The Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association (JLPGA) announced on 2 November 2026 that Biwako Country Club, in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture, will stage the 2028 Sony Japan Women's Professional Golf Championship. The selected championship routing combines the Biwako and Mikami nines. The association confirmed the venue and year, but has not yet announced the 2028 tournament dates, field, purse or competition setup.
A championship returns after 29 years
This is more than the selection of another course. Biwako Country Club hosted the same championship in 1999, so the scheduled 2028 event represents a return after 29 years. It will not, however, be played on an entirely unchanged layout.
Biwako opened on 8 November 1959, becoming Shiga Prefecture's first golf course. Japanese architect Seizo Tomizawa designed the original course. Its tournament history includes the men's Japan Open in 1993 and 2021, the Japan Women's Open in 2014, the Japan Senior Open in 2009, and the Women's Professional Championship in 1999. That record explains why organisers can turn to the club with confidence in its experience, without implying that historical scoring is a reliable guide to the renovated course.
An established venue with a redesigned identity
The JLPGA announcement highlights a course-development partnership formed with Greg Norman Golf Course Design in 2019. Renovation work proceeded on the Biwako nine, followed by the 2021 Japan Open and further work on Mikami. In November 2026, the association described the completed Biwako–Mikami combination as the new Greg Norman Signature Course.
For the 2028 championship, that creates a substantial sporting question. How will the altered fairway corridors, bunkering, green complexes and preferred approach lines affect the decisions of Japan's leading professionals under tournament conditions? The answer will depend on the final setup as much as the architecture itself. There is no official 2028 championship yardage, tee configuration or green-speed specification yet, so any numerical prediction would be speculation.
What is confirmed and what remains open
Confirmed: the 2028 edition, Biwako Country Club, and the Biwako–Mikami routing at 513 Misono, Ritto, Shiga. Not confirmed: exact dates, field, purse, or detailed playing conditions.
The Sony Japan Women's Professional Golf Championship is a major domestic JLPGA championship, distinct from the five global majors on the American LPGA Tour schedule. Its return to Shiga is therefore both a historical homecoming and an opportunity to assess a major Japanese venue after years of architectural work.
