The 3rd Annual Jolly Fox Masters Was Hard Fought To The End

The 2023 Jolly Fox Masters Tourney has concluded with the winner, Kent Prior, being awarded the coveted orange jacket.

This was the third annual Jolly Fox Masters tourney, one part of what has become a three-tournament annual green season tradition in Niseko.

The Jolly Fox began during the Covid era, in the green season of 2020, when Niseko golfer Michael Chen, Co-CEO of the H2 Group, thought a community golf tournament would be a safe and fun way to have social interaction.

About this year’s Masters, Chen spoke of the competitors braving “extreme golf conditions of rain and low temperatures to battle for the coveted orange jacket.”

The finalists, Josh Carmichael and Kent Prior, both of whom have Japan Golf Association (JGA) tour cards, fought through the elements to a nail-biting down-to-the-last-hole finish, when Prior managed to hold off Carmichael to win the match play format one up.

Despite the harsh conditions, Prior shot an even par 72, with Carmichael two over.

The presentation of the jacket and the Champions Trophy – soon to be immortalised with Prior’s name as is already the case with past champions – happened immediately after competition at the Hanazono Golf Course post round lunch.

True to the game, Prior and Carmichael, after giving their all in this year’s Jolly Fox Masters, then departed for their next professional tournaments as the rest of the players headed to a season-ending BBQ dinner.

The hotly contested Jolly Fox golf series is made up of three events throughout Niseko’s green season – the Invitational (May), International (August) and Masters (May-October), the latter of which began in 2021.

It has evolved from a Covid-era get-together into one of the most anticipated events of Niseko’s green season.

You might also be interested in…

• Jolly Fox Niseko 2023
• Hotel101, A Filipino Brand, Will Open In Niseko
• Japan Considers Allowing Ride Hailing