2020 Tokyo Olympics Golf: How would your game stack up?

The world’s greatest women golfers are next up to take on Kasumigaseki Country Club’s East Course in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The highly exclusive private venue only recently granted full membership rights to women, has modernised its policies to uphold the spirit of the Olympic charter of non-discrimination (Under its previous rules, women were prohibited from playing on Sundays). The first women's groups get underway Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. local time.

After last weekend’s no-cut, small-field tournament, Xander Schauffele won the gold medal for the US on Sunday—with a closing 68 to finish 18 under at Kasumigaseki Country Club, clipping Rory Sabbatini by one stroke on a wild final round just outside of Tokyo.

The private club in Saitama prefecture is a classic 1929 C.H. Alison design that gleaned rave reviews from the men’s Olympic golfers. In 2016, the East Course was lengthened by 500 yards by Tom and Logan Fazio, bunkers were repositioned to challenge longer hitters and its famed double greens were converted to single greens.

Related: Dual Greens in Japan are Double The Fun

The male medalists leveraged prime course and weather conditions enroute to going a collective 50-under over the course of four rounds. How will golfers like Nelly and Jessica Korda, Daniel Kang, Lexi Thompson, Hannah Green and Nasa Hatakoa fare with Kasumigaseki playing to a 6,648-yard par-71? 

Team USA will match South Korea for the first time by sending four players to the 2021 Olympics, with Jessica Korda taking the fourth and final spot, joining newly-minted No. 1 Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang. 🇺🇸 

Well, that remains to be seen with the forecast calling for hot, humid days with highs in the 90s. If the Women’s follows the pattern of the mens, it’ll be a close match with distance to the pin and putting to be highly crucial for this course. But what would your score be if you were playing with the athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Kasumigaseki? Would your game translate into a solid round at Kasumigaseki Country Club’s East Course?

Arccos Members at Kasumigaseki 

Kasumigaseki Country Club is one of Japan’s most exclusive private clubs, but Arccos players have managed to log 44 rounds on the East Course since the father-son Fazio renovations. The average handicap of those players is 10.24 and the average score posted is 88.64. 

The majority of Arccos players play the course from between 6,400 and 6,900 yards with a course rating of 70-72 for men and 76-79 for women. The men’s slope rating spans 126-130 and the women’s slope ranges from 136 to 142. 

The takeaway? The East Course is a stout test of golf for Arccos players, especially women. And many log scores well above the group’s 10.24 handicap average. They birdie just 8.87% of holes, par 26.47% and bogey 64.67%. But to dig a bit deeper, let’s look at the strokes gained data from Arccos Strokes Gained Analytics Feature. 

On average, Arccos players are losing 15.47 strokes per round at Kasumigaseki, and nearly six strokes (5.84) on approach shots. They are acquitting themselves well on the East Course’s mildly undulating greens, with only 2.85 strokes lost putting. Meanwhile, strokes gained driving and strokes gained short game are -3.76 and -3.18, respectively. 

Drilling Down with Strokes Gained Analytics

A quick examination of the strokes gained data tells us Arccos players could improve their scores on the East Course by practicing their approach game. But they can drill down even further into the Strokes Gained Analytics Feature for precise game improvement guidance.

Tapping on the Player icon on the bottom left corner of the Arccos Caddie App and then the Approach menu near the top of the screen reveals the full set of strokes gained approach analytics. This includes Approach by Pin Distance – broken down into 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and 200+ yards – and approach by terrain, comprising tee (par 3s), fairway, rough and sand. 

Arccos players are -2.34 strokes gained from 150-200 yards out from the pin and (interestingly) -2.44 strokes gained from fairways. The good news? These are essentially mid- and long-iron shots that can be practiced on the closely cropped turf (or mats) of a driving range. 

Arccos Preview Caddie

Want to have some fun and see how you might play Kasumigaseki alongside the best female players on the planet this week? Or just see how you’d tackle the East Course? The Arccos Preview Caddie is available to players who’ve logged at least five 18-hole rounds (90 Holes). 

To access it, simply tap on the Start Round icon in the bottom right corner of the Arccos Caddie App, search for Kasumigaseki CC – East and download the course for optimal performance. The Preview Caddie provides an Optimal Strategy and two Alternate Strategies for every hole.