The seventh hole of the Hill Course at Ildong Lakes Golf Club in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, features a pine tree standing atop a rocky knoll known as Ildongsong, the golf club’s symbol. Courtesy of Ildong Lakes Golf Club
In 1996, when LPGA stars including Annika Sorenstam and Helen Alfredsson came to Ildong Lakes Golf Club (GC) in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, for the Samsung World Championship of Women’s Golf, a lesser-known 19-year-old Korean golfer finished third outright, helping raise the global profile and presence of Korean women’s golf.
The teenager was Pak Se-ri, who joined the LPGA Tour a year later and went on to build a legendary career with 25 LPGA Tour victories. The course later cemented its status as a proving ground for stars, hosting multiple Korea LPGA Championship tournaments and other top-tier competitions that served as a launchpad for players such as Shin Ji-yai and Kim Sei-young.
Opened in 1995, Ildong Lakes GC is one of Korea’s legacy golf courses, designed to host international-level tournaments. Nestled between Mount Unak and Mount Wontong, the course spans 1.59 million square meters in the city’s Ildong area, offering 30 holes, including an 18-hole members’ course and a 12-hole public course.
The members’ course, which also hosts tournaments, stretches 7,209 yards at par 72 and is divided into two distinct nines. The Mountain Course is laid out to deliver a bold, expansive feel, while the Hill Course is designed to demand more precision. Each of them is structured to offer a complete competitive narrative of its own, functioning as a complete course in itself.
The green at the eighth hole of the Hill Course / Courtesy of Ildong Lakes Golf Club
For tournament play, the Mountain-to-Hill sequence creates a dramatic finish by ending with a challenging par-3 hole. Designed in a stadium-style layout, that last hole allows galleries to gather around the green, creating a theatrical effect of championship play.
In 2020, the HAZZYS Golf KPGA Open at Ildong Lakes GC was played in a Hill-to-Mountain sequence, a setup that also delivered a dramatic finish. A demanding par-3 seventh hole invited bold shot-making, the par-5 eighth offered chances for both eagle and costly mistakes, and the subsequent par-4 finale presented one last birdie opportunity, creating some of the tournament’s most memorable moments.
The course was designed by Kim Hak-young, a former KPGA player who later became a course architect. With support from the late Samsung Group Founding Chairman Lee Byung-chull, Kim studied golf courses in Japan and Britain in the 1960s and gained practical experience at a Japanese golf course design firm.
The ninth hole of the Hill Course / Courtesy of Ildong Lakes Golf Club
Source: Korea Times News
