Highland Golf Beneath Sacred Mt. Ontake

Ontake Golf & Resort Hotel sits at around 1,200 metres in Kiso, in the mountains of southwest Nagano, on a broad highland site facing the sacred peak of Mt. Ontake. The 18-hole, par-72 course was laid out by Kokichi Yasuda, honorary adviser to the Japan PGA, and stretches to about 6,696 yards from the back tees on bent greens. Its fairways roll gently over moderate ups and downs, with ponds and out-of-bounds lines demanding both nerve and strategy; the two-tier 16th green and the par-3 8th, the course’s favourite hole-in-one spot, are the holes people talk about.

Cool mountain air, big alpine views and a hot-spring bath waiting at the end.

The clubhouse and hotel are one building, so this is a place to stay rather than pass through: rooms look out to Mt. Ontake and the Kiso-Komagatake range, the night skies are full of stars, and the hotel’s hot-spring bath stays open late, alongside a herbal bath in the golf wing. Rounds are played straight through, and stay-and-play packages make 36 holes over two days easy. The course is open from early April to late November, when the highlands are at their freshest in summer and blaze with colour in autumn. It is a drive of a little over 30 km from the Chuo and Nagano Expressway interchanges, and pairs well with the old post towns of the Kiso Valley.