Saga's first public course, still playing to win

CyKan Winner's Golf Club lies in the countryside of Taku, in central Saga Prefecture, within easy reach of the Taku exit on the Nagasaki Expressway. Opened in November 1985, it was the first full-scale 18-hole public course in the prefecture, and it remains open to anyone. The layout runs 6,740 yards at par 72 over moderately rolling ground. In places it is tricky, especially on the tiered bent greens, but it also invites you to attack.

A no-fuss public course that rewards a bold swing, and forgives the occasional miss.

Play is by GPS-equipped riding cart, rental clubs and shoes are available for travelling golfers, and there is an approach and putting area for warming up. Taku is a quiet stop on the JR Karatsu Line, and the town is home to Taku Seibyo, a 300-year-old Confucian shrine. Saga's pottery towns of Arita and Imari, the seaside castle town of Karatsu and the Takeo and Ureshino hot springs are all close enough for the rest of the day. Saga Station is around 40 minutes away, Taku Station is about five minutes by car, and the course works well as part of a wider trip around northern Kyushu.