Club, located 45 minutes north of Guangzhou in
Guangdong. Twenty-seven of the planned 36 rick
Jacobsen-designed holes are complete. both course
and club were awarded “best New” status, thanks
in part to the watery, risk/reward layout and the
spectacular Southern California-style clubhouse.
Two hotels, a spa and a yacht club are planned for
this water-themed resort destination.
Most renowned in Guangdong Province is the Mission Hills resort in Shenzhen, the Guinness book of
World records holder as largest golf resort on the
planet. Twelve courses,
several lit for night play,
three clubhouses, including the world’s largest, a
630,000-square-foot
behemoth at Dong-guan and a caddie fleet
of 3,000 are kept busy
by the club’s proximity
to Hong Kong, some 60
minutes away in (rare)
light traffic.
The designer primar-
ily responsible for the Mission Hills courses, brian
Curley, of the Scottsdale-based firm of Schmidt-
Curley, is architect of record for Mission Hills’
newest mega-project, Mission Hills Haikou on
Hainan Island. Seven of an anticipated 10 cours-
es are complete, including blackstone, where the
World Cup will move to in 2011. each of the six is
draped atop black volcanic rock, a striking if un-
playable hazard that frames many fairways.
unique to the new Mission Hills are the themes
each course embraces, with one layout paying
homage to the australian Sandbelt classics, an-
other that mimics vintage american courses of the
1920s, and so on. “We were given carte blanche to
create playing experiences inspired by our globe-
trotting,” says Curley. “Deep reverence for golf
history coupled with our passion for pushing the
course-design envelope is on full display.”
Schimdt-Curley are also active in yunnan Prov-
ince, with several designs near completion, includ-
ing Stone forest in Kunming. by most accounts, Kun-
ming is home to China’s two top spreads, the Spring
City resort’s Lake course, a
drama-filled robert Trent
Jones II creation and the
Jack Nicklaus-designed
Mountain, which sports a
superb par- 4 closer, 465
yards with a carry over a
ravine.
Perhaps the most ex-
citing golf challenge,
however, sits near Old
Town Lijiang, a uNeSCO-
designated World Cul-
tural Heritage Site that dates back eight centuries.
fortify yourself in town with some dried yak meat
(picture beef jerky, but saltier), because the fi-
nal test in China is the equivalent of a bar exam:
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, in the shadows of
the Himalayas. earth’s longest course, at 8,548
yards, it’s also among the highest, at an elevation
of 10,171 feet, so swing easy. fortunately, they’ve
stocked the golf carts with oxygen bottles. Jade
Dragon perhaps best symbolizes what China is all
about: It’s gigantic and it’s unforgettable. n
clubhouse lobby at lion lake
