I have started a hosting service targeting foreign visitors who wish to play golf in Korea! My service is not a “booking” service as in me booking tee times for you and that’s it. I’m more of a white glove full hosting service where I pick you up from your hotel or airport, drive you to the golf course, play a round with you, translate for the caddie, and drive you back to your hotel or airport. Of course we can also get a bite to eat before and/or after the round if you wish, etc.
To get started please fill out this form here!
As you know, there are many hurdles that prevent foreign visitors from playing golf in Korea such as:
- Many country clubs are for members only and it’s not always easy to figure out which clubs are public vs private
- To book a tee time, you need to register on the golf club’s website and registration is usually not possible for foreign visitors unless you have a local mobile number that is authenticated with your national ID card
- Most tee times require a foursome and it’s difficult for visitors to find others to play with to fill a foursome. There are “join” websites but it’s difficult for foreigner visitors to navigate these sites.
- Golf courses are never close to Seoul or major hotels so transportation to / from the golf course is difficult and can be very expensive.
I am here to solve all of these issues and more!
I:
- Have access to some private country clubs as well as all of the public courses
- Can book tee times as a local
- Have a large golf network to fill up foursomes as needed
- Have played almost all of the most popular courses in Korea so can provide advice on course selection
- Can arrange transportation to/from the course
So how do you get started? Here’s an FAQ:
Q: I would like to set up a tee time with you. How do I contact you?
A: The best way to contact me is via email danpaik AT gmail DOT com or by filling out this form: click here!
Q: How much do you charge? What is included in the fee?
A: I charge the standard rate that the golf courses charge but also charge a service fee that typically ranges from around 300k-400k krw depending on the date/time/location of the round. In general, this fee is to cover my cost of hosting such as my green fees, time for attending the round, as well as round trip transportation to/from the course from your hotel. I will send you a single all inclusive rate that includes your green fees + cart fee + caddie fee + my service fee for your group. The rate includes everything for you so there are no hidden fees or any additional fees. Not included is any additional dining, pro shop, caddie tip, club rental, incidentals, etc. Most of my clients don’t pay anything more than this fee but some pay a little bit for a drink, etc. Payment can generally be made via paypal, venmo, zelle, wise, bank transfer, crypto wallet, etc. Payment can be made in KRW or USD.
Q: Will you personally join me in my round?
A: Yes. Korean golf courses generally do not allow me to reserve a tee time for other people and no-show myself. So I must show up and play if I am the one making the reservation. If I am not available, I have others in my network that can sometimes host. If you have a host preference, please let me know and I will see what I can do (e.g., you are a group of 3 women and would prefer the host to be a woman). Please note, that this is not a dating service.
Q: What if I need a reservation for 4 people? Or more than 4 people?
A: I can sometimes find a course to book where I do not need to show up. This limits the course availability though and is difficult but not impossible. If you have more than 4 people, I can book multiple tee times back to back and join you for the round.
Q: Cancellation policy?
A: Payment must be made in full 10 days prior to the reservation date. Unfortunately, no refunds can be guaranteed for cancellations less than 10 days prior to the date (e.g., your flight gets cancelled, sickness, etc.) but I will try to find last minute replacements and if I can find some others to take over your spot(s), I can usually provide some partial refunds at least. Up to 10 days prior, you are free to cancel with no penalty, etc. If you no-show or cancel last minute, there is unfortunately nothing I can do and a refund will not be provided.
Q: What happens if it rains or snows, etc.?
A: If there is inclement weather (usually rain but also includes snow, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.), then it depends. Golf courses in Korea generally allow cancellations if there is more than 2mm of rain per hour. This is more than a small sprinkle but not quite full on torrential rain, etc. If you want to play in rain, we’ll try to play! But if you don’t want to play, then there are 3 potential outcomes:
A) If it is clearly raining hard and has been raining hard for many hours, I will call the golf course before I leave my house and sometimes the golf course will allow me to cancel over the phone. If this is the case, you will get a full 100% refund. Unfortunately we will not be able to play the round and you will have a full day to do whatever else you want to do.
B) If it is not clearly raining but there is potential for rain (rain in the forecast, etc.), I will still try to call the golf course before I leave my house but usually the golf course will not allow me to cancel via phone and will say something like “It’s not raining here and everyone else has been playing all morning” so I will continue to pick you up and we will proceed to the golf course. Once we get to the golf course, if we are able to cancel in person (because it starts to rain hard during the drive there) then I will issue a refund minus 100k krw to help cover some of the transportation portion of the day. I can drive you back to your hotel or (since we’re out there) we can choose to have breakfast/lunch somewhere, etc. (it’s up to you). In short, you will receive most of your payment as a partial refund in this case.
C) If it isn’t raining so we start to play but then it start raining during the round, we can ask the caddie if we can cancel. If the caddie and golf course allow us to cancel then we pay the golf course a prorated rate on green fees and a set fee for cart and caddie. To be more precise, let’s say we play 7 holes and then call it quits before we tee off on hole 8. Golf courses usually will charge you a prorated rate based on green fees so they will charge 7/18 of the full green fee. But the cart and caddie fee are set in steps so if you play 9 holes or less you still pay 50% of the cart fee. If you play 10 holes or more you pay 100% of the cart fee. Same with the caddie fee. So if you play 7 holes in this example, we still need to pay 50% of the cart and 50% of the caddie fees. So in short, you will then receive a partial refund that is slightly less than the prorated fee of what you paid minus the transportation portion of the fee.
Q: Can you book transportation for me?
A: Since this is a service primarily targeting foreigners who are visiting Korea, my service typically includes transportation to/from your hotel/airbnb or airport on the day of the round. Fees depend on distance, etc. but generally run about 1/4 to 1/2 of the cost of what it would cost to take a taxi. I drive an electric car with a comfortable range of about 300km so I try to keep the total distance driven in a day to under 300km.
Q: Can I rent golf clubs?
A: Most courses have golf clubs available for rental. The quality of clubs can vary greatly and I would generally assume that the clubs will be about 10+ years old. The shafts will likely be regular or ladies stiffness so they probably won’t have stiff or extra stiff, etc. The clubs will likely be right handed only so if you are a lefty, you are probably out of luck. You will likely have better luck renting clubs from a local golf fitting shop as they probably have better clubs available. If you are in a pinch, I can probably build a set for you with some extra clubs that I have but they won’t be great. If possible, I do recommend that you bring your own golf clubs from home but if you have to rent, please let me know and I will see what I can find. The cost to rent golf clubs in Korea is generally around 50-70k krw for the day but there are a few courses where golf club rental is complimentary.
Q: Which courses do you typically book?
A: My favorite mid to high end public courses are Bear Creek Pocheon, La vie est belle (Old or Dunes course), Sagewood Hongcheon, Club 72, Bears Best, Vert Hill, Cascadia, Sung Moon An, The Crosby, The Heaven, Pocheon Hillmaru, etc. For private courses, I typically book Ansung Benest, Gapyeong Benest, 88cc, Lakewood, New Springville, Hansung, Adonis, etc. I do not play the low end courses in Korea (Korea Public, Rock Garden, Yongin, Castlex, etc.) as I generally feel that they are not worth the time and cost.
Unfortunately, I am not able to the book the really high end golf courses such as Jack Nicklaus, Anyang, Trinity, Nine Bridges, Gonjiam, Wellington, etc.
Q: What is the process like?
A: First you fill out the form or email me with dates, times, # of people, desired location (e.g. within 1 hour of Seoul), target budget, etc. and I can send you a list of some options. Tee times do get booked up quickly so sometimes tee times will not be available for booking if we go back and forth for too long. I can generally book tee times 4-10 weeks prior to the desired date. If you email me <10 days prior to your desired date, I usually am unable to help since I am usually already booked so the earlier you email me, the better. I am also friendly with plan changes so no need to have a fully solid plan when you email me…happy to just discuss and provide thoughts, etc.
Q: Is there a minimum age requirement? skill requirement?
A: Golf courses in Korea generally do not allow children to play golf so all players must be adults age 18+. If you have a child in High School and he/she is a good golfer and is tall (so from afar he/she looks like an adult), we will probably be ok. But the courses will not allow elementary and middle school children to play. For basic skills, there is no requirement and even first timers are ok but you should at least be able to hit the ball. You should have at least been to the golf range a few times to get a rough feel. If you are a beginner / first timer, you will likely be asked to pick up your ball and move on at times in order to keep pace of play at a reasonable pace so don’t be angry or offended if you are asked to just tee off or hit your ball from the hazard tee and then later pick up and putt, etc.
Q: My spouse / child / friend doesn’t play golf but just wants to watch and hang out. Can he/she do that?
A: Well, yes but… Your spouse can come along and sit in the cart etc, but your spouse will need to pay as if he/she is playing. There is no such thing in Korea as a “spectator fee” where they can pay a lower fee just to sit and join and watch but not play. It may not be worth the high cost of Korean golf just to have someone pay but not play.