Kinki is the second most densely populated area after the metropolitan area. Osaka and Hyogo alone have about 14.3 million people, and more than 20 million people if Kyoto/ Shiga/ Nara/ Wakayama are also included. The oldest golf course in Japan, Kobe Golf Club (Hyogo), built in 1903, is located on Mt. Perhaps there was a culture in which building a course on a mountain was a status symbol.
"Golf Course Ginza" in the Tokyo metropolitan area is Chiba, but "Golf Course Ginza" in Kinki is Hyogo. While the number of golf courses in the five other prefectures other than Hyogo is 20~50 courses each, Hyogo boasts an overwhelming presence with more than 150 courses. Inevitably, access to the golf course is the Shin-Meishin Expressway, Chugoku Expressway, and Sanyo Expressway from Osaka to Hyogo. On the other hand, Kyoto/ Nara/ Shiga/ Wakayama golfers typically play on local courses close to home.
Among the Kinki "Golf Course Ginza", the most popular is Yamanohara Golf Club (Hyogo). The course hosted a men's tournament for 21 years, from 1994 to 2014. In the 2013 tournament, Hideki Matsuyama, who made his professional debut that year, won the championship. On the first day of the tournament, Shoji Ozaki, who was 66 years old at the time, also achieved an age shot of 9-under 62 (par 71). On the other hand, Kamo Country Club (Kyoto is popular in the Kyoto and Nara directions. It has 36 holes from east to west and is favored by golfers of a wide range of skills.