TAEGU, South Korea — On his day off, Frank Anguay can usually be found on the driving range of the Army’s Camp Walker Golf Course.
But this Saturday he will no longer be relegated to the practice tee.
The popular nine-acre course has undergone a $4 million makeover and for the past year improvements have been made to the greens, hazards, drainage and irrigation systems.
The renovated layout, which opens Saturday, features a longer, more challenging and aesthetically pleasing course.
“I didn’t get much to use my woods; very little long iron shots or wood shots,” said Anguay, a retired servicemember and self-described “hard-core” golfer who works for the U.S. Army in Taegu.
“There’s a lot of practice that’s to be done with the woods, and I’ll spend my time on the driving range sharpening my skills up. I play every weekend.”
So do many people in Taegu, South Korea’s third-largest city and a major logistics headquarters for the U.S. Army. And they say the course changes will enhance playing conditions for decades.
The greens were enlarged and the main additions were 22 tee boxes, 39 sand traps and a 2.3-acre pond that comes into play on three holes. The irrigation system and major drainage improvements should make the grounds greener and more durable, said golf course manager James Carey.
“Before, all we had was rain, so if it was a dry summer … the grass would just die,” he said. “It would be just about a dead golf course in August, and we’d have to wait until basically mid-September and October for the greens to come back.
“Whereas now, we’ll be able to keep it green throughout the summer and into the fall, which just makes a much more playable golf course. … These greens will last for another 30 years.”
Chuck Youngblood, an Army employee who plays every weekend, and Anguay played on the renovated layout during a tournament on April 6.
“The water holes, I can tell you, are absolutely gorgeous,” said Youngblood. “It’s some of the best playing I ever played.”
They’re happy that the course is more demanding.
“Not only is it more challenging playing the course,” Youngblood said, “it changes your whole game. Playing par 3s and using the lower clubs and then having to use the long clubs. It was hard, it was really hard.”
“It’s going to be challenging,” said Anguay, “because there are places you can get in trouble. … Not only the length is long, but now you have to deal with the hazards of this course. It’s hilly, it has trenches on the left as you go up, it has trees, it has sand bunkers — not an easy course to play for an average golfer.”
