Walk or ride? It’s one of golf’s eternal questions. Are you looking for comfort or cardio? Do you want speed or simplicity? How hot is it? How steep is it? Do you have blisters from your new spikes? It’s a tough conundrum, but one Japanese golf course has put a big check mark in the “walk” column with this galaxy brain innovation:

Golf escalators.

Japanese golf is an eclectic mix of honoured traditions and modern ingenuity.

Yokohama is a super hilly course and is extremely hot in the summer. How do you keep it a walking course and not have people drop dead?

Here’s a cool feature on two of the big hills:

Japanese golf is an eclectic mix of honored traditions and modern ingenuity.

Yokohama is a super hilly course and is extremely hot in the summer. How do you keep it a walking course and not have people drop dead?

Here’s a cool feature on 2 of the big hills: pic.twitter.com/Y75Zdx8kYI

— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) August 21, 2023

That video comes courtesy of @Top100Rick on Twitter. He’s currently on a Far East golf adventure and posted this video following his round at a hilly Yokohoma-area course on Monday. It quickly grabbed the imagination of golfers across the Western world, who were dumbfounded to learn that A: This is a thing and B: That we haven’t been doing it all along.

Of course, we’ve all seen these at our local airports as we curse the folks who step aboard and then stand there blocking the entire walkway while you’re trying to get to your gate on time, but we’ve never seen one at a golf course. Heck, we never even imagined it until today. Now we’ll never get it out of our heads. Every hill, every modest incline and slight undulation, will now be a torment — a reminder that Japan continues to thrive in the future while we’re stuck here suffering in the past.

The post This Yokohama golf course has moving walkways to combat hilly terrain, Japan continues living in 2050 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

While it was his sixth Japan Tour title, he had yet to taste success on the Asian Tour until Sunday, and it was a close-run thing.

Imahira prevailed by one shot on eight-under for the tournament thanks to a rock-solid finish of pars down the closing stretch, while his rivals were dropping shots.

He closed with a two-under 68 with his compatriots Kosuke Suzuki, an amateur, Hiroshi Iwata, Kaito Onishi, and Yuto Katsuragawa all in T-2.

Suzuki came charging out of the pack with a 63 — thanks to a brilliant back nine of five-under-par 30 -— Iwata shot 68, while Onishi, who chipped in for birdie on 18, and Katsuragawa both carded 70s.

Imahira’s win also earned him a place in the field for The Open at St Andrews in July -— an event he has played in twice before.

The 29-year-old started the day one behind overnight leaders Onishi, Katsuragawa, Japan’s Ryuko Tokimatsu and New Zealander Ben Campbell but finished first helped by a brave back nine made up of eight pars and a birdie, on the par-five 15th.

It was a different story for Iwata, Onishi and Katsuragawa on the homeward nine as they dropped shots at critical moments. Onishi and Katsuragawa, in particular, both made double-bogeys, on 13 and 15 respectively, while the latter made a costly bogey on 17 which opened the door for Imahira.

Suzuki, just 21 years old, was the only other player who got to grips with the back nine — he made three birdies in a row from the 11th and an eagle on 15 — but having started the day seven off the lead the gap proved too big to close.

“I am really happy with this victory. I haven’t really performed well this year, so I’m glad I am able to win early,” said Imahira, who won the JGTO money list title in 2018 and 2019 and whose last victory was the 2021 Fujisankei Classic.

“The Open was my goal at the start of this season. My 172 world ranking isn’t good enough to get me into overseas events, so getting into The Open by winning this week is amazing. The goal was to be a major player rather than a prize winner.”

The post Shugo Imahira claims first Asian Tour title at Asia Pacific Open Championship on home turf in Japan appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Onishi, the leader after the first two rounds, carded a one-over-par 71 to finish the day on seven-under, while Tokimatsu, who had a hole in one, and Campbell both returned 66s. Katsuragawa came in with a 67.

Japan’s Shugo Imahira (69) and Yuki Inamori (70) are one stroke further back, in the Asian Tour/Japan Golf Tour Organisation jointly sanctioned event.

Onishi has only been a professional for a year and yet he is on the threshold of his first JGTO victory. And despite a difficult day on the course, which saw him make two birdies and three bogeys, he remained in a confident mood.

“I’m not bad at golf so I think I have a good chance tomorrow,” joked the 23-year-old, who graduated from the University of Southern California last year.

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The post Asian Tour: Tight at the top in Japan, with Onishi clinging on in Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
Japanese rising star Kaito Onishi took the clubhouse lead at the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup on Friday — adding a three-under 67 to his opening 65.

Onishi, was joint overnight leader with countryman Hiroshi Iwata, but opened up a five-shot lead, on eight under, mid-way through round two at a wet at Oarai Golf Club, near Tokyo.

While Onishi was rattling in five birdies to offset two bogeys and maintain his challenge, Iwata slipped back with a 74 and is one-under for the tournament, which has returned to the Asian Tour for the first time since 2019.

Rookie Onishi only turned professional last year after graduating from the University of Southern California, but has already chalked up a fourthplace finish in last month’s ISPS Handa Championship.

“I’m happy to be in the lead and I hope I have the momentum over the next two days,” said Onishi, 23, from Nagoya.

“I need to focus on each shot and not think about my position. The goal is to win, and I am confident I can do that.”

By the time the afternoon players had signed their cards, local pair Yuki Inamori and Rikuya Hoshino, plus Australian Todd Sinnott, had all moved within two shots of Onishi on six-under.

It certainly as a strong showing by the local players as Shugo Imahira sat fifth on five-under and Yuto Katsuragawa was on his own in sixth place on four-under.

But it was still Onishi who had the upper hand going into Saturday’s third round.

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The post Asian Tour: Rookie Kaito Onishi moves to the front at Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship in Tokyo appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here’s every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of Nov. 6.

Cantlay leaves Vegas a winner
Last year proved to be Patrick Cantlay’s long-awaited breakout campaign. In his second start of the new season, the former phenom showed no signs of a sophomore slump.

Cantlay, whose early career was derailed by injuries and personal tragedy, emerged victorious in a three-man playoff to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

“I had so many lows,” the 25-year-old told reporters afterwards. “To all the hard work that I did, it’s just so different from where I was that it’s hard to describe the feeling.”

Gusty conditions wreaked havoc down the closing stretch — Cantlay bogeyed the final two holes, while J.J. Spaun went from leading on the 17th tee to T-10 after a double-double finish — yet Cantlay’s 67 was good enough to earn a spot in sudden death against Alex Cejka and Whee Kim. After all three bogeyed the first playoff hole, they replayed TPC Summerlin’s 18th, where Cantlay hit a cut 4-iron from behind a tree to the back of the green. A two-putt par from the fringe was good enough for his first PGA Tour victory.

It was Cantlay’s eighth top 15 in 2017, impressive considering he’s made only 15 appearances. For a guy playing on a medical exemption just seven months ago, don’t be surprised if the young gun is on the American Ryder Cup roster next fall.

Richard Heathcote

Rose grabs second straight win
Following his near-miss at the Masters, Justin Rose fell into a summer-long swoon. The past two months, however, have been a different tale.

Riding the waves from his historic surge at the WGC-HSBC, Rose turned in a final-round 63 to capture the Turkish Airlines Open. It was the first time in the 37-year-old’s venerable career that he’s won back-to-back tournaments, a charge that’s changed Tommy Fleetwood’s seemingly inevitable Race to Dubai ordination into a contest.

“I like achieving new firsts,” Rose said. “But the Race to Dubai is still in Tommy’s hands. I just know I need to go and play well in Dubai. That’s been my mentality from the outset, and it’s not going to change. But it’s exciting to be within touching distance.”

Rose has a few obstacles in his path; he’ll be sitting out the Nedbank Golf Challenge, which will only further Fleetwood’s advantage. Still, with his sixth straight top-10 finish, you better believe Fleetwood will be looking over his shoulder when the gold medalist tees it up at the tour finale in two weeks.

Speaking of which…

Andrew Redington

Stenson’s no superhero
The reigning Euro Player of the Year may be sidelined from the circuit’s final two events. Henrik Stenson revealed on Sunday he’s battling a rib injury, one that worsened in the past week due to travel and play.

“It’s not been good and obviously I haven’t been able to do myself justice in terms of the golf,” the 2016 Open champ said after finishing T-35 in Turkey.

And the cause of the injury? Though he didn’t specify, Stenson made a not-so-veiled reference to the HSBC’s infamous pre-event photo op. This year’s shoot involved Stenson — along with Dustin Johnson and Haotong Li — “flying” in the air over Hideki Matsuyama.

“I’m not Superman even though certain people thought I was Superman,” Stenson remarked.

It’s not as bad as battling a chainsaw or getting pelted at a pro-am. Nevertheless, we’re guessing Stenson won’t be a part of next year’s pre-tourney showcase in Shanghai.

Trump plays with Matsuyama, Abe
Being the most powerful man in the world has its benefits, especially when it comes to filling out your foursome. Since winning the election, Donald Trump has played with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els and Peyton Manning. Add another superstar to the list: Hideki Matsuyama.

Teeing it up at Kasumigaseki C.C. — the course that’s set to host the 2020 Olympic tournament — Trump played with Matsuyama and Prime Minster Shinzo Abe on Sunday, as the president begins a 12-day tour of Asia.

Abe has been one of Trump’s closest foreign allies, with the two finding a bond through golf. Last November, Abe gifted Trump a gold Honma driver.

No word if Trump — who calls himself a great putter — gave the struggling Matsuyama any short-game advice.  

Playing golf with Prime Minister Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, two wonderful people! pic.twitter.com/vYLULe0o2K

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2017

Keyur Khamar

Woods weighs in on distance controversy
Tiger Woods has historically shied away from hot-button topics. Yet, speaking with UConn women’s basketball coach Gino Auriemma on a podcast, the 14-time major winner made some surprising comments about the distance increases seen at the sport’s top levels.

“We need to do something about the golf ball,” Woods said. “I just think it’s going too far because we’re having to build golf courses, if they want to have a championship venue, they’ve got to be 7,400-7,800 yards long. And if the game keeps progressing the way it is with technology, I think the 8,000-yard golf course is not too far away. And that’s pretty scary because we don’t have enough property to start designing these type of golf courses and it just makes it so much more complicated.”

Though few current players have spoken on the issue, perhaps it’s not the most shocking take from Woods. After all, the 41-year-old has spent the past few years delving into course design. Conversely, given many properties tried to “Tiger-proof” themselves during his peak, Woods siding with the distance outcry is somewhat remarkable.

Keep this in mind if Woods is outdriving half the field at the Hero World Challenge in a few weeks.

The post Cantlay cashes in, Stenson’s bizarre injury, Trump plays with Hideki and Tiger weighs in on distance issue: What you missed this weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.