Jade Palace Golf Club's Roughs Up to 120mm Cause Even Winners to Go Over Par
Alligator Appears on Fairway During PGA Tournament at TPC Louisiana in the US
[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] Jade Palace Golf Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, has been notorious among amateur golfers as a fearsome rough since its opening in 2004. Although the course itself is not long, once the ball lands in the rough, finding it is not easy. Even if the ball is found with difficulty, the thin and long rough clings to the club, making it hard not only to make a proper shot but even to escape. Among golfers, it is sometimes called the "graveyard of balls."
The infamy of Jade Palace was proven at the Hanwha Classic of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, which concluded on the 28th of last month. When players’ shots veered off the fairway and landed in the rough that was 100 to 120 mm long, they had to search for their balls. From a distance, the rough is so deep that the feet of players and caddies are not visible. This is incomparable to the usual rough length of 50 mm at tournament venues.
On the other hand, the fairway width is only about 15 meters. Ultimately, the winner of this tournament was Hong Ji-won (22), who recorded an over-par score of 289 (+1). This was the first over-par winner in seven years since Park Sung-hyun (29) won the 2015 Korean Women’s Open with a +1 score. Players who participated in that tournament described it as “truly an all-time ‘rough hell’ with extreme rough length.”
Jade Palace Golf Club panorama.
The so-called 'notorious golf course'... Which golf courses around the world are these?
There are ‘notorious courses’ that even professional players find bewildering. Some courses are deliberately designed to be difficult to enhance ‘discriminatory power’ during the design phase, while others naturally become ‘hellish courses’ due to environmental factors. So, what kind of notorious courses that torment even players lurk around the world?
A panoramic view of the Muirfield course in East Lothian, Scotland, UK.
The Muirfield course (6,728 yards) in East Lothian, Scotland, where the AIG Women’s Open of the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour was held last month, is a course where players must battle nature. Overcoming the capricious weather, including rain and wind that change several times a day, is the key to victory. Built on a wild sandy dune area near the Scottish coast, the entire course is uneven. It is a typical ‘links course’ with small, deep bunkers and rough patches scattered throughout, but not a single tree, which is common in golf courses. Jeon In-ji (28), who finished second in the tournament, said right after the first round, “Playing on a links course while facing the wind is not easy,” adding, “When the wind blows strongly, losing concentration can lead to poor results.”
From October 20 to 23, the CJ Cup in South Carolina will be held over four days at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, USA, where walking and walking again is necessary to claim victory. The course length is 7,655 yards. It is 98 yards longer than the Kyle Phillips Course at South Links Yeongam in Jeonnam (7,557 yards), which challenged players with its ‘long distance’ at the KPGA Korean Tour Woosung Comprehensive Construction Open held on the 11th of last month.
Opened in 2018, this golf course is the work of America’s top golf designer Tom Fazio. Not only is it long, but instead of rough, the course is filled with bunkers. Players who fail to hit the ball onto the fairway must face the challenge of bunker shots to overcome the crisis.
Crocodiles in the lake... What if they really appear?
At the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (total prize money $7.3 million) held last year at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana, USA, an unexpected incident occurred during the game. During the second round, a 2 to 3-meter-long crocodile living in the lake invaded the course, and tournament officials had to guide the crocodile back to the lake. At the 16th hole in the third round, Wyndham Clark (USA) made headlines for his ‘barefoot fighting spirit’ by entering the crocodile-inhabited lake to make his second shot. Clark later revealed that he was filled with “fear of the crocodile” after the tournament.
Domestic golf courses are considered relatively easier than overseas ones... Profitability becomes important as golf becomes popular
What kind of challenging courses exist in domestic golf courses? A golf industry insider explained, “If the course is too difficult, beginner and intermediate golfers tend to avoid that golf course, so domestic golf courses tend to be designed relatively easier.” This is because profitability of golf courses has become important as golf has become popular.
A view of Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Songdo, Incheon.
In 2020, the best golf course chosen by KPGA Korean Tour players was the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Songdo, Incheon. Bunkers and water hazards are installed in places where beginner and intermediate golfers are likely to drop their balls. The 18th hole is designed so that if you stray just a little from the narrow fairway, the ball falls into the water, posing a challenge even for professional golfers.
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