Golf Course Gets North Korean Touch

Preliminary reports indicate that Mt. Geumgang Golf Course, which will be finished at the end of September, will use North Korean-style golf terminology. The Mt. Geumgang Golf Tournament, which will be held in November and to which Hyundai-Asan and the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) have invited 150 South Korean businesspeople, will use North Korean-style golf terminology as well.

For North Koreans, a t-box is called a “hitting pole”; a golf tee is a “ball block”; and an iron is called an “iron rod.”

The reason North Korean-style terminology will be used is partly because the caddies will all be North Korean women.

Hyundai Asan will invite potential caddies to the North Korean Mt. Geumgang Golf Course for a six-month caddy-training program next month.

One of Mt. Geumgang’s tourist destinations, the 18-hole Mt. Geumgang Golf Course is laid out so that golfers can enjoy a different view of the mountain at each hole. The scenery is gorgeous, said a Hyundai Asan spokesperson.

The fairway is 75 to 80 yards wide, 20 to 30 yards wider than most South Korean courses, making shots out of bounds less likely.

The third hole will be a par 7 about 1,014 yards (927m) long. It will be seven yards longer than the current longest hole in the world, a par 6 hole (1,007 yards, 920m) at Chocolay Downs Country Club in Michigan.

The 14th hole (par 3, 155m) is shaped like an overturned kettle lid, so that if a ball touches the green, it gets drawn toward the hole, making a hole-in-one easier.

The clubhouse is decorated with a large Mt. Geumgang mural, nine meters by 3.5 meters. A total of 15 North Korean artists from the Baekho Artists Association worked on the mural for 35 days. It depicts the fall landscape of the golf course from the 13th to the 16th holes.

Emerson Pacific, a golf management firm, owns 90 percent of the course, which cost 72.3 billion won. Hyundai Asan provided the 50,000-pyeong plot of land the course is built on by securing permission for its use from North Korea. It holds a 10 percent stake in the course as well.

Memberships to the golf course are not for sale; instead, the adjoining golf resort hotel, Golftel, will be sold in lots to the public. The price will be determined later, but will be much lower than South Korean golf courses.

Young-Hae Choi yhchoi65@donga.com