Nasu, Tochigi-ken, Japan

Towa Pure Cottage

Permanent course
45(based on 2 reviews)
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11 0
Discette
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 27.6 years 663 played 64 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fun Short Course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 13, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

While I may not necessarily agree with the glowing review from Tolson, I did enjoy playing this course. I think it would be rude of me to disagree with his assessment, so I too will award 4 discs.

That being said, this course would likely fall under the category of a "pitch and putt" course if it was located in the US and not a Championship level course as indicated in the first review.

Tolson has done a thorough and thoughtful review and has provided all the proper distances for all the pin placements and tee positions.

I really enjoyed the view of the roller coasters from Tee 6.

Great tee signs and concrete tees on all holes. Easy to navigate.


Cons:

The long walk from Hole 8 to Hole 9.

Odd walk from Holes 3 to 4 that crosses fairway of Hole 9.

The lack of a fair fairway on "pachinko hole" number 3.

Use bug spray BEFORE playing the course to avoid bites.

Other Thoughts:

The Towa Pure Cottages have wonderful townhouse style rooms featuring two full bedrooms, small kitchen with refrigerator, dining room, covered patio and living area. There are restaurants, Japanese spas, Tennis Courts, Dog Run and this Disc Golf Course. Guests recieve free admission to the Nasu Amusement Park right next door. The staff play disc golf and are extremely friendly and speak limited English.

I had the honor of competing in the Nazu Cup on this course on June 5, 2010. 3 temporary holes were added for the event.
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18 1
tolson
Experience: 48.6 years 153 played 10 reviews
4.00 star(s)

TOWA Pure Cottages 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 30, 2008 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

(1) TOWA is very well designed, with great signage,in order that ALL levels of disc golfers -- from beginners to advanced -- can enjoy themselves thoroughly. This has been accomplished ingeniously with the use of two clearly distinguishable baskets (regular yellow and champion blue) on each hole, except for #1 (three baskets) and #3 (one basket) and with two tees, front and back, on just two holes (#2 and #8).
(2) Concrete pads, a common site in the U.S., are installed for the first time on a Japanese disc golf course; brroms are available by each tee for a clean sweep of the surface.
(3) Brandnew course with all new signs, baskets (DiscCatchers), etc. in excellent condition.
(4) Excellent use of available terrain and wooded area: great use of elevation changes, especially #3 (throw across valley through Pachinko alley of sugi cedar and other types of trees) and #4 (great drive from atop a 25~30m high ridge to hole 122m / 400ft away).
(5) Variety of throws required to succeed.
(6) I'm generally not a fan of "mando" holes, but the mandatory throw under the colorful banner (connected to two tall sugi trees) on #5 raises the hearbeat just a tad, and adds a healthy level of tension in the forearms at the point of release.

Cons:

Really not much to criticize, but it's tempting to note a few things, if not present, would make the course a DGCR rating.
(1) The course flow is overall okay, but there is a very long walk between hole #8 and #9 tee, ending with a set of stairs to tire this over-the-hill thrower. Given the available property, there was no way to prevent this minor inconvenience in the course design.
(2) I played in the afternoon following a drizzling rain in the morning, so there was a bit of mud and slippery spots. Once the course matures and, hopefully, some more grass fills in -- especially in the hole 2 & 3 "valley" and on parts of #7, the condition rating would improve greatly.
(3) Not many wide-open opportunities for bombs (you can fire away on #4, but it still requires caution), but this is not much of a criticism, as the essence of succeeding on this course is accuracy, not muscle.

Other Thoughts:

Clearly designed to be one of the best DG courses in Japan. For Japan, it's clearly in the top tier, so it may deserve a 4.5. The champion length, for a permanent course in Japan, is very good for this land's 150 gram disc golf scene. The course was a very nice challenge for this amateur grandmaster.

Located in the Nasu Highlands in a mountain setting 2 to 2.5 hours north of Tokyo by car. TOWA Pure Cottages is a top-class vacation resort, with friendly staff. Like most properties of this type in Japan, there are quite a few tennis courts and other sports and entertainment options on the grounds and in the area. The Nasu Highland amusement park and Nasu Highland ball golf course, venue for the biennual Japan Open disc golf tournament (custom course), is adjacent to TOWA.. In addition to the traditional sports offerings, there is an obvious commitment to supporting disc golf. In Japan, TOWA is second-to-none in this regard.

On the day I visited, the front desk was manned by kimono-clad women and a friendly, neck-tied man who enjoys disc golf. He was proud to say that World Champ Ken Climo had come to play the course earlier in the month. A video screen, mounted on the lobby wall was playing an instructional tape about disc golf. The screen was surrounded by framed flying discs. I didn't look closely, but I believe they were signed by champion disc golfers.

And how about the name of the place? Purity is a major virtue of Shinto religion, and white is the sacred color. Perhaps that is what the name signifies. Indeed, most of the buildings on the compound were pure white.

A full day to get here, play and return to Tokyo, but worth it, especially if you play one or two other courses (for certain, Kiyohara) on the way as a warm-up.
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