Rolling fairways beneath the peaks of Aso

Formerly known as Aso Tokyu Golf Club and now operating as Trial Golf & Resort Aso Course, this 18-hole, par-72 layout sits in Minamiaso village on the southern side of Mt. Aso in Kumamoto. Opened in 1976 to a design by Chohei Miyazawa, it stretches to roughly 6,700 yards across hilly ground, with plenty of undulation that keeps you thinking about every lie. The opening hole is a scenic par five, and the outward nine has a pleasant wooded feel, while the Aso mountains frame the views throughout.

A strategic mountain round with Aso always on the horizon, and fairways you can drive your cart onto.

Play here is relaxed: GPS-equipped riding carts are generally allowed onto the fairways, and the course is open year-round. Bent greens, one per hole, reward a confident putting stroke. The course reopened in stages after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, and today it makes an easy addition to any trip around the Aso caldera, with its grassy volcanic plains, scenic drives and the hot-spring towns of the area close at hand. It lies about 25 km from Kumamoto IC on the Kyushu Expressway, around 15 minutes by car from JR Higo-Otsu Station and within comfortable reach of Kumamoto Airport.