Weihai Point - Your First Impressions (Photos Included!)

[Abe Summers]

I was on the airplane flying from Korea back to China yesterday and saw a little picture tucked inside the International Herald Tribune.  First impressions after looking at this photo?  I must say this is a pretty stunning photo, but hard to get a detailed look at the GCA.  I want to see/hear more from some players and will let you know as soon as I do - top 5 golf courses in the world?  I am skeptical, but pretty cool location - seaside in Shandong province, China, very close to Korea, etc.

I have not been able to figure out who the architect is yet, except the articles in Chinese mention an American company called "Golf Plan".  Any ideas who this could be?

The excerpt from the IHT:
Weihai Point Oceanside Golf and Resort in Weihai, China, opened on Saturday. The 18 hole golf club is managed by the Korean company Kumho Resort, a subsidiary of Kumho Asiana Group. The company is aiming to become one of the top five golf courses in the world. [YONHAP]

[Abe Summers]

Sorry, posting is just not working today.  However, follow these links to see what I saw.  Now, what do you think?

#1) http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2894334
#2) http://news.joins.com/article/3282836.html?ctg=13

[Abe Summers]

Maybe someone could help me out and go to these websites, download the pictures and then post a reply with the pictures, because it has not been working for me today.  So everyone can actually get a look at this course...

[Matt_Cohn]

Srsly?

[Neil_Crafter]

Golf Plan is Ron Fream's firm with David Dale and they do work anywhere and everywhere so its no surprise to see them on this tiny sliver of land. A most remarkable site for sure.
Neil

[David_Elvins]

First impression - Holy Sh_t.

[Tom_Doak]

That's pretty spectacular.  I am bummed because I've had Weihai, China on a list of places we ought to work for about two years now, based on a recommendation from someone at dinner in Bandon, but I just never found time to get over and see what he was talking about.

I will be curious how the course goes over in the rankings.  Looks like it would be a slam dunk, however this is clearly a cart course, as the end of the peninsula is so narrow that some of it (the last hole on the end, at least) is one-way traffic, with a long cart ride back to the tee.  And there still aren't any courses on the top 100 lists which aren't easily walkable.

Hopefully it is much better than an anorexic Old Head.

[Mike Sweeney]

I am sorry to say that it looks like Mahogany Run in St Thomas. Spectacular site for hiking, but not so much for golf. Maybe Weihai Point has more room. When I played MR, the pro shop gave you a tee shirt that said something like "I survived the Devil's Triangle" if you played the three holes without losing a ball.

From their website:

In 1980 Mahogany Run Golf Course, a George & Tom Fazio design, opened for play. Golf Digest proclaimed it more of an engineering marvel than an architectural one as the course had to be carved and blasted into an area of land just less than 110 acres. With only 77,000 square feet of greens and tight winding fairways, this is target golf with beautiful ocean views culminating in the course’s Signature holes known as The Devil’s Triangle.

[cary lichtenstein]

Am I the only one thinking this picture does not look real and perhaps it is a photoshop of what this course will look like?

[Steve Kline]

I was thinking that too. The buildings definitely look photoshopped.

[Tom_Doak]

There may be some Photoshop involved but I just looked on Google Earth and there is definitely a golf course there ... it looks like construction was being finished when their photo was taken, or the fairways were dormant, but there are greens in place and sand in the bunkers, etc.

The course is on a point jutting north into the bay, a bit to the west of the city of Weihai.

[Neil_Crafter]

Tom
I took a look too and the course appears to be built, grass is dormant and there is snow on the ground. Quite a site. The images are photoshopped though for sure.
Neil

[Kalen Braley]

Agree with Neil.

The photos are definitly photoshopped. The hole on the end of the penisula in the 1st photo doesn't exist. And the structures in the 2nd photo aren't there either.

Does look like a spectacular location though.

[Abe Summers]

I've managed to contact Golfplan and also the Kumho Resort people and they claim they'll be sending along some more photos.  I am not too surprised about some of the photos being photoshopped -- I agree it looks suspicious, but that's the thing that gets done nowadays.  But I'll try to submit more photos when I get them and we can compare.

[Rob Rigg]

That looks like the type of course you would see in a video game.

How would one go about building on what looks like, in the second set of pictures, barren rock a couple hundred feet above the sea?

Cost of this project is estimated at?

[Pete_Pittock]

Weihai Point is the subject of the lead submission for Paul Daley's Golf Architecture - Volume 5 and its a wowser. Best New International course in one of the 2008 magazines. The location of Weihai, China is directly west of Inchon and the DMZ.
This is the link to their website: http://www.weihaipointgolfresort.net/main.asp which should have a course map, and hole by hole descriptions and photography.

The site used to have the Pan China GC, but that was erased in 2007 and this new resort course tips out at 6235, which is about the max  they had with the acreage and terrain. Moved about 300,000 meters of bedrock, mainly on the 2500 meter peninsula, widening each hole on the predominantly out and back peninsula by about 15 meters. Should be very walkable despite some transitions.

I'm suprised no one has commented in the last two years, especially with Volume 5's article. Has anyone played here and what was your assessment?

  

[Garland Bayley]

I saw it in Daley's book. I was skeptical then. Now that Tom has told me how to find it on Google Earth, I am even more skeptical. Extremely narrow fairways, with rock roughs? I measured the widest portion of fairway next to the ocean on one hole at 25 yards. I can't dependably hit that with a 7 iron. A dozen balls would not get me around this course unless I resorted to chip shots and putts only. Unfortunately, that would not get me across the forced carries. It seems to me that they ruined a good place to have a park where people can stretch their legs in a great environment.

[Mike Benham]

From the construction company's website

Pan-China Golf

[Garland Bayley]

That would be the last hole going out the peninsula. About 170 yards from the back tees, par 3. From their you take the path out to the point where you tee it up and play a par 3 coming back on the other side of the peninsula, also about 170 yards from the back tees, par 3.

[Pete_Pittock]

I saw it in Daley's book. I was skeptical then. Now that Tom has told me how to find it on Google Earth, I am even more skeptical. Extremely narrow fairways, with rock roughs? I measured the widest portion of fairway next to the ocean on one hole at 25 yards. I can't dependably hit that with a 7 iron. A dozen balls would not get me around this course unless I resorted to chip shots and putts only. Unfortunately, that would not get me across the forced carries. It seems to me that they ruined a good place to have a park where people can stretch their legs in a great environment.

Garland, if you're worried about the golf balls, try used ones . According to David Dale's article they added 10-15 yards of width to the holes to avoid it being a ball gobbler. Don't hold Weihai Point hostage because of your game  

[Ryan Farrow]

Kind of strange that the course is not mentioned anywhere on the GolfPlan website:

but did stumble across this: Pezula  in South Africa... looks like an incredible site.

[Nick Schaan]

We are curently working on project that starts construction this winter with the company that built Weihai Point. Having wroked with them on acouple of projects, now I can say that the images are surely computer generated. It seems that is the norm for final design submission. I'll see if I can post the image generated for the project we are working on when I get back to the office.

[Bart Bradley]

Kind of strange that the course is not mentioned anywhere on the GolfPlan website:

but did stumble across this: Pezula  in South Africa... looks like an incredible site.

Ryan:

I have played Pezula ...it was part of the GCA South Africa Trip.  Pezula has some beautiful spots and is better than decent golf.  I wouldn't have recognized your pictures as Pezula, however...I think they are a bit deceptive as well.

Bart

[Kyle Henderson]

That article was written by David Dale (principal architect). He claimed that they were not allowed to remove a single pine tree during construction. Such limitations surely account for the claustrophobic aspects of some holes and the rather long green to tee distances.

Weihai Point is the subject of the lead submission for Paul Daley's Golf Architecture - Volume 5 and its a wowser. Best New International course in one of the 2008 magazines. The location of Weihai, China is directly west of Inchon and the DMZ.
This is the link to their website: http://www.weihaipointgolfresort.net/main.asp which should have a course map, and hole by hole descriptions and photography.

The site used to have the Pan China GC, but that was erased in 2007 and this new resort course tips out at 6235, which is about the max  they had with the acreage and terrain. Moved about 300,000 meters of bedrock, mainly on the 2500 meter peninsula, widening each hole on the predominantly out and back peninsula by about 15 meters. Should be very walkable despite some transitions.

I'm suprised no one has commented in the last two years, especially with Volume 5's article. Has anyone played here and what was your assessment?