a Horton Park lad (was, I grew up there) - so as you would understand its a social issue :twisted:

[Kotogoshu]

I am a Horton Park lad (was, I grew up there) - so as you would understand its a social issue :twisted:

;) No worries, markTHEblake. I've played more than my fair share of golf at Horton Park too and always enjoyed it.

[Jarro]

OzGolf Japan trip ?????

[PeteyD]

sounds good! Definately want to head over there some time in the next 12 months ;) Although it is likely to be a family event.

Oh and a big welcome to the forums mate.

[markTHEblake]

I've played more than my fair share of golf at Horton Park too and always enjoyed it.

what was your era at Headland.

i was at HP from 80-85, but the family was there from 75-95 so we were well known around the traps. I still have some good freinds at both clubs, but not so many at snobs nob. 8-)

[Kotogoshu]

what was your era at Headland.

i was at HP from 80-85, but the family was there from 75-95 so we were well known around the traps. I still have some good freinds at both clubs, but not so many at snobs nob. 8-)

I was a member there from 88 to 92 or thereabouts (when I was in high school). My dad is still a member there though.

[AndyP]

It's a small world. I would've been a member of Horton for two of those years while at high school, but didn't get involved in any junior programs.

Did you go to Maroochydore SHS? Sounds like you might have been a couple of years ahead of me.

[markTHEblake]

I was a member there from 88 to 92 or thereabouts (when I was in high school). My dad is still a member there though.

You might have known my mate Pat Ohara from that era, multiple club champion through the 80's and so.

I caddied for him when he won the SC open around 1990, and he birdied the last 3 holes playing in pitch black darkness, incredible stuff.

[Jarro]

It couldn't have been in total darkness Blake, how the hell would he have seen where his shots went :roll:

[mike]

Hi Kotogoshu

My nephew lives in Japan.

His name is Sam.

Do you know him?

[markTHEblake]

Jarro, he had a good caddy standing in the middle of the fairway listening attentively.

If you know the course (they changed the 9's around a lot though)

On the par 5 16th, it was almost dark when he hit his 3rd shot in, when putting it was completely dark.

The 17th is a par 3, not much of a problem there.

the 18th is a short four. he played a 6iron off the tee and hit 8 iron to the green. At least 2 other golfers in the group in front hit driver and never found there ball.

Each birdie was a 10-15 ft putt.

the best part was that with 4 holes left and at even par he nominated it - that he would finish 3 under and get the course record.

[AndyP]

On the par 5 16th, it was almost dark when he hit his 3rd shot in, when putting it was completely dark.
If it's the holes along the Sugar Rd houseline, then I've only ever known the 16th as a 170-180m par 3. :?

[markTHEblake]

Headland not HP

[AndyP]

Aaahh. I'm crap at that hole.

[Kotogoshu]

My nephew lives in Japan.

His name is Sam.

Do you know him?

I know a few Aussies (assuming he is) over here but no Sams unfortunately. Although, given there's at least a few thousand Aussies over here, that's probably not that surprising. What part of Japan does he live in? I'm a couple of hours north of Tokyo.

[mike]

I was only pulling your leg.

Out of 800 million people I doubt you'd just bump into him walking to the corner sushi shop.

[Kotogoshu]

I was only pulling your leg.

Out of 800 million people I doubt you'd just bump into him walking to the corner sushi shop.

Yeah, I thought you probably were. :lol: