Golf Course Commemoration Day

What Is Golf Course Commemoration Day?

Every May 24th is "Golf Course Commemoration Day" (ゴルフ場記念日, Gorufujō Kinenbi) in Japan. On May 24, 1903, the Kobe Golf Club (神戸ゴルフ倶楽部) — Japan's first golf course — officially opened on the slopes of Mount Rokko in Kobe. The club was established by Arthur Hesketh Groom, a British tea merchant and businessman living in Kobe, who cleared land on the mountain and laid out a nine-hole course for the benefit of the foreign expatriate community. Japan's golf era had begun.

Arthur Groom and the Birth of Golf in Japan

Arthur Hesketh Groom arrived in Kobe in the 1870s as part of the wave of foreign merchants and advisors who helped build Meiji Japan's international trade connections. A passionate golfer, he reportedly grew frustrated by the lack of a place to play and decided to build a course himself on the forested slopes of Rokko-san — at the time a difficult trek above the city. The original nine-hole course, opened in 1903, was initially restricted to foreign residents, but Japanese members were eventually admitted and went on to embrace the sport with characteristic dedication.

Golf's Spread Through Japan

From its elite foreign-resident origins, golf spread gradually through Japanese society over the 20th century. A second course — the Tokyo Golf Club (東京ゴルフ倶楽部) — opened in 1914 in Tokyo, and by the 1960s the rapid growth of Japan's middle class fueled a golf boom. At the sport's peak popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, green fees at top Japanese courses commanded extraordinary sums, and golf club memberships were traded as financial assets. Japan today has approximately 2,200 golf courses — one of the highest densities in the world.

Japanese Golf Today

Golf remains deeply embedded in Japanese business culture — the golf course as a venue for relationship-building and deal-making is a fixture of corporate Japan. At the competitive level, Japan has produced major international tournament winners, and the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) and the JLPGA (women's tour) attract strong domestic followings. Japanese players like Hideki Matsuyama — the 2021 Masters champion and first Japanese man to win a major — have raised the sport's profile further.

Fun Facts

• Kobe Golf Club today: The Kobe Golf Club still operates on the slopes of Rokko-san, and Japan's Golf Hall of Fame recognizes Groom as the "father of Japanese golf."
• Hideki Matsuyama: Matsuyama's 2021 Masters victory at Augusta National was a watershed moment for Japanese golf, celebrated nationwide and sparking renewed enthusiasm for the sport among Japanese youth.