Resort golf in the green valleys of Sayo

GS. Star Resort Golf Club (formerly Sayo Star Resort) sits in Sayo, in the rural west of Hyogo Prefecture, at the heart of a resort that also includes a hotel, tennis courts and a natural hot spring. Opened in 1975, it now plays as 18 holes, par 72, over two hillside nines. The East Course is the long, open championship-style nine, with valley carries such as the downhill par-3 8th; the South Course, designed by Akira Hattori, threads past ponds and stylish villas lining the fairways for an almost overseas feel, finishing at a three-tier green.

Big hills and valley carries, then a soak in the resort's own hot spring.

The resort's 350-yard driving range is one of the largest in western Japan, and GPS carts make the hilly layout easy going. After golf, the Hōrai no Yu natural hot spring offers a soothing alkaline soak, and the GS. Fusion Hotel makes an overnight stay simple. Sayo is a quiet farming town in the Harima highlands, a good base for exploring the Sayo countryside and the castle town of Tatsuno. The resort is about a minute from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway, roughly 60 minutes from Chugoku-Ikeda, and Sayo Station can be reached from Osaka in about 90 minutes by the Super Hakuto limited express.