This article was machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean original
01Prologue: A Huge Escape Named 'Away Rounding'
On Friday afternoons, major highways leaving Seoul form a procession of red taillights filled with imported SUVs and large sedans heading to famous golf resorts in the Yeongnam, Honam, or Gangwon regions. These are the so-called "two-day, one-night golf expedition crowds" who play 36 holes over Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday.
"I’ve decided to go on an away round of golf to Namhae with my colleagues. The first day is an afternoon tee-off, and the second day is an early morning round, so I have to go down and stay at the golf hotel inside the course." This line, thrown at a spouse as one steps out the front door, is the most perfect and confident 'justification for staying out overnight' that married adults can face.
When visiting golf courses in the metropolitan area located one to two hours away, there is significant time pressure as one must return home by that same night at the latest. However, the situation changes if the destination is a remote course in Namhae, Jeju, or Samcheok in Gangwon Province, which takes five to six hours round trip. Since clear justifications such as the "inevitability of travel distance" and the "fatigue of consecutive rounds" are provided, a spouse's nagging or suspicious radar ceases to function. It is the moment when a bold overnight stay away from home for the entire weekend is legally laundered, clad in the noble guise of business and a healthy hobby.
However, deep into the night at a golftel, where the majority of pure amateur golfers fall asleep agonizing over their swing tempo, a "real second round for adults"—which most mainstream media turn a blind eye to—unfolds in real time in every quiet and isolated corner of the resort. It is an ecosystem of secret and thrilling nightlife that takes place within the perfect seclusion provided by the closed spaces known as "golftels," which are condos and villas within a golf course.
Unlike established media outlets that merely transcribe formulaic travel itineraries or package discount information out of fear of offending their advertisers—large resort and golf course conglomerates—Club14 lifts the curtain of the night by dissecting the human figures and raw gossip behind the Korean golf course with a microscope. This article is an in-depth investigative column that unreservedly exposes the dangerous temptations and secret connections of adult golfers that continue all night long at secluded resorts in the suburbs, all under the perfectly fabricated pretext of "golfing trips."
02Golftel: Their own secret fortress, safer than a city motel
For middle-aged men and women who enjoy an affair or met through impromptu meetups, city motels and hotels are surprisingly like minefields. This is because they are filled with warning signs (Red Flags) on all sides, such as parking lot cameras capturing license plates, the gaze of acquaintances they might encounter in the lobby, and the distinct business names left on their smartphone credit card statements.
Here, the golf hotel functions as a perfect 'security fortress' that instantly reduces all those risks to zero.
Golftels are typically situated in the form of independent villas or condominiums, either deep within the golf course grounds or right in the middle of the course. After finishing a round, golfers simply shower and change at the clubhouse, and then move their bags directly to their accommodations, which are connected by cart paths, without needing to travel far by car. When checking in at the lobby, there is absolutely no room for suspicion as the names are already registered as playing partners for a group of four during the day; furthermore, the costs are combined with the green fees and settled all at once under the very legitimate category of "golf course usage fees." Only the proud name "OO CC" remains on the credit card statement.
Furthermore, most high-end golf hotels are designed as detached villas or feature large floor plans, adopting a structure where multiple rooms are divided around a central living room. This layout is perfectly optimized for two couples randomly matched via dating apps or golf bands, or for men and women secretly flirting, to spend the night under one roof while completely blocking out the gaze of others. They can laugh and chat together in the living room, pretending to be wholesome companions, but the moment they close the doors to their respective rooms, a private sanctuary is created that is completely cut off from the outside world. It is, in a sense, a peculiar refuge that is far more luxurious and safe than a city motel, while even diluting guilt with the romance of the sport.
03The process of a nice shot in broad daylight being completed by flirting at night
The reason the nights of an overnight golf trip are particularly hot and dangerous is that the lingering effects of hormones and emotions accumulated on the fairway during the day carry directly back to the accommodation.
In the case of a day trip, the shelf life of emotions is short because everyone must shower and hurriedly get into their respective cars to disperse after the 18 holes. However, away golf is different. Starting with a 1 PM tee-off, players walk on the green grass for five hours, cheering on each other's "nice shot" and comforting one another for missed shots, building a unique sense of camaraderie. Particularly in groups where female influencers in daring outfits that blatantly reveal their bags and body lines are matched with wealthy middle-aged individuals flaunting their financial power, the glances exchanged inside the carts cross a critical threshold even before the front nine is finished.
The real prelude begins at 7 p.m. with an after-party barbecue held in a secluded garden near the golf course or on a terrace within the resort.
When cold soju and beer mix and strong whiskey are added to the adrenaline that has risen while basking in the giant sunlight on the field during the day, the intensity of the conversation spirals out of control. Blatant flirting such as, "Your muscles looked so sexy when you were hitting the driver today, Boss," and "You looked much more fit on the field than most pros," is exchanged without pretense.
As the drinking party heats up and it gets past 11 PM, the unique nature of the isolated environment (a golf course in a remote mountain valley), where one cannot simply call a designated driver to get home like in the city, makes their mindset even bolder. "We have an early 7 AM tee-off tomorrow anyway, so let's not go far and have one more beer in the living room of our accommodation." The moment the heavy front door of the golf hotel closes with this remark, the mask of sportsmanship is completely stripped away, and a raw, adult-only night game begins.
04A Planned Expedition, and the Trap of a 2-Day, 1-Night Scam
However, this thrilling and seemingly secretive world of overnight stays is not always filled only with romantic entertainment. It is also a space where planned crimes and traps quietly operate, exploiting the 'perfect isolation from the outside world' of golf hotels to drive targets to ruin.
The most typical scenario is 'designing a gambling scheme disguised as an away golf betting game.'
The fraud ring recruits wealthy and boastful middle-aged targets (so-called "suckers") through join apps or gatherings of affluent individuals, then entices them by saying, "There is a private villa available at a membership course I know in Pyeongchang this weekend, so why don't you come for a 1-night, 2-day trip to get some fresh air?" During the first round, they completely neutralize the target's vigilance with light bets of tens of thousands of won per hole, and then invite the target into the living room of the golf villa late at night.
They lure the victim into a casual game of cards or Hwatu over a drink, or review the day's round score and raise the stakes by saying, "Let's play wildly tomorrow for the second round by increasing the stakes tenfold." Trapped in a secluded golf resort room where they cannot seek outside help or escape, the target falls victim to a pre-arranged fraudulent score-flipping scheme and card manipulation, ending up buried in tens of millions of won in debt overnight. Business owners who value their reputation are unable to report the incident to the police, fearing that word will spread among their golf club members or their families, and are left with their money completely extorted.
Recently, there are concerns that the stage for "Me Too schemes involving marriage deception and blackmail" targeting young male and female influencers has rapidly shifted from karaoke bars in Gangnam to luxury golf hotels in the provinces. It is said that the hidden side of these glamorous golf hotels is the main setting for a new type of "honeytrap" scam, in which a woman visiting to play golf with a wealthy CEO naturally induces physical contact inside the hotel room and secures evidence using a small camera or voice recorder installed in advance. The next morning, men claiming to be the woman's acquaintances appear in the resort lobby or parking lot and threaten to "expose the entire truth to her family and company board," thereby extorting hundreds of millions of won in settlement money.
05Editor's Note: On the night the hole cup of the 18th hole passed
One cannot deny the sense of liberation and the allure of the green grass that a two-day, one-night golf trip offers. Escaping from daily life to strengthen friendships while talking about golf all night with good companions is one of the greatest luxuries golf can offer.
However, for those seeking to satisfy their moral decay and sexual greed using the plausible shield of an "expedition" and the closed-off private room of a "golf hotel," that place is not an extension of sports but merely the starting point of irreversible ruin. The beautiful fairway visible through the window of the golf hotel, shrouded in thick morning fog, is incredibly honest, yet the human desires gazing upon that grass are utterly murky.
If you or your spouse are getting excited this weekend about booking a particularly long-distance golf package, quietly look into your own heart. See if what you truly crave is a crisp good shot to hit on the teeing ground tomorrow morning, or a score of dangerous temptation to share in a dimly lit golf hotel room.
