Palm Trees and Beach Bunkers Twenty-Five Minutes from Kagoshima

Golden Palm was built to look like somewhere else. J. Michael Poellot laid out 18 holes across 1.19 million square metres of hill country north of Kagoshima city and the developers planted palms throughout, so the impression from the first tee is closer to Hawaii than to Kyushu. The theatre starts before the round does: step out of the clubhouse and the 9th and 18th are laid out in front of you around an enormous shared pond, palms rising above the far bank, which is the image most first-time visitors carry away. The clubhouse itself is roofed in deep red Spanish tile, visible from the approach road long before you arrive.

Behind the staging is a serious course. It measures 7,083 yards at par 72 and rates 73.4 off the bent single greens, and the length is the main thing standing between a visitor and a good score, because the holes themselves are neither narrow nor severely undulating. The outward nine runs clockwise around the eastern side of the property through doglegs both ways, two par 3s played across water, and the 9th with its big pond left and beach-style bunkering. The inward nine saves its best for last: from the 14th to the finish, ponds and creeks are in play on every hole, so there is no stretch in which to relax. Poellot's routing rewards thinking rather than a single repeated shot shape, and a one-note attack will not get round it. Conditioning and presentation are rated among the best in the prefecture.

A J. Michael Poellot layout dressed as a tropical resort, with a natural hot spring rising on the property and water on every hole from the 14th

The onsen in the clubhouse

The bath is fed by a hot spring that rises on the site itself, so this is a genuine onsen rather than a facility. Tall windows open toward the course and are left open across much of the year, which gives the indoor bath something close to the feel of an open-air one. The restaurant runs a menu that changes with the seasons. The course has hosted qualifying for Japan's representation at the Andersen World Championship of Golf on several occasions, along with televised professional exhibitions, which is the basis for its claim to tournament-standard presentation.

Access and practicalities

Golden Palm is about seven minutes from either the Aira or Yoshida interchange on the Kyushu Expressway, and roughly 25 to 30 minutes by car from both Kagoshima Airport and central Kagoshima, which makes it one of the easiest quality courses in Kyushu to reach on a short trip. Play is with a caddie, walking. The clubhouse covers around 3,200 square metres. Note that the club is in Honjo-cho, Kagoshima city; the Yoshida in older listings refers to the former town that merged into the city.