Situated 30-minutes from Fukuoka Airport and Hakata Station, is the private 18-hole links-style layout at the Koga Golf Club. Largely unheralded outside of Japan this charming seaside golf club was built through an undulating pine plantation close to the city of Fukuoka. 

First opened as a nine-hole course in 1953, Osamu Ueda, a master of golf design, was asked in 1956 to redesign Koga to expand it to 18-holes. Thus, was born an attractive par 72 layouts on land with white sand and green pines, facing the Tsushima Strait.  

Since it opened, the Koga changed substantially from Ueda's original design, and work was begun in 1994 to renovate the course and create it anew as the most modern of the age. Shoichi Suzuki, the late Ueda's favorite pupil, was asked to oversee the project. The sand was used as the structure for the green beds, and the grass on all the regular greens was changed from Korai green to bentgrass.  

Around a decade later Ko Tanihira was hired to supervise the conversion of the regular greens to USGA standard, and to completely rebuild the drainage system. Work was completed in December 2005 and since its completion players cannot allow their attention to wander along the 6,820-yard layout as the mounding of the greens and the bunker complexes were also redesigned to provide more strategic challenge.   

Koga Golf Club has a Pro Shop and a driving range as part of the golf facilities. Golfers cannot use carts on the course however, caddies are available. Following a round members and their guests can relax in either the modern clubhouse's bar or restaurant. 

Course Architects: Osamu Ueda, Shoichi Suzuki , and Ko Tanihira

Image(s) published courtesy of Planet Golf.com, All Square Golf.com, and Atlas Turf International.com.