Open skies between the Suzuka mountains and Ise Bay

Golf 5 Country Yokkaichi Course sits in Mizusawa on the western edge of Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture, about 40 minutes by car from central Nagoya. Opened in 1991 and built by Tokyu Construction under the supervision of amateur great Tetsuo Sakata, it is an 18-hole, par-72 layout stretching to 6,959 yards. The land is flat, but subtly rolling fairways, mounds and well-placed hazards keep every hole strategic, and the setting is wonderfully open: the Suzuka range to the west, the Yunoyama highlands to the north and Ise Bay to the south.

A mature, flat parkland round with mountains framing every fairway.

Riding carts with GPS make the round easy for first-timers, caddies can be requested, and afterwards there is a large bath and a restaurant overlooking the course where the local speciality, Yokkaichi tonteki pork, is on the menu. Monthly open competitions welcome solo players. The course is a natural add-on to a trip through Mie: the Yunoyama Onsen hot-spring resort and the Gozaisho Ropeway into the Suzuka mountains are close by, and Ise Bay's seafood and the road south to Ise Shrine make it easy to turn a round into a weekend. Access is by car via the Yokkaichi or Komono interchanges, roughly 40 minutes from Nagoya and under an hour from Kyoto.