In June 1986, park golf was invented based on the idea behind "ground golf," which had been invented in Tomari Village (currently Yurihama Town), Tohaku-gun, Tottori prefecture.
Mr. Maehara said "When I was considering a new community sports that three generations can play together, colleagues at the town hall brought ground golf clubs and a wooden ball to me. It was the starting point of the birth of park golf.
At that time, Mr. Maehara was just assigned as the director of the board of education in the town. He had been playing golf and started to understand its charm. His heart pounded because he thought that ground golf might be fun, since it was also called golf. He and his town hall colleagues tried ground golf right away.
However, their expectations were not met. On the dry soil, the ball rolled away, and they could not drive the ball as in golf.
After playing, they were disappointed, and to make matters worse, white dust covered their shoes and clothes.

Mr. Maehara was discouraged by the rather disappointing result. However, the lawn of a park came in sight. What if we play on the rough lawn of the Undo Koen (Sports Park) instead of soil? His heart started to pound again. He said "Looking back now, I cannot believe it, but I came up with the idea of digging holes in the park." Mr. Iwao Mitsui (incumbent executive managing director of the Nippon Park Golf Association) who shared Mr. Maehara's view, joined to dig holes with shovels. They buried a vinyl chloride pipe with a diameter of 20 centimeters in the holes similar to a cup. They were absorbed in working and finally completed the current Tsutsuji (Azalea) Course, the first park golf course in its birthplace.
Later, a second park golf course, Elm Course was created in Chirotto Park and courses have increased. Currently there are 14 courses, including town-managed and private ones. Many fans enjoy playing every day.

In March 1986 the new sport was named park golf. Since different clubs and balls than those used for “ground ball” were invented, this was a new sport that needed a new name. Mr. Maehara said "It is golf played in a park, so we named it park golf… It may be too simplistic, but I believe the name is easy to remember." Since we wanted men and women of all ages to enjoy it, we tried to give the game a friendly name, and to introduce the clear and simple playing method and rules. It is not a sport for reckless competition, but has rather commonly been known as a playful community sport in a friendly atmosphere.

There are various ways to have fun with park golf. Some play for their health, some aim at top scores at competitions and spend the whole day practicing, and others tour local courses as a trip with friends. Each player has different ideas and reasons.
For the daily player, winter with its snow is a season of impatience. The courses are closed for about six months.
However, fans turn every circumstance into an opportunity. They level and pile up snow, and even create snow courses. With frozen breath, they enthusiastically enjoy playing in the freezing cold.
Park golf provides an enjoyable time in a relaxed manner amid the blight sun and lush green. This lovable and casual community sport also extends warm contact and smiles among players today as always.