Yoshikazu Kato

Yoshikazu Kato, born in 1935, was a Japanese golf course architect. The Japanese Society of Golf Course Architects (JSGCA) carries him among its deceased members, gives his year of birth as 1935, and lists Blue Canyon Country Club (Thailand), Treasure Hill Golf Club (Thailand) and KSC Sports Club (27 holes) as courses he designed or remodelled. He is far better known for his work in Thailand than for anything he built at home, and no date of death appears even in the society’s own listing.

The course that made his name is Blue Canyon Country Club, in the north of Phuket island. According to the club’s site, Kato began work in 1988 on a site of abandoned tin mines and rubber plantation. The first eighteen, the Canyon Course, opened in 1991, and with its combination of ravines, trees, water and wind it was quickly counted among the leading courses in Asia. It was built to be walked, and the club’s site notes that the 17th was chosen for GOLF Magazine’s 500 best holes in the world. Eight years later, in February 1999, the Lakes Course was added, with water in play on 17 of the 18 holes. Both courses are Kato’s design.

Blue Canyon is known as a stage for international competition as well. It was the first course to hold the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic three times, in 1994, 1998 and 2007, and Greg Norman won the 1994 edition. In 1998 Tiger Woods came from eight shots back on the final day and beat Ernie Els in a play-off. The 1996 Honda Invitational, won by Steve Elkington, and the 2005 Thailand Open were held there too.

Kato stayed on in Thailand afterwards, building Treasure Hill Golf Club in Chonburi province (opened 1994), Kabinburi Sport Club in Prachinburi province and Hariphunchai Golf Club near Chiang Mai. Kabinburi is often introduced as the longest course in Thailand, at over 8,000 yards from the back tees, and Hariphunchai is a nine-hole course outside Chiang Mai. The courses the Japanese Society of Golf Course Architects credits to him are mostly Thai as well; his mark was left in Thailand rather than in Japan. Among the courses listed on GoGolf, three are his design — Treasure Hill and the two courses at Blue Canyon — and all three can be booked through GoGolf.

Kato courses you can book on GoGolf

• Blue Canyon Country Club – Canyon Course (Phuket, Thailand) — opened 1991. Kato’s finest work, and host of the Johnnie Walker Classic three times
• Blue Canyon Country Club – Lakes Course (Phuket, Thailand) — opened 1999. Water is in play on 17 of the 18 holes
• Treasure Hill Golf Club (Chonburi, Thailand) — a par 72 opened in 1994, laid out to use the roll of the hills as it stands

Tee times and rates for a given day can be checked on each course page or in the GoGolf app.

See the other golf course architects here.