Ibara Golf Course ☆ Follow

Ibara Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 facility located in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Designed by Mitsubishi Estate and opened in July 1993, the course spans 1.43 million square meters and measures 7,131 yards from the black tees. The layout is characterized by a hilly terrain with a predominant southern slope, offering a flat and spacious playing experience that accommodates strategic golf for single-digit handicap players. The course features two types of greens, Bentgrass and Bermuda, which vary depending on the season. The course layout is divided into an outward nine and an inward nine, both totaling 36 pars. The front nine includes a 423-yard par-4 first hole, which plays from the black tees over a fairway with bunkers to a bowl-shaped green. The sixth hole is a 544-yard par-5 that requires a tee shot over a right-side cross bunker, with the approach complicated by large trees and deep rough trenches. The back nine features a significant 545-yard par-5 sixteenth hole, a dramatic downhill shot where the green is protected by out-of-bounds on the left side and slopes from right to left. Difficulty is managed through multiple tee boxes, ranging from the black tees at 7,131 yards with a course rating of 74.4 and a slope of 140, down to the pink tees at 4,193 yards. The handicap index distribution highlights the strategic nature of the course, with the first hole on the front nine and the sixteenth on the back nine serving as the easiest and most difficult holes respectively, with handicaps of 1 and 18. The facility supports play with fairway carts prohibited but allows through-play subject to availability, and includes a 250-yard driving range with 16 bays.