Ladies European Tour player Florentyna Parker posted a photo to social media on Thursday from a golf course in Korea that raised some eyebrows. “I’m currently playing in Korea and came across a Par 7!” she wrote on Twitter. Attached was a photo of the yardage marker beside the third tee box with an eyepopping distance attached: 1004 from the black tees. And that’s 1004 meters, not yards, making it the longest hole on Earth.
The hole in question is at Gunsan Country Club in the North Jeolla Province of South Korea. Gunsan consists of 81 holes and is built on an abandoned salt field. If you’re planning a golf trip to Gunsan, you may want to bring plenty of golf balls: Of the sprawling 1060-acre property, lakes take up 380 acres. There are 26 bridges on property to connect the holes, some of which are plenty meaty. There’s a 661-meter (723-yard) par 6. But that pales in comparison to the property’s par-7, which measures in at a shade under 1,100 yards.
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For her part, Parker seemed to tackle the hole quite well. “In case you’re interested I made a 7!” she wrote on Twitter. “Driver (didn’t reach the fairway), 3 wood, 3 wood, 3 wood, 5 wood and 2 putts = Par.”
If you’re keeping score at home, that would be a green in regulation hit in five shots. Not bad, Florentyna.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLz6olIgu0h/
The par-7 stretches the length of this particular nine to 3,469 yards and consists of three par-5s, five par-4s and the monstrous par-7. And yes, it’s the No. 1 handicap hole.
The construction of Gunsan Country Club’s five-shotter was just the latest escalation in an ongoing arms race to build the longest golf hole in the world. That title was once held by Satsuki golf course in Sano, Japan, where a 964-yard par-7 beat down all comers. But Joe Gibbs of Marquette, Michigan one-upped him with a 1007-yard par 6 at his golf course, Chocolay Downs.
GOLF’s own Alan Shipnuck has long suggested that modern Tour courses will need to stretch to 9,000 yards to test the big bombers. Just nine holes at this distance would get you there. But even the biggest hitters had better watch out for the water down the left!
