Trial Golf & Resort Minamiaso: golf in the shadow of Mt. Aso

High on the southern flank of the Aso caldera, about 470 metres above sea level, the Minamiaso Course opened in 1995 as Minamiaso Country Club and is now run by Trial Golf & Resort. The 18-hole, par-72 layout, designed by Masaru Tobari, measures 6,876 yards from the back tees. Cedar groves separate wide fairways, ponds come into play early on the front nine, and the bentgrass greens have gentle, readable contours. Above all, the Aso mountains are in view from every hole.

Wide fairways, cool upland air, and a volcano on the skyline at every tee.

This is a relaxed, visitor-friendly public course where you choose between caddie and self-play, with GPS riding carts that can usually head onto the fairways. The altitude keeps summer rounds pleasantly cool, and autumn colours the surrounding forest. Minamiaso is hot-spring country, with onsen inns and resort hotels close by, and the wider Aso area offers the crater lookouts, grassy Kusasenri plains and spring-fed waters that make it one of Kyushu's great road trips. Most golfers drive: the club is roughly 35 minutes from the Mashiki Kumamoto Airport interchange, making it an easy first or last stop on a Kyushu itinerary. By rail, take the Minami-Aso Railway to Aso-Shimoda-jo Fureai Onsen Station and a short taxi ride.