№ 01
A course is a landscape first, a test second.
A great course belongs to its ground. The contours, the wind, the grasses, the trees — these come first. The shotmaking is what happens to be required by all of it.
Japan Edition · Mission
A guide built on foot.
The Best Golf Awards was founded in 2026 by Tatsuro Oshimoto and Jean-Baptiste Dominguez to do one thing — write Japan's first editorial atlas of golf courses, curated by a named Academy, ranked in three tiers, and printed without a scoring grid. These are the seven things we believe. If the work goes well, other editions will follow.
№ 02
Walking is part of the routing.
A course was made for feet. We will not consider for a Three-Flag rating a course that cannot reasonably be walked. The walk is design.
№ 03
A scoring grid tells you nothing.
We do not score on conditioning, ambience, or memorability out of ten. We write essays. We commit to a tier. We argue when we get it wrong.
№ 04
Curation, not coronation.
No campaign by a club, no email from a tour operator, no glossy mailer will move a course onto the Atlas. Recommendations are welcomed. Selections are ours.
№ 05
Sustainability is not a sub-category.
Water use, biodiversity, native-grass fairways, intelligent maintenance — these matter at every tier. We award them explicitly because the industry will not.
№ 06
Public-access matters as much as private.
The game lives or dies on the courses anyone can play. A Three-Flag public course is not "good for a public course." It is good.
№ 07
A course earns its flags one round at a time.
Every entry in the Atlas has been walked, twice, by at least one Academy member. Photography is original. Yardage books are read. The Guide is built on foot.
In closing
"We believe great courses are landscapes first, tests second. We believe a 7,200-yard list of measurements tells you nothing. We believe walking is part of the routing. We believe a course earns its flags one round at a time."
— The Founders