Weihai Point Hotel & Golf Resort

Overview: Weihai Point Hotel & Golf Resort occupies a narrow peninsula extending into the Yellow Sea, with the sea visible from much of the course. Golfplan partner David M. Dale reshaped the layout through cliffs, pine woodland, sandy ground and exposed shoreline, creating an 18-hole, par-72 resort course measuring 6,235 yards. The routing repeatedly moves toward the water, then turns back along the peninsula, so wind and changing elevation influence nearly every approach. Sand-capped fairways, preserved pines, steep-faced bunkers and greens that range from subtle to boldly contoured give the course a strong architectural identity. Its shorter scorecard is intentional: it was designed for the site and the enjoyment of the round, not to chase an arbitrary championship length.

History: The present course replaced the earlier Pan China Golf Club layout after Golfplan was commissioned to redesign the site. Golfplan's own project record and the resort's design essay place the new Weihai Point course in 2008, when the resort opened on the peninsula. The redesign had to work with dramatic existing conditions, including cliffs, rock and protected pine trees. Rather than flattening the property into a conventional resort course, Dale and the Golfplan team routed holes out toward the peninsula's edge and back again, using the narrow landform as the organising principle.

Did You Know? The project required the removal of about 300,000 cubic metres of rock, while the designer's account records more than 300 drainage catch pits beneath the fairways. The sand-capped surfaces and preserved pine trees are therefore practical parts of the course's construction story as well as visible features of its coastal character.