South Korea: why Nine Bridges changed how I think about parkland golf

I'd been trying to get a group to South Korea for three years before the stars aligned. Every time I raised it, clients would say some version of the same thing: Japan I understand, but South Korea? The golf is reportedly exceptional, but it doesn't have the cultural draw, the food reputation, the name. What do we do when we're not playing?

What they do, as it turns out, is eat at some of the best restaurants in Asia, walk through Bukchon Hanok Village at dusk, eat through Gwangjang Market at midnight, and play two of the finest golf courses in the hemisphere. The question of what to do when not playing took approximately forty-eight hours to answer definitively.

**The structure: Seoul and Jeju**

Four nights Seoul (two rounds), four nights Jeju Island (three rounds). Total: eight nights, five rounds of golf, one internal flight.

Seoul as a base for golf is underutilised in the European market. The city is home to more than forty golf courses within commuting distance, and the standard of course design and maintenance is extraordinary — the Korean approach to green preparation in particular is meticulous in a way that makes Augusta look relaxed.

We play Woo Jeong Hills Country Club (two hours south of Seoul, accessible by high-speed rail, consistently ranked in Asia's top ten, green fee approximately ₩300,000 — roughly £175) and South Springs Country Club, which hosted the Presidents Cup in 2015. Green fee ₩250,000 (£145). Both courses are parkland, immaculately conditioned, and designed for serious competition.

**Nine Bridges: the point of the trip**

Nine Bridges Golf & Residence Club on Jeju Island is the reason we make the internal flight. I don't know how to describe Nine Bridges to someone who hasn't been there other than to say: it is a golf course that makes you doubt the comparative merit of every other golf course you've ever played.

Designed by Ronald Fream (later modified by David Pfaff), Nine Bridges opened in 2001 and has spent the subsequent twenty years accumulating the kind of reputation that only comes from actually being as good as claimed. It has hosted the PGA Tour's CJ Cup. It has been ranked in the world's top 50. It is private, with access by member introduction only, and the waiting list for membership is measured in years.

We access Nine Bridges through a Korean intermediary we've worked with since 2019. The green fee is ₩700,000 (approximately £415). That is the most expensive round we arrange in Asia. It is not, in any meaningful sense, too expensive — because there is nothing else like it.

The course plays 7,126 yards through Hallasan mountain terrain — ancient volcanic rock, bamboo groves, and azalea forests that bloom in April into something indescribable. The bunkering is the finest I've seen anywhere in the world. The greens are at a speed that rewards respect. The caddies know every blade of grass on the course.

My group in April 2024 included two clients who had played Augusta National. Both said Nine Bridges was better.

**The other Jeju rounds**

We supplement Nine Bridges with Jeju CC (a good accessible course, green fee ₩180,000, excellent for the morning before Nine Bridges afternoon) and Ora CC (older, parkland, less dramatic — useful for warming up on arrival day). Jeju Island has more than thirty courses; these three give you a complete picture without golf fatigue.

**Seoul as a city**

Seoul surprised every client who went expecting Tokyo with a different name. It is not Tokyo. It is louder, cheaper, more immediate, less polished in a way that makes it more vivid. The Han River at night from a bridge near Mapo; Insadong in the afternoon; the Noryangjin fish market at dawn where the tuna auction starts at 4am and is worth attending once in your life.

The food infrastructure is staggering. Korea has more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than almost any country on earth. We typically do one tasting-menu evening and the rest from market stalls and pojangmacha — outdoor street stalls — where the food is better and the experience is more honest.

**What it costs**

Eight nights, internal flight Seoul–Jeju, all green fees including Nine Bridges, private transfers: approximately £3,800 to £4,200 per person business class, £2,600 to £3,000 economy. Add Japan as an extension (eleven days total) and you're looking at a genuine Asia grand tour.

**The verdict**

South Korea is the golf destination that doesn't yet have the name recognition it deserves in the UK market. This will change. The courses are exceptional, the hospitality is extraordinary, the country is genuinely fascinating, and the window before it becomes as crowded as Japan's premium courses is narrowing. Go now, while Nine Bridges still takes enquiries.