The longest golf hole in the world is in the North Jeolla Province in South Korea. The par-7, 3rd at Gunsan Country Club is 1,097 yards long. You might have to read that twice to believe it.
Par 7 Golf Hole
The 3rd hole on the Jeongeup course at Gunsan CC is nearly two-thirds of a mile long. You have five shots to make the green in regulation that is nearly 1,100 yards away which is nice. But definitely not the traditional long American hole.
The longest golf hole is the world is a double dog-leg, swerving to the right and then back to the left. Water surrounds the entire left coast of the hole throughout the 1,100-yard journey. This makes it the easy choice for the number one handicapped hole on the Jeongeup Course.
I think some of the big hitters like Brooks Koepka or Dustin Johnson could make mince meat of this hole. But then again, they can drive it upwards of 320 yards and then get to the green in 4 shots no problem.
Related: Longest Drive Ever in a PGA Tour Event
Gunsan Country Club
The country club was built on an abandoned salt field and consists of 81 holes. There are seven 9-hole courses that are open to the public and a single 18-hole course that is for members only.
From the furthest back tees, the seven courses range from 3,447 to 4,045 yards long. Three of the courses would be considered long but the other four really aren’t too different from an average course’s length.
For example, the Jeongeup Course is only 3,794 yards long but contains the monster par-7 in its nine. That means about 30% of the 9-hole course’s length is in a single hole, making the rest seem reasonable. The par-7 is also the only hole on Jeongeup that isn’t a par-3 or par-4, backing up the point that it isn’t a very hard course.
Iksan Course
From looking at the scorecard, the Iksan Course at Gunsan seems to be the hardest of the seven. Iksan is par-36 and 4,045 yards in length. The two par-5s are 652 and 673 yards. So, if you thought one long par-7 was tough, try two extremely long par-5s.
For perspective, it would take five shots averaging out to 219 yards per shot to make the green in regulation on the par-7. You would need three shots averaging 217 and 224 yards to make the green in regulation on the two long par 5s.
Even the pair of par-3s are difficult in terms of length on Iksan. The par-3 4th is 187 yards long while the par-3 8th is 221 yards long. That might require some golfers to bring out a wood instead of an iron.
Water at Gunsan
Water covers a good amount of the area at the course which could lead to a little trouble for golfers. Of the massive 1,060-acre property at Gunsan CC, 380 acres of it are taken up by lakes.
That means about 36% of the golf course features are water hazards. 26 bridges exist on the property to help move golfers from hole to hole due to the incredible amount of water.
Thinking about water along the entire side of the longest golf hole will challenge average golfers who struggle to consistently hit the ball straight. Having to hit five or six shots just to get to the green while directly next to water for all of them? Sounds like you should carry a few extra balls if you make the trip to South Korea.
Longest hole in the US
The longest hole in America is an 841-yard, par-6 at Meadow Farms in Locust Grove, VA. Now, that is no slouch, but it still falls short by over 250 yards to the par-7 at Gunsan. The course consists of three separate 9-hole courses – The Island Green 9, The Waterfall 9, and The Longest Hole 9.
