Lakewood is set in the mountainous forest near Hakone, and has Mt Fuji, Mt Hakone and the Tanazawa Mountain range all in close proximity.
Designed by Ted Robinson in 1970, the course follows his philosophies to the letter. Firstly, he was dubbed the king of waterscapes, He endorsed the use of water as a defining hazard, and believed that waterscapes gave putting greens maximum character. This is clearly seen here with the waterfalls on the par three 4th hole.
Robinson also believed in the ability for the average golfer to have fun. He believed "that the greatest challenge in design is to balance the strategic elements of the game in such a way as to maximise the rewards of playing, for the greatest number of people". You can definitely see this shine through at Lakewood.
Not only was the course very scenic, but it did provide a great mixture of challenge and enjoyment for all in the group, which lead to some good scoring.
The 36 greens are all bent grass, which made things feel a little more like home.
Jenny Jones preparing to approach the green on the par four 8th hole.
You will have noticed that I mentioned 36 greens a little earlier. No I did not mean all greens at the 36 hole facility, I meant the 36 greens on this course alone. Many Japanese course have a dual green system, where each hole has a secondary green. Originally these greens would have been different grasses, allowing one to be played in summer, the other in winter. Now with better agronomy, the greens are all bent grass, and can be interchanged to give better wear. The system does not look out of place here, and the holes works with both greens, as they are similar in nature. You can see how both greens fit above on the 8th.
The view from behind the green on the par five 12th.
The green of the par four 13th.
One of the most impressive things here today were the caddy carts. Next level technology compared to those on previous days. Here the carts run on cart paths and tracks, but they are not manned. They hold all four bags, and are operated remotely by the caddy as they walk with you. They are guided along the paths via a system that does not require any manual steering, it is very cool.
It was also a very traditional Japanese day of golf. You arrive in a shirt and jacket, and then change into your golf clothes. A 10.20am tee off got us through 9 holes by just after midday. We then stopped for a hour for lunch, before moving to the 10th tee for our second tee time of 1.20pm. After golf you have a shower, and then take the onsen bath, before changing and heading into the clubhouse. The whole process takes approximately 6.5 hours. Playing golf here really is a day out.
The view from the back tee on the par four 15th.
Looking back down the par three 17th.
Greg Gilson firing one safely down the par four 18th, avoiding all the water down the left. A really enjoyable day, and a great experience.
The scoring was very strong today, Wendy Pullar was clearly the best score, her 42 points (after 25 going out) helped her claim the women's prize, whilst Jeff Faure held off a group of strong scores from the men, winning with 38 points.
Tomorrow we play Hakone Country Club, before taking the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) south west to Kobe.
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