Vietnam veteran Preston Lofton watches golfers play in the Yokota Military Retiree Golf Tournament at Tama Hills Golf & Resort in western Tokyo, Oct. 21, 2026. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
TOKYO — A charity golf tournament organized by U.S. military retirees drew a record 127 players this week at Tama Hills Golf & Resort, thanks in part to partnership with a nearby Japanese driving range.
The Yokota Military Retirees Association’s annual tournament typically attracts fewer than 100 golfers, former Air Force squadron commander Lloyd Jack said at the course Wednesday.
This year, a relationship with the nearby Golf Partner driving range helped increase participation, Vietnam War veteran Preston Lofton said.
Nearly all the entrants were Japanese or South Korean, he said.
Lofton and Jack were among six retirees, including veterans of the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars, who helped organize the event.
The tournament raised nearly $2,000 for activities and assistance benefiting the military retirement community, Lofton said.
The money will help support events such as the Air Force Ball and a Christmas dinner, along with flowers for sick veterans and assistance for retirees’ widows.
Organizer Preston Lofton poses with Japanese golfers waiting to tee off in the Yokota Military Retiree Golf Tournament at Tama Hills Golf & Resort in western Tokyo, Oct. 21, 2026. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
“We help anybody who is in need,” Lofton said.
The event also gives local golfers a chance to play a course that’s typically off limits to them.
“Normally they can’t enter here, but on the day of the tournament as an American guest they can enter and play golf,” Tracey Kuroi, a contractor who helps coordinate rounds at Tama Hills, said at the event.
Jack said Japanese players enjoyed tournament prizes that include American flag shirts and Yuengling beer.
“It is good for community relations and helps the locals as well as the retirees,” he said.
Among the competitors was Japanese PGA professional Tatsuya Aizawa, who singled out the course’s eighth hole as his favorite.
The par-4 hole features a lake along the left side of a wide fairway and several bunkers guarding the green.
“I drove the green and scored an eagle,” Aizawa said, showing a scorecard with a total of 68.