How To Play Golf In North Korea, really? This is a story that not many people would believe. In a culture that abhorred any form of perceived western or capitalist pastime, especially one that is seen as relatively exclusive, how was this possible?
Well, the short answer was that even in North Korea it was possible.
In a recent post about my time living in North Korea for 3 years, one of the questions posed was “what did you do for fun?”
ife In North Korea As A Foreigner Surviving 3 Years
I answered that we discovered a small 9-hole golf course. This was at the Yanggakdo Hotel, one of the main hotels in Pyongyang for the use of foreigners. So we started off playing quite regularly there. I had always wanted to learn how to play golf, I just didn’t imagine it would be in North Korea.
You could hire equipment although as time went on we all bought our own. But as usual with all forms of Foreigner/North Korea interaction such as this, it was horrendously expensive. Then again, what else did we have to spend our money on?
It was a challenging little course. It came complete with lady caddies plus quite a good little bar and restaurant attached. So, many were the weekends we spent hacking our way around the course gradually improving our techniques.
Then one evening at a social event at which North Korean government officials were present, someone, somehow brought up golf. To our surprise, one of the North Koreans said we should try out the magnificent 18-hole golf course on the outskirts of Pyongyang.
Our first reaction was “what course?” Well to cut a long story short, in the days that followed we investigated this news further hoping it was true.
Well, there was indeed an 18-hole course. It was situated just over 25 miles outside Pyongyang alongside Lake Taicheng on the road to the port city of Nampo and we obtained official permission to go and visit it.
Turning off the Nampo road, we drove up a muddy track until we came to a manned checkpoint. The guard did not stop us and waved us through. From there, we proceeded to head for the clubhouse. This entailed driving along the banks of the Taicheng lake and eventually arriving at the large and imposing clubhouse.
The strange thing was that along the banks of the lake were several luxurious waterfront homes. However what was even more unbelievable was the sight of an enormous cabin cruiser moored alongside one of the homes. Who did it belong to? How did it get there onto such a small lake? It would not have looked out of place on the Monaco waterfront!
Finally arriving at the clubhouse, we met the course manager.
He started off by giving us a tour of the clubhouse and all the amenities it offered. It had it all. Restaurant, bar, steam room, changing rooms, massage facilities all fully staffed. In addition to this, the facility had a full time complement of 20 full time caddies.
It was immaculately laid out, spotless and pristine and empty! There seemed to be a full complement of local staff in all the amenity areas plus small squads of cleaners dusting and polishing throughout the building.
It was obvious given the amenities and furnishings on site that a lot of money had gone into this main clubhouse building, but whose money and where were the funds coming from to maintain this fully equipped and fully staffed golf course given there did not seem to be anybody playing?
So, after the inside tour, we headed outside where the manager then proceeded to give us a rundown of the course.
It was an 18‑hole, 72‑par course covering 120 hectares (300 acres) with 45 hectares (110 acres) of green and approximately 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) long. Walking around a few of the holes, it was immaculately maintained….and like the clubhouse empty, not a player in sight.
I asked the manager who it was who actually played on this course…no answer.
However, at this stage we were not too bothered about the lack of others on the course. We just wanted to start playing on it ourselves.
In due course, we received official permission to use this course whenever we wanted without having to ask . Another surprise was that we were allowed to visit and play without any minders or embassy local staff having to accompany us. This indeed was a rare concession and one that we took advantage of many times in the months that followed.
Needless to say, the fees per round put the exorbitant Yanggakdo prices to shame. However, it was always a pleasure to play there. From memory, it worked out at just under 100 Euros per round with the provision of individual caddies included in the price!
Our caddies were very patient and from time to time (when asked) they would step up and show us how it was done. They were very impressive.
In the end, I often wondered why we were given such freedom to play there. It appeared that over the months and years we played there, we were the only ones that ever seemed to use the course.
We never saw any other players. Perhaps it was a cunning ploy on the part of the North Koreans to part the foreigners from their cash….who knows?