Fellow JAPUNDIT contributor Brian Engel kindly alerted me to a great piece in The Washington Post about how golf has changed in Japan, thanks mostly to U.S. investment companies like Goldman Sachs, which manages hundreds of golf courses through a company named Accordia Golf.
Then. . .

A weekend round of golf was slow, boozy, expensive and strictly regimented, Asami said. The day began around 8 a.m. with breakfast at the club, followed by nine holes of golf (always with caddies), followed by a lunch with lots of wine, beer and sake, followed by nine more holes and coffee or tea to finish up before a long drive home.

The round cost between $350 and $400 for nonmembers, and it kept a golfer away from home and family for at least 12 hours. “That was how you played,” Asami said. “We did not know another way.”

Now. . .

To make the course attractive to a potentially huge market in nearby Tokyo, Aqualine has halved the cost of a game for nonmembers. It is now about $135 for 18 holes. At the same time, course maintenance has improved markedly, members say. The food has improved. Out on the fairways, Asami said, there has been an American-style revolution in etiquette.

Golfers no longer must hire caddies. They can drive carts onto fairways. They can start play early in the morning or late in the afternoon. They don’t have to stop play to have lunch. A time marshal scolds dawdlers.

Groundskeepers are cutting the fairway rough so it plays easier, according to Accordia’s management. Greens, too, are mowed in a way that slow putts and improves scores.

“Japanese golf has changed drastically,” said Shinobu Haruna, a well-known golf journalist and author. “The merits of being a club member have declined for sure, but nonmembers can play at reasonable prices almost everywhere.”

Up here in Tochigi Prefecture, we are surrounded by a very large selection of golf courses that we can play on weekdays for 5,000 yen or less. In fact, by the time you read this, Mr. Pink and I will be out on an Accordia course named Higashi Nasu Country Club enjoying a round of golf in what is predicted to be perfect pre-rainy season weather. . . Fore!