East at Shigaraki Country Club - Sugiyama Course

The East Course at Shigaraki Country Club forms part of a larger Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design in the mountainous terrain of Koka, Shiga Prefecture. Jones, who established a significant presence in Japanese golf design during the 1970s and 1980s, brought his characteristic strategic approach to this layout in the Shigaraki region, an area known historically for its ceramic pottery tradition and forested highlands. The course sits within the broader Sugiyama Course complex, which offers multiple eighteen-hole routings across the property.

Jones typically emphasizes strategic options and visual clarity in his work, and the East routing reflects this philosophy within the natural topography of the site. The course moves through elevation changes common to this part of Shiga, with holes routed through valleys and along ridgelines that provide views of the surrounding mountains. The design incorporates the native pine and deciduous forest vegetation, creating defined corridors and framing for individual holes.

Like many Japanese courses of its era, Shigaraki Country Club caters to a membership that values both the golf experience and the social and dining traditions associated with club life in Japan. The facility reflects the period when Jones and other international architects were actively shaping the development of resort and member golf in the country's mountainous regions, bringing American design principles to challenging Japanese terrain. The East Course serves as one component of a multi-course destination that draws players from the Kansai region, including nearby Kyoto and Osaka.