Tee Time: 11:30
Players: James, Eric, Woochul
Today was the annual Dell Technologies Classic, the 21st annual (mostly) golf event held in Korea. This is an awesome even run by Dell Technologies. They really do a great job bringing together a lot of technology folks in the industry in Korea. They reserve a golf course for the day, we gather for some golf clinics by some local KLPGA pros, sit through a session about some of the latest technology, eat lunch, and then head out for 18 holes of golf. We even get 9 holes of a field lesson from a local KLPGA pro which is always a lot of fun!
I have been lucky enough to get an invite for the past 2 years so this was my second time participating in this event. Prior to last year it was canceled due to covid and prior to that, I didn’t get an invite.
Cascadia is famous (infamous?) for being the most expensive public golf course in Korea with green fees of 510,000 KRW! (roughly $450). The carts are all custom made 6 person limousine carts that cost over 60m KRW to build (roughly $50k).
The course just opened in September so there is still some construction going on and the grass is still growing in certain areas, etc. There are some patches here and there as well. As a result, they have special discount pricing of roughly 350k-400k or so KRW instead of the full 510k KRW for green fees. There is also a slight discount in cart fees from 220k->200k KRW, etc.
It’s still expensive though but is it worth it?
Well, everything is pretty upscale here. When you pull in, they take your bags and they have valet parking for everyone. Rather than taking your boston bag and leaving it on a bench out front for you, they actually take it inside the building for you.
The clubhouse is the nicest and grandest clubhouse I have ever seen. There are waterfalls, huge doors that open automatically, high ceilings, etc. You check in and take an escalator upstairs to the locker rooms. Then another floor up is the pro shop and restaurant. Then another floor up is the main level to get to the course, etc.
The clubhouse really is amazing and it’s clear that no expense was spared in building this clubhouse.
But the actual course? Hmm…this is where is gets tough. I felt that the course was beautiful but was a bit meh…the fairways are too narrow and many of the greens are elevated so that if you overshoot or undershoot it, you’re in big trouble.
The stone course is interesting with big boulders everywhere. Your ball will bounce off a boulder and sometimes come into play so that’s nice I suppose. The first green is surrounded by boulders so a miss here actually isn’t too bad but is kind of an odd way to play golf.
Overall, I didn’t like the course that much because I found it a little too narrow and difficult for me.
But I’ll be back and plan to come back in a couple of weeks with some friends so we’ll see how they like it.
