Bay Views and Big Hills on Hokkaido's southern shore

Hakodate Baycoast Country Club, formerly the Kamiiso course of the Ambix Hakodate Club, spreads across some 126 hectares of hill and forest in Hokuto, just west of Hakodate. Opened in 1996, this 18-hole, par-72 championship layout reaches 7,016 yards from the back tees and hosted the JLPGA Tour's Nippon Ham Ladies Classic from 2016 to 2018. Most holes look straightforward from the tee, but valleys, streams, ponds and sharp elevation changes keep surprising you, and greens such as the three-tiered 3rd demand precise approaches.

Hakodate Bay below, Mt. Komagatake beyond, and a tournament test underfoot.

The scenery is a big part of the appeal: across open grassland the course looks out over Hakodate Bay, Mt. Hakodate and the volcanic peak of Komagatake, while the clubhouse restaurant takes in the city and, on clear days, the Shimokita Peninsula across the strait. The club is about 15 minutes by taxi from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, the Hokkaido Shinkansen terminus, and around 20 minutes from central Hakodate. That makes it easy to pair a round with the city's morning market, the historic Motomachi district and the night view from Mt. Hakodate. The season runs from early March to early December.