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South Korea

The Club at Nine Bridges is located on Jeju Island, the volcanic island south of South Korea’s continental landmass sometimes referred to as Korea’s Maui. The club, which was developed by the CJ Group, offers only limited access to non-members. As the membership is restricted and largely Seoul based, golf here is a very sedate affair compared with the cheek-by-jowl experience around the capital.

The course was designed by Golf Plan whose two principles are Ronald Fream and David Dale. As befits a golf design firm led by a horticulturalist, the visual presentation and aesthetics of the course are excellent. The public relations releases talk about how the designers have sought to create a Scottish Highlands course and, for once, this is not mere hyperbole. The manicuring and finishing is of an order of perfection you are not liable to find in Scotland so, in truth, it more resembles an American course in a Scottish atmosphere. And this part of Jeju Island does indeed resemble Perthshire. The two nines have been laid out on a very generous allocation of land that wanders through pine-clad rolling land in the lee of Mount Halla, at 6,000 feet South Korea’s tallest mountain.

In all, there are eight bridges built on the course, the ninth of the Club’s name is metaphorical; that which connects the club to its members and guests. Nine Bridges, completed in 2001, is that rare combination of a great golf course in a stunning setting. There’s no mistaking the purpose here. It has been designed to be a championship course on a large scale. And by dint of its stunning location, excellent design, bent grass fairways, tees and greens and pristine conditioning, it succeeds.

The above is a brief edited extract from 

The Finest Golf Courses of Asia & Australasia

 by James Spence. Reproduced with kind permission.

The following article was written by Hwa Young, our Korean Correspondent and Chief Editor at Herald Sports.

Nine Bridges is a private golf club that features perhaps the finest course in Korea. The experience at Nine Bridges is based on the spirit of “Only One” the Management Philosophy of the CJ Group. Nine Bridges has been the standard for golf in Korea since opening 2001. The course is set in natural surrounding under the gaze of Mt Halla at an attitude of 600 meters. The biggest strength of Nine Bridges is that it is a nature friendly course where any disruption to nature was minimised even from the initial development. Ronald Fream and David Dale designed the course.

Nine Bridges has good conditioned facilities and top quality service, where cottages, a villa, swimming pool, Spa and multiple complexes ensure a good after round experience.

Nine Bridges hosted the LPGA four times from 2002 to 2005. It was first club to host the LPGA in Korea. In addition, The Club is also host to the World Club Championship which was established in 2002 to foster the growth of amateur golf and to form a special bond between the World’s Prestigious Clubs. The World Club Championship (WCC) is now recognised as the premier amateur club tournament in the world and is sanctioned by the R&A and the USGA.

The Club at Nine Bridges is an historic Korean golf club and has truly become the representative club in Korea.

In 2016, the PGA Tour and the Seoul-based CJ Group announced a 10-year agreement to host a PGA Tour event in South Korea. The inaugural CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges was staged in October 2017, resulting in a playoff win for American Justin Thomas over Australia’s Marc Leishman.

Architect David Dale watched the 2018 CJ Cup from the sleek, modernist teahouse behind the 14th green and commented as follows: “South Korean designs must, according to local custom, feature teahouses in the middle of each nine. We spent months routing and rerouting that stretch of the back nine at Nine Bridges to create the perfect perch for that teahouse. We did the same on the homeward stretch to create dramatic views of Mt. Halla, which is sacred to the Korean people."

Nine Bridges

Edese

Asia

The Club at Nine Bridges is located on Jeju Island, the volcanic island south of South Korea’s continental landmass sometimes referred to as Korea’s Maui.