Most golf trips to Hokkaidō start with a long transfer. This one starts with a short one: fifteen to twenty minutes after leaving New Chitose Airport you can be standing on the first tee of a championship course carved through the Tomakomai forest. Two of them, in fact — one you can book as a visitor, one that takes an introduction — with an honest little town, Chitose, in between for dinner, a morning shrine ritual and a good night's sleep.
This is our short guide to doing Chitose and Tomakomai properly: the two courses, where to eat, one thing worth waking up early for, and where to stay at two budgets. If you're still shaping the wider trip, start with our complete guide to golf in Japan and come back.
Two courses, one town, done properly.
The golf: two championship courses in the Tomakomai forest
Both courses sit in the woodland south of Chitose, minutes apart by car. Play them on consecutive days and base yourself in town — no course-to-course repacking, no long drives.
Katsura Golf Club — the one you can book
Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s strategic all-bent championship course in Tomakomai — a JLPGA tournament venue twenty minutes from New Chitose Airport, with visitor play available. Water and sand do the talking here: fairways run along still ponds, and the greens are defended the way a tournament venue should be. As Hokkaidō golf goes, this is the rare top-tier course a visitor can actually get onto. See the full course profile, gallery and access details on our Katsura Golf Club page.
Hokkaido Brooks Country Club — the one worth an introduction
A private championship club in Tomakomai by E. Sneed and Taizo Kawata — orthodox, spacious and carved through Hokkaidō forest, fifteen minutes from New Chitose Airport. Host of the 2016 Japan Amateur Championship. Brooks is a members' club, so access runs through an introduction — enquire via our Hokkaido Brooks Country Club page and we'll take it from there.
Off the course: one dinner, one morning ritual
Chitose is small, honest and close to everything. You don't need a restaurant list — you need one good dinner and one quiet morning.
Dinner: jingisukan at Mongol
Hokkaidō's signature dish is jingisukan — lamb grilled at the table over a domed iron pan. Mongol is our Chitose pick: order the lamb, let the vegetables catch the juices at the rim, and finish with a cold Sapporo Classic. Open in Google Maps.
Morning: Chitose Shrine and its spring water
Pay your respects at the shrine on the hill, then draw the cold spring water that flows on the grounds and drink it fresh — locals line up with jugs for a reason. Bring your own bottle; the spring is self-serve, and it's worth filling up before a morning round. Open in Google Maps.
Where to stay in Chitose
Base yourself in Chitose. Everything below is minutes from the station or inside the airport itself.
Standard: Hotel Route Inn Chitose Ekimae
The dependable pick: right in front of Chitose Station, clean rooms, a large communal bath, and an easy start for early tee times. Open in Google Maps.
Premium: ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose by IHG
The full-service choice in Chitose proper — larger rooms, proper dining, and IHG comforts a short ride from both courses. Open in Google Maps.
Premium: Portom International Hokkaido
Connected directly to New Chitose Airport terminal — land, walk to your suite, and step onto the first tee twenty minutes after breakfast. The seamless option for fly-in, fly-out golf. Open in Google Maps.
The shape of the trip
Fly into New Chitose, check in, jingisukan at Mongol. Next morning, shrine first — bottle in hand — then the first course. Day after, the second course and out on an evening flight, or push north for more Hokkaidō golf. Because both courses sit so close to the airport, this works as a standalone weekend or as the first chapter of a longer Japan itinerary.
When you're ready, request a tee time at Katsura — or if the shape of the whole trip is still open, tell us your dates and cities and we'll build the golf around them.
