Easy riverside nine on the Gifu plain

Anpachi Public Golf Club is a nine-hole, par-34 public course in the town of Anpachi in western Gifu, set on the flat floodplain beside the river. It follows the former Anpachi Country Club, a 1979 course on the same riverbank. The layout mixes short, medium and long holes, so it suits beginners as well as experienced players who want a relaxed practice round, and each hole has two greens, one bent and one korai.

No fuss, no membership, just a quick nine by the water.

This is everyday Japanese golf at its most accessible. Walk-ins are welcome, payment is cash only, and the dress code is simple: just keep your shirt tucked in. A nine takes about two hours, so it fits easily around sightseeing. The course is within 5 km of the Meishin Expressway's Gifu-Hashima interchange, and Gifu-Hashima Shinkansen station is nearby, so it is easy to reach from Nagoya. Gifu City, with summer cormorant fishing on the Nagara River and Gifu Castle on Mt. Kinka, is close by, and Ogaki, the old castle town at the end of Basho's famous journey, is just to the west.