In March of 2017, Kasumigaseki voted to allow women to become full members, taking into consideration the emerging trend within the golf industry for men’s clubs to allow female members to join. However, the club received pressure from the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to change the rule.
When Kasumigaseki was chosen to host the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, they didn’t allow women to become full members of the club. The second renovation undertaken by the club was one that involved its membership and gender inequality. On days when the golf course is closed, Kasumigaseki opens the course to public events and collaborates with the local Board of Education and Sports Administration to promote the sport of golf and host cultural programs as well as physical education and wellness classes. The golf course redesign and heat map utilization had the combined effect of reducing costs and inputs while improving the overall golfer experience. Utilizing the USGA’s Resource Management Tool, Kasumigaseki heat mapped the golf course to better understand resource consumption like labor, water, and nutrients and golfer flow through the golf course. Kasumigaseki Country Club also implemented a few of their own sustainability measures. Fazio’s team was tasked with eliminating the outdated two-green system, updating the course’s strategic design elements (i.e., removing bunkers and repositioning tees) and making improvements to the golf course’s sustainability including the installation of a new irrigation system to better manage water usage and new turfgrass to better handle Tokyo’s seasonal fluctuations. Historically, Kasumigaseki CC utilized a two green per hole system that was born out of a desire to keep greens playable across Japan’s hot summers and cold winters. The first of Kasumigaseki’s renovations came courtesy of legendary golf architect Tom Fazio and his design team. When the course was selected as the host facility for the 2020 Olympic Games, it was in need of two renovations: one on the golf course and one in the clubhouse. Opened in 1929, Kasumigaseki CC is one of Japan’s elite golf courses and has hosted many Japanese national championships throughout it’s 90 year history. The golf championships for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be held at Kasumigaseki Country Club, a private course located in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, located just northwest of Tokyo. Kasumigaseki Country Club & the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Read HERE for a more in-depth look at the notable Nature, Resource and Community actions and achievements highlighted in Reserva de Marpendi’s GEO Certified® Development report and HERE for the International Golf Foundation’s summary of the golf course’s legacies in the Rio de Janeiro community. In addition to its community leadership, the golf course also serves a valuable role as a testing and development site for establishing new sustainability standards for future golf developments. Once a degraded site devoid of vegetation and over-run with non-native species, Reserva de Marapendi is now actively managed by a non-profit sports body (with the help of local stakeholders) that supports nature conservation, local community recreation, education and sports development. Now five years removed, Reserva de Marapendi GC thrives as a municipal facility that was recently recognized for its commitment and contribution to the enhancement of the native environment by achieving GEO Certified® Development status. Specifically built to host golf’s return to the Olympics, Reserva de Marapendi was positioned to be opened to the public at the end of the games to help develop the sport of golf in Brazil. In this sustainability spotlight, we examine the championship from a sustainability lens and a summary of who’s playing (let’s go Team USA!) and how they got there.Īfter a 112 year absence, golf made its return to the Olympic Games in 2016 when Rio de Janeiro’s Reserva de Marapendi Golf Course hosted the men’s and women’s gold medal championships. With the 2021 Open Championship written in the record books, the golf world’s focus begins to shift to the Far East as Kasumigaseki Country Club prepares to host the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Golf Competition.
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