SOUTH KOREA – An exotic new stamp has been added to the Golfweek’s Best rater passport. After earlier visits to a number of Asian countries, a team of international Golfweek panelists recently spent two weeks in Korea, where they happily discovered not just great golf but a rich culture, as well.
Arriving at Incheon after day-long flights, the jet-lagged group collected luggage and trudged to airport hotels for rest and recovery. Up bright and early the following morning, the slightly less bleary raters were greeted by a bus and host interpreter for the short ride to the Yeonsu-gu District and the first golf course on the schedule, Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
Golf in Korea has exploded in the past half century. With the sport in Korea having begun in 1905 at Seoul Golf Club, the country now boasts more than 500 courses serving 4.5 million golfers. Industry experts also estimate that more than 10 million rounds of screen golf are played annually, making Korea the world leader in virtual golf experiences. Golf tourism is another growing sector, with more than a million foreign visitors traveling to Korea annually for golf-related activities.
The Golfweek’s Best raters were eager to check this out for themselves.
Back to Jack Nicklaus Korea. A championship layout, the raters found a tough test over a highly engineered site demanding frequent forced carries to sternly protected, often perched, greens. A rock outcrop cutting through the property added a vertical component and an interesting feature that the Nicklaus design team used often and well. The setting amid dozens of modern, 50-story apartment complexes was a little unsettling, not unlike a number of course backdrops seen in Dubai.
After a quick lunch, it was back on the bus for the four-hour ride southeast to South Cape Owners Club. A snore or two may have been heard aboard the bus.
Strong golf as well as the rolling, hilly terrain rewards a South Cape player for three Ps – precision, placement and patience. But it was the inescapable beauty of the course that awed the raters. If setting is an important metric for great golf, then South Cape can boast few equals. Perched on a hillside overlooking nearby coastal islands and the sea, it’s hard to pay attention to the golf.
“The routing at South Cape Owners Club makes maximum use of the dramatic seaside cliffs and ocean views,” said California rater Brad Foltz. “Its stunning beauty rivals anything on the Monterey Peninsula.”
That beauty and the strength of the course is reflected in the Golfweek’s Best rankings of the top 100 courses outside the United States. South Cape ties for No. 38 on that list.
“There are endless ‘stand and stare’ moments at South Cape,” said Texas rater Paul Shouse, culminating in the exquisite view from the observation deck above the 15th green down to the 16th hole. A nearby sign proudly proclaims it, “The World’s Greatest Hole.” No argument from the raters.
Golf On Jeju Island, Korea
Bidding goodbye to South Cape, next up was a short flight to the Korean resort island of Jeju and the exciting prospects of tackling the highly acclaimed and world ranked Nine Bridges. A rolling parkland layout, Nine Bridges boasts good variety, exacting shot placements and some of the most extraordinary bunkering in golf. A recent refurbishment of the bunkers dramatically deepened the revetted bunker walls. Some walls rise 7 to 8 feet and are comprised of vertical layers of upwards to 50 sod rolls. Getting out of these bunkers is not for the faint of heart, often requiring sideways bailouts or even “recovery” shots back toward the tees.
Standout holes at Nine Bridges include the beautifully framed but stern par four fourth, the dicey one-shotter at 13 and the par-5 finisher, with its optional route and heroic forced carry to the island green. We could see how Nine Bridges earned its spot in Golfweek’s Best ranking of the top 100 courses in the world outside the U.S.
“What was surprising was the consistently ultra-high caliber of the courses we played,” said Washington D.C. rater Lina Martin. “There was not one course that was not in some way more spectacular than the one before it.”
The evening was spent in downtown Jeju City at the Black Pork Restaurant, where delicious cuts of meat, grilled at the table, delighted the rater team. Local beer and ample amounts of soju (a distilled drink resembling a lighter version of vodka) provided both liquid refreshment and vocal lubrication as the evening was capped off with a little Karaoke. The raters wisely refrained from rating the singing.
A morning round at the nearby parkland layout Blackstone was enjoyed before the raters boarded the bus then flights back to Seoul, the final home base of the trip.
Golf courses around Seoul
Half of South Korea’s 50 million residents live in Seoul. It’s got it all. Epic traffic, spectacular architecture and a constant sea of cell phones out for a walk with their human handlers – it’s a capital that pulses with a 24/7 vibrancy equal to any of the great megalopolises worldwide. So if you want to get around Seoul, get below ground.
“Traveling by mass transportation in Seoul is remarkably efficient and stress-free,” said Florida rater Mary Lou Johnson. “The subway system is clean, punctual and clearly marked in both Korean and English, making it easy for locals and visitors alike,”
Just one of many Seoul facts: The town is considered the world’s center of plastic surgery. There are no less than 600 plastic surgery clinics in Seoul, treating a million foreign visitors a year.
Consider this observation from Seoul-born Lina Martin.
“Seoul struck me as a city insistent on preserving cultural heritage amidst rapid modernization,” Martin said. “The Google building towering over Buddhist temples, bustling marketplaces framed behind ancient palace gates, traditional villages set alongside commercial centers, the Hyundai department store rising up above subway station kiosks frying up kimchee pancakes. A national identity not forgotten despite the fusion of East and West, past and present, quite remarkable given Korea’s history of colonization and foreign intrusion.”
The juxtaposition of Seoul just miles from the politically opposite North Korea is another striking aspect of the capitol city. North Korea only has one golf course (in Pyongyang), but the closest the raters got to it was the Peace Ecopark at Aegibong, where they were able to glimpse a North Korean village across the Han River, just a mile or so away.
After Ecopark, the raters were treated to an afternoon river cruise on the Han with spectacular views on both sides of the Seoul skyline. But alas, the raters had to hang up their tourist hats as they had “work” to do. The remaining four courses scheduled were all in the hills several hours northeast of Seoul.
First up was Whistling Rock. Named for the sound the wind makes blowing through cracks in the exposed granite, the three nines and clubhouse at Whistling Rock are stunningly beautiful and engineering marvels. In golf architecture, it’s generally considered significant for a designer to move a million cubic yards of earth to build 18 holes. At Whistling Rock the construction crew blasted three quarters of a million cubic yards of rock before moving any earth for the actual course construction. The designer’s goal was to create level playing surfaces while also preserving and integrating the site’s more compelling natural geological features to enhance the visual appeal and the golfing experience.
There are many excellent holes at The Rock, but the best just might be the drivable par 4 fourth perched on a ledge with an infinity green, all looking up to the magnificent temple-like clubhouse. The finishing par 5, gently rising with fairways dodging rock walls to a well-contoured green, with the ethereal clubhouse seemingly hovering above, is a masterpiece and definitely a hole not to be forgotten. Few golf clubs in the world have captured a spiritual quality as does Whistling Rock.
“The serene, pastoral feeling of Whistling Rock was deliberately designed and creates a delightful setting to enjoy a great course,” Foltz said.
Not far from Whistling Rock, nestled in the mountains, is the ultra-private sister course of Nine Bridges, named Haesley. Before its opening in 2009, Haesley’s designer, David Dale, was tasked to create an ultimate members getaway offering “rest, joy and a magnificent experience through golf.” The club may have overachieved.
From the clubhouse, which could double as an art museum, to the delightful Asian meals, to a lavish locker room with everything, to the attentive and knowledgeable staff, a player is pampered long before the first tee. But the real delight awaits.
The 18 holes at Haesley explore a hilly, mostly wooded terrain. The flow is intimate and cohesive with holes blending seamlessly over perfect playing conditions (Sub Air throughout). The course is meant to challenge but also to reward with wider landing areas, more receptive targets and interesting yet playable putting surfaces.
And, my lord, are the backdrops eye-popping. The 10th hole, for example, is a double-forced carry shorter par 4 to an island green framed by a 30-foot rock wall with water cascading down the wall’s entire perimeter. The falls look like they have been there through the many Korean dynasties, so its astounding to learn the falls are artificial, fed by pumped water, as is the case on a number of waterfalls throughout the course – probably thousands of gallons a minute. The effect is well worth the electric bill.
“Playing golf in South Korea, especially at places like Nine Bridges Haesley, was truly a fantastic experience,” said Florida rater Bob Minyard.
After Haesley, it was back to Seoul and a few evenings to explore and enjoy many aspects of this delightful city. Like eating! In a city renowned for its dynamic food scene, whether traditional Korean cuisine or innovative fusion dishes, Seoul’s culinary landscape provides unforgettable flavors and memorable moments.
The raters were especially eager to sample Seoul’s iconic street food. They found the renowned Myeongdong and Gwangjang Markets bustling with vendors selling delicious snacks including tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and kimbap (seaweed rice rolls).
For dinner, trendy cafes and upscale eateries in the nearby Gangnam and Itaewon districts offered the raters a myriad of dining choices. Bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables and meat), bulgogi (marinated grilled beef) and samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) were rater favorites. And no tourists could skip sampling Korean pancakes called jeon (fritters/pancakes) and hotteok (sweet chewy pancakes stuffed with brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon). Korean pancake dinners are often eaten communally at long tables, and pancakes are always sliced with scissors. Stomachs full for a night of pleasant dreams, the raters were ready for their final few days in Korea.
“Our golf trip to South Korea was one of the more special trips we have ever taken as Golfweek raters,” said Armand Cimaroli, Golfweek’s event director and head of the rater program. “There are certainly some top courses in the world in this great country.”
Those final days kicked off with Woo Jeong Hills, site of the recent Genesis Championship, an upscale American-type layout defined by toughness, requiring perilously exact targeting. A full two-thirds of Woo Jeong Hill’s holes include water hazards. The ultimate example would be the par-3 island green at 13 – a watery grave for countless golf balls, this hole closely resembles the 17th at the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course in Florida. It probably shouldn’t be a surprise, as Woo Jeong Hill’s architect is Perry Dye, son of the legendary Sawgrass designer, Pete Dye.
The final round found the raters again in the northern hills of Chuncheon. Jade Palace Golf Club, the flagship of the Hanwha Group, was designed by Greg Norman’s team. Another engineering marvel, Jade was built over a hilly site characterized by rock outcrops, some quite sheer. The difficult terrain required Norman to move a mind-boggling 5 million cubic yards of earth during construction.
Norman’s signature penal bunkering and demanding targets are the norm at Jade Palace, as seen at the par-4 fifth and eighth holes and the par-5 13th. Conditions were excellent with Zoysia fairways providing perfect lies, and the putting surfaces were fast and smooth. The final hole, a shorter par 4, crosses a greenside pond with the green abutting a sheer rock wall and framed behind by the stately Tudor-like clubhouse. A par at Jade’s 18th is always a rewarding finish.
“I think the thing that impressed me most about Korea was the amount of truly good/great golf courses we were able to play,” said Nevada-baed rater Matt Lyons. “A real variety of architecture styles.”
But it was more than the golf. It was the whole scene.
“As a Korean American, it was deeply rewarding to experience incredible golf courses and to share the beauty, culture, and heritage of my homeland with fellow raters,” said Seoul-born and Virginia-based Rater Sojung Lim. “The trip reminded me how golf can connect people across cultures through shared curiosity and respect. It was an unforgettable journey that blended a passion for the game with cultural discovery.”
It was back to Seoul for a final night before morning departures and bows, and not only a thank you to each other, but one to Korea too.
“Gam sa ham ni da.”
