Nobuo Serizawa came back to Gotemba's tournament from 2 year absent, but the course he loves and thought he knew inside out, was totally different after the course renovation 2 year ago, which made the Par 72 course into Par 70 settings. Par 5s on 6th and 11th are both well over 500 yards but now they are Par 4s.

"It's impossible" whines Nobuo, who just has turned 60 on November 6th.
"We also had really strong wind today. On 11th, where we have to hit against the downwind, my tee shot and 2nd shot were perfect, but I still had 50 yards left. Then I made mistake and it got really nasty and ended up with double bogey."

He did make 2 birdies, but with 9 bogeys, "My golf won't stand against Gotemba anymore", frowned Nobuo.

Nobuo turns Pro in 1982 and has won 5 times on the Tour. He may not be a long hitter, but he has well controlled shots and great short game. He was also praised by Jumbo Ozaki as "No.1 putter in the World". But now at 60, he says, "I don't have the delicate touch anymore" and suffered tackling the high-speed greens.

This is his 2nd tournament in Regular Tour this season, followed by the Chunichi Crowns in May.
"It is my first time to play on such a quick greens, so I got so nervous on the greens and felt like my heart was going to burst. I wanted to end the day with birdie, but my tee shot went into the right-side trees and had to finish with 2 straight bogeys."

He has been the Gotemba Tourism Ambassador since he lives in local area. He has strong attachment to this tournament and challenged to come back to this tournament after having a surgery on his joints, but "I am afraid that tomorrow will become my last day at Gotemba. I was able to enjoy the practice rounds with Fujita and Miyamoto who celebrated by 60th birthday. They overdrove me for 50 yards, but I am just happy that I was able to have practice rounds with them. I have decided to make this as my last appearance at Gotemba."

Nobuo sits at 80T with 9 over par.