Fairways in the Hills Beside Hiroshima Airport

Forest Hills Golf & Resort sits in the wooded hills of Hongo-cho in Mihara, just three minutes from Hiroshima Airport. Opened in 1997, its 18-hole, par-72 layout, played as the Sky View course, stretches to 6,764 yards from the back tees. It is an American-style course built to sit naturally in its surroundings, with a strong strategic streak: a two-tier green guarded by water on the 4th, a signature pond on the 13th with a green tilting toward it, and a tough par-4 18th that is the number-one handicap hole.

Land at the airport and tee off minutes later, with the forest closing in around every hole.

Riding carts carry a GPS navigation system that shows each hole's layout, distances and strategy, so the course is easy to play without a caddie, and visitors can book by phone without a member's introduction. The club runs a shuttle from the airport terminal if you reserve ahead, which makes it a natural first or last round on a western Japan trip. It is about 50 minutes by expressway from both Hiroshima and Fukuyama, and partner hotels near the airport offer golf-and-stay packages. Combine a round with time in Hiroshima city, the island shrine of Miyajima, or the harbour town of Onomichi along the Seto Inland Sea.