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The Oak Valley CC is a hillside course set on a vast terrain. Each hole
is spacious and completely separated by mountains, trees, lakes and creeks.
There are 36 holes in total: the Oak & Maple Course and the Pine &
Cherry Course that I played this time. The Font 9, Pine has a really superb
layout where fascinating holes continues while the back 9, Cherry have few
impressive holes. The best combination out of the 36 holes is the Maple & Pine Course which is only available for professional tournaments.
The greens are not undulating not only to one direction but to many directions,
so you have a higher risk of 3 putts if your ball is far from the pin. |
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A downhill, short par 4. The longer tee shot you hit, the narrower fairway
is due to a bunker on the left and a lake on the right. The green is shallow
therefore the club selection becomes a key factor to mark a good score.
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| A straight hole. A creek run along the left of the fairway
and cross the fairway at a slant 100-50 yards in front of the green. The
creek on the left as well as pine trees on the right come into play, thus
requiring accurate tee & second shots. |
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| A slight dogleg to the right with a wide fairway. A creek
runs along the left of the fairway and crosses just in front of the green.
The green has complicated undulations, so even if you hit the green in regulation,
you have a possibility of 3 putts.
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A slightly downhill, beautiful par 3. The green is surrounded by not only
bunkers but also trees.
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A dogleg to the left. The gentle downhill tee shot is followed by a sharp
downhill seconds shot. A creek crosses in front of the green. The right
club selection on the second shot is important.
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A downhill, dogleg to the left. The landing area off the tee is narrow due
to trees on the left and a lake on the right. A carry of 270 yards is needed
to clear a large bunker on the left corner. A creek crosses in front of
the green and runs along the left side of the green.
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An island green, par3. The huge and deep green is marked by sharp undulations.
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| A straight hole with water on the left. Thus only giving you
a narrow margin of error off the tee. The second shot is slightly uphill.
The green is well protected by bunkers. |
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| It takes 1 hour & 40 minutes by car. You need introductions
from members or needs to be accompanied by a member to play.
If your handicap is 9 or below, you can ask the caddie master to play
from the longest tees. You can overlook the course from the bath. You
need to pay attention to the fact that less than 3 players are not allowed
to play at many Korean golf courses.
The tees in the Pine Course are pinecones and the cherries are used in the
Cherry Course, which are cute. The greens condition was good because some
employees only carried out the greens repairment by hand.
The Cheery Course opened in 2003, which is newer than the existing 27
holes. Besides 36 holes, there are another public 9 holes, tennis courts,
bowling alley, a sauna room, horse-back riding, hiking, ski resort, condominium
of about 2000 rooms around the golf course and a convenience store, all
of which adds up to a big resort complex.
The course was chosen the 7th best course in Korea by US Golf Digest
Magazine in 2003. The other Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed courses in
Korea are Anyang CC, Yongpyong
GC, Sky Hill Jeju CC, Rainbow Hills CC and Oster CC.
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