Utsunomiya Inter Resort Hotel & Golf Tsuru Country Club

The free coffee and soft drinks are a nice bonus. Service runs until 9:30 AM, and there was quite a queue at the coffee machine when I went. I played West to East. Even though the West course is supposed to be flat, I found plenty of ups and downs. I'm not good at uphill shots, so it made the round tough, but I still had a good experience. It's a classic 27-hole course divided into East, Central, and West. Seizo Tomizawa, who also designed the Sobu Course at Sobu Country Club, host of the Japan Professional Golf Championship and the Diamond Cup, designed it. It's considered one of his masterpieces, and is said to test your skills by giving you a range of situations to play with all 14 clubs. We've posted a video of our round on the Futari Golf blog and the #FutariGolf YouTube channel for anyone interested.

The staff made a good impression on me. There seemed to be more foreign staff than at other courses, and they were kind and worked hard. The course was in good condition, and its well-placed bunkers made both tee shots and later shots tricky for amateurs, which added to the fun. The men's public bath has a sauna, cold plunge pool, and outdoor relaxation area, and all of them were open and working. That's not something you find everywhere these days. There's also a free drink service after check-in until 9:30, including Starbucks coffee. There are three courses, East, Central, and West. The suggested order is East, then Central, then West, and back to East. Rakuten Check-in was available. The course is near the highway exit, with a FamilyMart on the way, so I'd like to play here again.

May 11, 2025, early morning play. We checked in beside the clubhouse, carried our bags over, and loaded them onto the cart. The fairways looked beautiful, though parts of the greens were bare. A lot of the bunkers had high lips, which could be difficult if bunker shots aren't your strong point. I used the showers, and the bathrooms were clean and refreshing. All the staff were very nice.

My wife mentioned while bathing that there were more ups and downs on the course than she'd expected, and that getting around without a cart would be difficult. The course has a Hawaiian feel throughout, and for the price its condition was pretty decent. Getting there was convenient from the Utsunomiya Interchange on the Tohoku Expressway. You don't have to leave the highway and drive a long way on local roads. The clubhouse and hotel were undeniably old. Update, 3/31/2024: I played here again for the first time in several years. After the management changed, the clubhouse no longer had the Hawaiian interior it used to have. The restaurant had Hawaiian food on the menu before, but there wasn't any the day we visited.