ASGCA members Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley of Schmidt-Curley Design will create a full-scale, “mini-golf” experience at family-friendly Mission Hills Hainan in China. Construction will begin this summer with opening expected in 2014.
Course plans include:
- 400-yard tee-to-green reproduction of the Great Wall
- Par 3 playing over a depression filled with replica terra cotta warriors
- Tee shot from a grotto through a waterfall on a jungle-themed hole
- Par 3 where large fans buffet players with strong winds
- Par 5 weaving through towering Mayan ruins
- Volcano-themed par 3 with two options: 1) a very difficult shot to a tiny green surrounded by lava rock, or 2) playing into a raised volcano mound much closer to the tee where a pipe sends the ball to the green
- Island-green par 3 where the “lake” is an 80-meter-wide noodle bowl with 75-meter-long chopsticks
“As the leader of China’s golf boom and developer of 22 world-class courses, our properties have staged some of the biggest global events and hosted the game’s best players,” says Dr. Ken Chu, Chairman and CEO of Mission Hills Group. “The fantasy course will be a fun alternative for families, novices, and children on holiday in sunny, warm Haikou.”
“Unlike mini-golf on artificial grass, the fantasy course is played at full-scale with standard equipment on real turf,” Curley said. “Other regulation courses frame holes with trees, bunkers and lakes; this course will incorporate many unique visuals while still requiring players to execute full shots and hole putts.”
Curley and long-time partner Schmidt were named 2011’s “Architect of the Year” by GOLF Magazine and Asian Golf Monthly’s “Best Golf Course Architects.”
As one of 10 layouts at the new Mission Hills Hainan – including the critically-acclaimed Lava Fields and Blackstone, host of the 2011 World Cup of Golf – the fantasy course presents yet another enticing option for resort visitors.