I'm at Kasumigaseki Country Club this week for the Asian Amateur Championship, where the champion will receive an invitation to the 2011 Masters Tournament and both the champion and runner-up will earn a place in the International Final Qualifying for the 2011 Open Championship. This is the most-televised amateur golf tournament in the world, with coverage in over 150 countries, and Kasumigaseki Country Club near Tokyo is in excellent condition this week for the championship.

The championship is being contested over the West Course here. The tees and fairways are manilagrass (Zoysia matrella), the roughs are Zoysia japonica, and the greens are creeping bentgrass. Zoysia matrella provides an excellent playing surface on these fairways which are in immaculate condition, being mowed daily at 10 mm, and producing the type of surface that is appreciated by Asia's elite amateur golfers along with the average golfer.

The Tokyo area has a challenging climate for creeping bentgrass during the summer months, and the summer of 2010 was extremely hot. I am impressed with the creeping bentgrass nursery here. Too many courses at Japan go without a nursery. At Kasumigaseki CC, the well-maintained nursery provides both a source of high-quality turf for any repairs to the greens along with a testing ground for improved bentgrass varieties and course maintenance practices. Through testing work over the past few years, the greenkeeper at Kasumigaseki CC has identified varieties of bentgrass that perform much better than some of the older grasses and these improved varieties are now used to improve the green conditions.

This is a classic Japanese golf course and the players this week along with television viewers around the world have a great opportunity to see this famous course and its wonderful turf.