Yeah, another year has passed. It's October again, so we hosted Kyokuyo Open Golf Tournament to renew our gratitude to our valuable suppliers, sub-contractors, outsourcees and other guests. A total of 110 players, in 29 groups, participated in the 56th Kyokuyo Open, held on October 7, 2016, at Shimonoseki Golf Club.

It was a lovely, windless autumn day and ideal weather for playing golf. Despite the challenging course, our (mostly) experienced guests played faster than in usual years. The 2016 champion was Mr. M. Haruna (Cosmo), who won a close battle with Mr. K. Hanaoka (Tortoise Engineering) and Mr. J. Kawamoto (Osaka Steel Tube) - their score difference was only 0.4 (net) after 18 holes ! The best gross prize went to Mr. N. Tsubaki (Fuji Denshi Kougyo), who scored 82 (43/39). Ah, we shouldn't forget to praise Mr. Koichiro Kondo (JRCS), as he made the beautiful hole-in-one - which was the first since 2009 in Kyokuyo Open.

It is also better to mention the new clubhouse, completed only in Septermber. The building was said to be designed with the catcher boat cabin in the good old days in mind. Our guest players looked enjoying the elegant and relaxing interior.

The award giving party started with an energetic speech of Mr. N. Harada, Kyokuyo's Executive Corporate Officer, who is now taking care of both Production Division and Material Purchasing Division. And the party was ended, as you guess, with a speech of our President Mr. K. Ochi who said : "2016 may be a good year for Kyokuyo, with Natori having won big awards." He continued : "We, though, need your support more than ever, as the strong head wind in the industry continues."

The 57th Kyokuyo Open will be held on Friday October 6. Who will win the game next year?

[2016/11/02]