Kintetsu Kashikojima Country ClubIse Shima, Mie Prefecture

On pulling up to the clubhouse you definitely get the feeling that this is a relaxed resort course. The staff are friendly and attentive, and the simple design of the 1969 clubhouse is warm and welcoming.

Strolling around the halls, you'll find lots of memorabilia and the Mizuno Open features proudly, with pictures of all the past champions on the walls including Karrie Webb, Stacey Lewis, and Japan’s own Momoko Ueda. The clubhouse itself is quite modest, with a shop, lobby and locker rooms on the ground floor, and restaurant and competition rooms on the second.

It’s January and despite a cold start to the day, the weather in Ise-Shima can heat up, and it wasn’t long before we were teeing up in 15-degree sunshine.

While waiting on the group in front I was admiring the new touchscreen in the cart and noticed a button that said play against three lady professional golfers. I clicked on it and it had the information from a previous Mizuno Open including all of the shots from Michelle Wie, Momoko Ueda, and Stacey Lewis.

On top of that, when you are on the fairways they have little plaques at the spot where each of the pros' drives rested, the idea being that you can try and play against them or at least have a guide on how they navigated the course. I must admit, as a self-professed golf geek I loved this. I was fascinated with checking how they got around compared to myself, but somewhat jealous that despite teeing off from the white (regular) tees I still could not reach most of Michelle Wie’s drives! 

The opening hole at Kintetsu Kashikojima establishes this course's motif; flat, with generously wide fairways usually sloping up to fast but fair greens. The 1st is a modest par 5,500 yards from the regular tees. You will learn quickly that good drives and keeping the ball in the fairways will be key, as with greens this fast it's difficult to hold them without spin. Kashikojima really is a second-shot golf course. However, I was pleased to see the winter rough was not too long, so more times than not we found a good lie in the korai grass.

After a bogey and this lesson learned, we moved on to a series of par 4s. No.'s 2, 3 and 4 are kind of similar in that if you can hit a drive 220 yards or more, then fairway bunkers on the left and right are out of play and you should have a good number left to the green. Another lesson learned is that it's best to go for the heart of these large greens, as they have false fronts, so slightly short approach shots won't get a forward bounce and you will be pitching from below the green with a tricky up and down. 

The par-3 fifth is inviting from the tee, just one large bunker in the front to worry about, but this green is like a marble staircase, sloping to the right. Luckily, I landed softly in the middle, and the slope took the ball 30 feet to the pin so my tactics were beginning to show dividends. That was until the 6th hole, a long and slightly uphill par 4, where playing into the wind really tests you from tee to green. Two bunkers unusually situated next to each other to the front right of the green meant that if you find the first you're pitching over the second onto an elevated green, sloping to the back portion. Interestingly, these bunkers are known locally as "Alison" bunkers, a nod to the Englishman C.H. Alison who designed the masterpiece Hirono Golf Club in Kobe to the north and who favored varied, high-lipped bunkers. 

A triple-bogey ensued and I contemplated how I would play it differently next time. But Mr. Umeda obviously was a kind man, and the 7th is a wonderful sweeping, slightly doglegged short par 5 — the perfect tonic to make me forget about the previous hole's woes. I was just off the right edge for two and managed an up-and-down for a no-drama birdie. And just like that, golf was a friend again!

The 8th is a 168 yard par-3 that certainly is an attention-grabber; with its raised green sloping to the front, and surrounded by 3 bunkers, even a few degrees off here can spell disaster. The 9th, a long par 4 with a slight dogleg right and uphill to a tabletop green surrounded by more "Alison" bunkers is a challenging finishing hole and feels like a par-5. A bogey here feels like a fair score and good timing to try the clubhouse lunch options.

The in-course starts with a short par 4, hemmed by Yokoyama mountain. This is a timeless starting hole, downhill for the first shot and uphill for the approach, with some interesting contours on the green. Again, a shot to the heart of the green is the recommended strategy. On the next hole, I was happy to finally catch a glimpse of the stunning turquoise waters of Ago Bay, visible at the back of the 11th green (pictured above). The wind was quite a factor here; when it's swirling around the green, it's easy to lose one left here. 

The next run of holes - a short par 4 then 5 and 4 again - provides a good scoring stretch, particularly if the pin locations are in friendly locals, which they were on my visit. But the closing stretch starting with the 16th turn up the difficulty factor for a dramatic finish. On the 16th, the longest hole on the course is a par-5 with multiple fairway bunkers left and a hidden one on the right. The fairway slopes from left to right and it's easy to find the left rough or large bunker hidden beneath some overhanging branches as we discovered.

From there, the hole goes uphill quite severely and club selection is crucial to have a chance to hit this elevated green. Once there, this green is lightning fast with multiple subtle tiers guarded by bunkers front right and back left.

The 17th is a 202-yard par-3 and is definitely the most picturesque and unique on the course. The fairway has a small creek running through into a lake to the left of the green, a long white bunker along its back edge, and a Japanese cypress tree to the rear. The green is the real drama on this hole however, sloping severely back to front. Even a relatively short put can escape off the green and concentration is required to avoid a 3-putt. 

The 18th is a strong uphill par 4, guarded again by some of these Alison bunkers but finding a kinder, flatter green which hopefully helps you close out the round on a good score and make it an enjoyable one — which it certainly was for us.