Kyushu Golf Club - Shotaizan Course

Kyushu Golf Club, playing its Shotaizan course, opened in 1992 to a design by architect Shunsuke Kato in Arao city on Kumamoto's northern coast, a short distance from the separately run Greenland Resort courses in the same city. The parkland layout measures 6,721 yards from the back tees over bent grass greens, with a 73.1 rating and 123 slope, and the semi-private club welcomes public play year-round. Facilities include golf carts and caddie service, a driving range, practice bunker, and putting green, along with a restaurant and meeting rooms suited to a golf society outing or corporate event. Arao's coastal position on the Ariake Sea gives the surrounding area a slightly different feel from Kumamoto's inland courses, with a steadier sea breeze that can influence club selection on the more exposed holes. The club's name, referencing the wider Kyushu region rather than any specific local landmark, reflects an era when several Japanese golf developments used broader regional branding rather than hyper-local names. Because Arao hosts both this course and the larger Greenland Resort complex, golfers with time for more than one round can easily combine the two without changing base for the trip. The course has maintained a steady member base since opening in the early 1990s and remains a solid mid-tier option in the northern Kumamoto golf scene. Golfers planning an Arao-area trip through CoGolfers can flag both Kyushu Golf Club and Greenland Resort in the same post to gauge interest from other members.