Rainbow Hills (South & East) - South Korea

Robert Trent Jones Jr. has designed several courses in South Korea, including the 1997 renovation at Anyang Country Club, but his creation at Rainbow Hills Country Club sufficiently moved the architectural guru to write a poem…

Round and round we go
At Rainbow Hills golfing the ball
Up and down flower petals fall

The fairway meander
The streams rocky
Mountains tower tall
This course has teeth
With bunkers that bite

In summer full joy in the long daylight
The rain and sunshine clash
Into Autumn’s Rainbow Rhapsody
In winter long running fall
Upon the snow white cold

So all year we play and play
We draw the course close
But she never yields

When we stroke the ball
Then putt upon her soft greens
The wild golf course,
Rainbow Hills,
Love endlessly

It’s quite possible we may have lost something in translation, but watch out, there may be a Poet Laureate in the making.

Rainbow Hills has aspirations, big aspirations, according to their marketing: “Aiming to be the Augusta National Golf Club of Korea, someone should lead the world. Finally, there should be one of the world’s best golf clubs in Korea.”

There’s no doubt that everything about Rainbow Hills is top quality. The holes are routed across a massive 820-acre site, fairways are carpeted with the best Kentucky bluegrass and the rough is planted with fescue. The highly regarded Dongbu Corporation built the course and also the clubhouse, which was designed by foremost architects Marsh & Associates, Inc. who are based in Denver, Colorado.

The South and East loops form the premier configuration, although the West loop at Rainbow Hills is hardly inferior. The property is set at altitude, some 2,200 feet above sea level, and the East circuit is very much in the hilly, mountain style with significant elevation changes. The South, on the other hand, is much wider, longer and way less severe.

The 448-yard par four 2nd hole on the South is noteworthy. A multi-level water hazard separated by stepped ponds flanks the left side of the hole, which has a split fairway. A carry of around 220 yards is required should you be heroic enough to take the direct route over water to the second fairway, otherwise play to the right hand fairway, which will leave a much longer uphill approach. Most golfers will play this hole as a three shotter from the safer, right hand fairway.