Where are the Olympic Golf tournaments being played?

The historic Kasumigaseki Country Club will play host to both the men’s and women’s golf competitions in this year’s Olympic Games.

Established in 1929, Kasumigaseki CC features two courses, an East and a West course, and is famed throughout Japan as one of the country’s finest venues. As a result, it has played host to numerous high-profile events in its time, including the Japan Junior Golf Championship and the Asian Amateur Championship.

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Where is the course?

The course is located an hour’s drive outside of the Tokyo city centre in the Saitama prefecture.

How many yards will it play?

Both the men and women’s competition will take place across the East Course. For the men, July 29 – August 1, the course will play 7,447 yards and for the women, August 4-7, it will measure in at 6,648 yards.

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How will the course be set up?

The course is expected to be a thorough test and will play to a par of 71 for both the men and women. The venue was completely redesigned by famed course architect Tom Fazio and his son, Logan, in 2016. 

They altered the course’s double greens, which were in place at every hole, into single greens and repositioned numerous fairway bunkers to ensure the course still challenged the modern professionals. The spectacular greens are now covered in bent grass, with zoysia in play on the rest of the course. It is this redesign which has allowed the venue to play host the Games.

What you need to know

The club is no stranger to playing host, with it welcoming its fair share of household golf names throughout the years. Visitors to the course have included Gene Saraze in 1937, as well as the famous trio of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who filmed one of their televised matches at Kasumigaseki in 1967.

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The club also served as the venue for the 1957 Canada Cup, which Japan won – the tournament later becoming the World Cup of Golf.

More recently, it was the site of some success for Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama. In 2009, he claimed the Japan Junior at the course and a year later, albeit on the club’s West Course, he emerged victorious in the Asia-Pacific Amateur, which sealed him an invite to the 2011 Masters.