Blue One Sangju (East & West) - South Korea

Designed by the Orange Engineering Company and named The Orange Golf Resort when it debuted in 2008, the Blue One Sangju Golf Resort golf complex was acquired by the Taeyoung Group (which operates television stations) after the original developer had a serious rethink about its diversification strategy.

Set within a beautiful mountain landscape, the East and West nines are not an easy walk so hiring a buggy is certainly a good idea. The course isn’t as hilly as some located around Seoul, for instance, but it’s still a physically demanding track that’s best enjoyed by motorised transport.

The signature hole is undoubtedly the 423-metre 13th, requiring a forced carry with both the tee shot and the approach to the green, and this hole is followed shortly after by a lovely little sequence near the end of the round, where the short par four 16th hole is sandwiched between two par three holes.

We think the following poetic translation sums the course up rather well: The East course requires “strategy without greed” where “trees and moor quietly unfold between the clouds” whilst the West course presents “challenge and humility” on “natural terrain (amongst) valleys and rock”.