Kobe Golf Club Clubhouse

The Clubhouse of Japan's Oldest Golf Course

The Kobe Golf Club Clubhouse (神戸ゴルフ倶楽部クラブハウス) is a golf clubhouse of 1932 in Rokkosan-cho, Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 7, 2014 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a slate roof and a building area of 457 square metres, altered in 1954 and 1984; registration number 28-0595.

The Clubhouse of the Oldest Course

The Kobe Golf Club Clubhouse stands on Japan's oldest golf course, high on Mount Rokkō (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its walls are clad in clapboard and lined with white sash windows and doors.

Inside, a tiled fireplace sits at the centre with a dining room and lounge to east and west and the locker room behind (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The walls carry tall panelled dadoes, and the boarded ceilings show decorative beams.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design for its refined detailing, from the tall panelled dadoes to the boarded ceilings with exposed beams.

What to Look For

The club says the first ball struck at the opening in 1903, hit by the governor of Hyogo, is still kept as an ornament on the clubhouse mantelpiece. The clapboard exterior with its rows of white window frames is also characteristic (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

Kobe Golf Club says the course is open from mid-April to mid-November, and guests normally need to play with or be introduced by a member. No official information on public tours of the buildings was found.