Hanamizuki to Rindo, and a closer look at the clubhouse
Course Overview
| Location | Uenohara, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan |
|---|---|
| Number of Holes | 27 |
| Courses | Hanamizuki, Rindo and Fujizakura. We played Hanamizuki → Rindo. |
| Booking | A friend who is a club member booked the round for us. |
| Green Fee | About ¥25,000 for our weekend round; around ¥16,000 on weekdays. These are approximate figures from our visit notes; rates vary by date and plan. |
| Start Time | 8:30 a.m. |
| Style of Play | Both caddie-assisted rounds and self-play are available. We chose self-play. |
| Golf Cart | Five-person riding cart. Our cart had no remote control, and fairway entry was not allowed during our round. |
| Practice Facilities | Driving range, approach practice area and practice putting greens, listed on the club’s official facilities page. |
| Dress Code | A jacket or blazer is required on arrival, except from July through September. In our experience, the atmosphere did not feel particularly strict about details such as collared shirts; this is our impression, rather than an exemption from the club’s dress rules. |
| Rental Clubs / Shoes | ECCO rental golf shoes: ¥3,300 noted during our visit. A one-day PING club trial was also advertised; confirm availability and conditions with the club. |
Rental prices, availability and trial conditions may change. Confirm these with the club before your visit.
A well-kept course on a very wet day
Olympic Country Club is a 27-hole course in the hills of Uenohara. Designed by Dye Design, it offers more golf than we could explore in one visit. Our round was Hanamizuki followed by Rindo, without a caddie.
There were puddles in many places after the heavy rain. At the same time, my impression was that the course was properly maintained. With rain like that, the standing water felt understandable; I would not use this one round to judge its usual drainage or green conditions.
Honestly, I was so occupied by the rain that I did not have much attention left for the individual holes or their strategy. I also came away without course photographs. A detailed hole-by-hole review will have to wait. We plan to return in October, when I hope to take a better look and share more of the course itself.
A spacious, calm lobby
One part of the visit I can talk about is the clubhouse. The lobby felt spacious and calm, and I liked that sense of room around me.
With no course photos from this round, the clubhouse and its golf-related services deserve a little more space here. They were part of what caught my attention on a day when the weather dominated the golf.
ECCO rental golf shoes: ¥3,300 in our visit notes
The rental offering caught my eye, especially the ECCO golf shoes. My visit notes record a rental price of ¥3,300.
This is the price recorded on the day, not a guarantee of the current rate. Check sizes, availability, the applicable fee and any booking requirements with the club before relying on a rental pair.
I have kept the amount in yen because the dollar equivalent changes with the exchange rate.
A BRIEFING shop — a welcome find
I was also pleased to find BRIEFING in the golf shop. I already use the brand myself, so this was an easy place to get distracted.
It is the sort of detail that makes a clubhouse visit a little more enjoyable for someone who likes golf gear as well as golf. The items stocked at the club can change; for the brand’s current range, visit the BRIEFING official website.
PING clubs to try for a day
Another item in the visit notes was a one-day PING trial. Being able to consider a club over a round sounds interesting, but I did not record a hands-on test or a verdict on the equipment.
The available models, fee, booking process and eligibility have not been verified. Ask Olympic Country Club about the service before your visit. For the clubs themselves, here is the official PING Golf Japan website.
For this visit, the strongest memory is still the rain. But the roomy lobby, ECCO rentals, BRIEFING shop and PING trial gave me other things to notice. Next time, I would like the course to get more of my attention. October, please bring kinder weather!
