Anyang Country Club

Course Date

Location	Seoul, Korea
Yardage	6951 yards　Par 72
Course Rating	73.9
Playing Date	16 Oct ２０１５ & 14 Sep 2017
Designer	Chohei Miyazawa
Re-designer	Rober Trent Jones Jr.
Opened	1968
Caddie	Yes
Golf Cart	NO

Rating

Overall Rating

5.20

Course Layout	5
Difficulty Level	4
Greens Condition	6
Fairways Condition	5
Landscaping & Views	5
Level of Satisfaction	6

Anyang Country Club is considered to be the most prestigious club in Korea, and is a great parkland course with a relatively flat layout with only 10 meters (33 feet) of elevation change. When the course was first established in 1968, it spread out beautifully over the vast wilderness and there were no houses or buildings around the area. Nowadays various houses, buildings, and factories surround the course. However, the sections with poor scenery are blocked by tall trees making them completely invisible. Anyang CC is one of the flattest courses in Korea, and consists of a great routing, good flows from greens to the next tees, and a very smooth and enjoyable walk throughout.

8th green

low pines on 10th hole

splendid pine floating on 13th pond

In 1997, RT Jones Jr. remodeled the course that was originally created by Mr. Chohei Miyazawa 50 years previously. The Japanese architect had adapted double greens for each hole, which was popular at that time in Japan in order to protect greens. However, RT Jones Jr. transformed them into one large and highly raised green, while the basic layout and routing of the holes were kept. He also converted the shape of each green to a more aesthetically wonderful look and feel. His upgrading includes newly built ponds on Hole 6, 16, & 16, and the merger of two existing ponds on par 3s of Hole 13 & 17 followed by spreading them closer to each green, and the various removals and additions of bunkers throughout the course. RT Jones Jr. remodeled Anyang CC to become a much more strategic and fun to ply course. Various plants and trees, such as cherry blossoms, were planted and allowed the course to showcase a different appearance during each of the four seasons. This new transformation makes it feel that you are playing the course in a really beautiful garden.

View from 17th hole

17th green

Crape myrtle tree

Scorecard

Hole 1　Par 4　426 yards

Hole 1　Par 4　426 yards (2)

Hole 1　Par 4　426 yards (1)

A par four with a dogleg to the right. Off the tee shot, the fairway is tight with a bunker on the right and trees lined on both sides. The green is elevated, slopes from back to front, and is guarded by a large bunker to its left.

Hole 2　Par 4　389 yards

Hole 2　Par 4　389 yards (2)

Hole 2　Par 4　389 yards (1)

A dogleg to the left with a gentle uphill. The accurate tee shot is needed as the fairway is narrow and flanked by trees. The wide green, guarded by a bunker to its front left, is wide and slops from the center to both the left and right sides.

Hole 3　Par 4　408 yards

A par four with a dogleg to the left. Off the tee, a 240-yard drive is required to clear two bunkers to the right. The approach is gently downhill and encounters a green that is guarded by two bunkers and surrounded by an array of pines. The green is long with the concaved center, and slopes steeply from left to right.

Hole 3　Par 4　408 yards (3)

Hole 3　Par 4　408 yards (2)

Hole 3　Par 4　408 yards (1)

Hole 4　Par 3　179 yards

A beautiful par three over a pond. The green is very wide with a bunker to the left. The right half of the green slopes steeply from left to right. When the pin position located to the right front of the green, it will be more difficult.

4th green seen from back

Hole 4　Par 3　179 yards (2)

Hole 4　Par 3　179 yards (1)

Hole 5　Par 4　369 yards

Hole 5　Par 4　369 yards (2)

Hole 5　Par 4　369 yards (1)

A relatively short par four with a sharp dogleg to the left. The downhill tee shot is over a hazard followed by the uphill approach shot over a creek. Three bunkers surround the double-tiered and raised green.

Hole 6　Par 5　511 yards

A relatively short par five with a dogleg to the right. The tee shot requires a carry of 225 yards in order to clear the lotus floating wetland. With the gently uphill second or third shot, players will encounter bunkers placed to the right and to the front left sides of the elevated green with subtle undulations.

Hole 6　Par 5　511 yards (3)

Hole 6　Par 5　511 yards (2)

Hole 6　Par 5　511 yards (1)

Hole 9　Par 5　594 yards

A long par five with a dogleg to the right. With the downhill tee shot, players should be careful of bunkers on both sides. The green is elevated, slopes from back to front, and guarded by deep bunkers to the left and right.

Hole 9　Par 5　594 yards (3)

Hole 9　Par 5　594 yards (2)

Hole 9　Par 5　594 yards (1)

Hole 10　Par 5　584 yards

A par five with dogleg to the left. With the gentle downhill tee shot, players should be careful of a fairway bunker lo the left. The second shot is downhill that is followed up by an uphill third. The green is elevated, slopes steeply from the back right to front left, and is surrounded by three bunkers in the front.

Hole 10　Par 5　584 yards (3)

Hole 10　Par 5　584 yards (2)

Hole 10　Par 5　584 yards (1)

Hole 11　Par 4　446 yards

Hole 11　Par 4　446 yards (2)

Hole 11　Par 4　446 yards (1)

A demanding par four with a slight dogleg to the right. Off the tee shot, red pines on the left come into play. The green is shallow and elevated.

Hole 13　Par 3　189 yards

Hole 13　Par 3　189 yards (2)

Hole 13　Par 3　189 yards (1)

A beautiful par three with a sharp drop-off in the front. The green is horizontally long, is double-tiered.

Hole 15　Par 4　352 yards

Hole 15　Par 4　352 yards (2)

Hole 15　Par 4　352 yards(1)

A straight, narrow, and short par four. With a downhill over-a-creek tee shot, a fairway bunker comes into play on the right. An uphill second encounters a green that slopes from back to front, and is guarded by three bunkers to the left.

Hole 16　Par 5　537 yards

A relatively straight par five with a fairway that tilts from right to left. On the second shot, players should pay attention to the pond that comes into play from the left side. The elevated green is long with a deep bunker to the left, and slopes from the center to the back.

Hole 16　Par 5　537 yards (3)

Hole 16　Par 5　537 yards (2)

Hole 16　Par 5　537 yards (1)

Hole 17　Par 3　172 yards

Hole 17　Par 3　172 yards (2)

Hole 17　Par 3　172 yards (1)

A signature hole that is a beautiful over-a-pond par three. The green, elevated and horizontally long with the concaved center, is protected by bunkers in the front and at the rear, and a blind pond to the right.

Hole 19

The course is a 50 minutes’ drive south of downtown Seoul and a 50 minutes’ drive east of Incheon Airport. Players must be accompanied by a member at this private club. Apparently, this course is Samsung Group's flagship golf club and consist of only 100 corporate & individual members. The club designates the annual members each year.

caddies

big bath

Top 100 Golf Courses ranked Anyang CC (top100golfcourses.com) as No.3 in its category of 2020 top 50 courses in Korea that has 450 courses.

restaurant

lunch

Chohei Miyazawa designed courses in Japan are Fujieda GC, Utsunomiya Garden GC, Tateshina Tokyu GC, Tateshina Tokyu GC, Katsuura Tokyu GC, Five Hundred GC, etc., and The Royal G&CC in Thailand. On the other hand, Robert Trent Jone’s Jr. designed courses in Korea are Lotte Skyhill Jeju CC, Oak Valley CC, Rainbow Hills GC, Yongpyong GC and Oster CC.

Silla Hotel Seoul

view from room

During my stay there, I stayed at Silla Hotel Seoul and had dinner at Samchonggak (20 minutes north of the city center). The Korean Palace Cuisine was delicious and offered a modern course meal.

Samchonggak

It is rumored that Samsung Group’s founder Lee Pyong-chul, who died in 1987, wished for two main accomplishments post death: one was to make the company bigger (probably more than 100 times the scale now), and the second was to make Anyang CC a world-class course. It seems that Anyang CC has succeeded to become the number one private club in Korea.