AKB48 member Yamauchi Suzuran (16) attended a new men’s golf tournament, called “Toufumi Hamamatsu Open“, at the Grandy Hamanako Golf Course in Shizuoka prefecture. There she became the first AKB48 member to participate in a pro-am golf tournament.

Kuramoto Masahiro (55), the pro golfer partnered with Yamauchi, commented, “She swings like Yokomine Sakura and hits 240 yards with a driver. Not many celebrities have a clean swing like that. It might not be too late for her to consider going pro.”


Yamauchi started golf in the third grade, and she has an impressive best score of 92. She commented, “It was a good learning experience to learn how to putt from a pro. It’d be great to get better as a hobby.”

Last year, Yamauchi got 36th place in the AKB48 senbatsu election, but this year she says, “My goal is to make the top 22!”

source: tokyohive