Whistlingrock Country Club

GOLF /

Whistling Rock is mountain golf

Designed and built to truly celebrate the Korean mountain environment.
Golf holes live with the natural elements of a mountain - steep dense forests, roaring streams, and sheer rocky outcrops.
A mountain’s sense of place embodies both grand and intimate connections with
Nature and this is uniquely preserved in the fairways of Whistling Rock.

GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT

TED ROBINSON, JR.

Naturalistic design is design that is derived from nature

When Ted Robinson, Jr. first came upon the site and took a cursory review of the land’s steep
slopes and enormous rock outcrops, he knew the terrain would require significant modification
to accommodate a championship golf course.

At the same time, he was awe-struck by the natural beauty of the site and the many diverse
“connections” to nature that the mountain environment offered.
From early on, a naturalistic methodology of design was adopted and a primary goal was established:
the finished product must be a pure representation of the original site, or, in other words, be in harmony with nature.

The design philosophy at Whistling Rock centered on three core elements: reflecting the site’s natural beauty, intrinsic flexibility of play, and memorable hole designs. The Cocoon, Temple, and Cloud nines employ these elements in a manner fitting the natural topography and the intended ebb and flow of the course.

Robinson Golf Design / Ted Robinson Jr.

www.robinsongolf.com

PROJECT LIST

Riverwalk Golf Club (San Diego, CA)
Arrowood Golf Course (Oceanside, CA)
King Kamehameha Golf Club, Waikapu (Maui, HI)
La Iguana Golf Course (Marriot Los Suenos, Costa Rica)
Robinson Ranch Golf Club (Santa Clarita, CA)
Rancamaya Golf and CC (Bogor, Indonesia),
Best Golf Course Asia Pacific 2011, International Property Awards
'The Pinx Golf Club (East and West), Jeju do, Korea,
#13 in Korea by Golf Digest in 2017’

COURSE MODIFICATION ‘2016-17’

ERIC IVERSON, Senior Associate,
Renaissance Golf Design

In 2014, Whistling Rock initiated an evaluation of the golf course with the goal of maximizing the potential of the property, the golf, and the club operations as compared to the great golf facilities of the world.
The two-year process included an invitation to Eric Iverson, Senior Associate of Renaissance Golf Design, to review the playability and strategic elements of the golf course.

Iverson, a veteran in the golf design field who shapes and designs, has been an Associate under Tom Doak since 2001.
In 2015, Eric was hired as a design consultant representing RGD Associates. In early2016, he began making modifications to the Temple and Cocoon nines.

www.renaissancegolf.com

Renaissance Golf Design Projects as
Lead Associate or Lead Design Consultant

Rock Creek Cattle Company, Deer Lodge, MT, USA
Common Ground, Denver, CO, USA
Stone Eagle, Palm Desert, CA, USA
Bel-Air CC, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Washington Golf and CC, Arlington, VA, USA
The Country Club of Salt Lake City, UT, USA
San Francisco Golf Club, CA, USA
Waialae CC, Honolulu, HI, USA

OVERVIEW

The initial mandate to Iverson was to evaluate playability on some of our greens.
About half of the greens needed softening and more pin locations to increase variety of play and ease maintenance.
A second directive was to look deeper and analyze each hole's strategic value, suggesting modifications that would improve the variety of play and quality of “thinking” the golfer is presented on each hole.

In the end, through Iverson's thoughtful mind and artful eye, 15 holes were improved on the Cocoon and Temple nines.
Six holes received significant changes from tee to green, another seven were given upgraded green sites.
Two holes received minor adjustments to tees and fairways. The initial goal was achieved: pinnable areas on the “problem” greens increased by a minimum of 30%, with some close to 50%.
Our second directive was answered and delivered beyond our wildest expectations.