Rolling Gifu hills near the pottery towns of Mino

Golf5 Country Mizunami Course, once known as Mizunami Country Club, sits in the low hills of Kamado-cho in Mizunami, eastern Gifu. Opened in 1991 and laid out by Taizo Kawada, it is an 18-hole, par-72 course stretching to 6,891 yards from the back tees. Built around the idea of blending with nature, it offers broad, gently undulating fairways and greens that are often two-tiered, so the approach shot matters as much as the drive. The club now hosts the GOLF5 Ladies tournament on the women's tour, and it has an on-site cottage for groups who want to stay over.

Wide fairways invite a confident swing, while tiered greens keep you honest.

Mizunami is part of the Mino ware pottery region, along with neighbouring Tajimi and Toki, so the kilns and craft shops make an easy add-on before or after a round. Autumn colours in the surrounding hills are a highlight. Getting there is simple from Nagoya: by car it is about 40 minutes on the Chuo Expressway to Mizunami IC and then roughly 25 minutes to the club. By train, a rapid JR service from Nagoya Station reaches Mizunami in about 46 minutes, and a taxi covers the last 20 minutes. That makes it an easy day trip from Nagoya, or an overnight stop on the way into the mountains of central Japan.