⛳ Saltbay Golf Club Night Golf Review & Guide (Incheon, Korea)

 🌟 Why Play Night Golf at Saltbay GC?

Salt Bay Golf Club is a popular night golf option near Incheon, especially when you’re looking for good value. The course is relatively forgiving, the LED lighting is excellent, and the natural grass driving range is a big plus. (Many golf clubs in Korea don't have driving ranges, let alone a grass one!)

That said, the greens here are always slow — probably the slowest I’ve played around Seoul. Personally, I don’t mind too much, since on slow greens if you get the distance right, the ball tends to drop. Just beware: the mosquitoes here are vicious. Think of it as giving blood and playing golf in one night 😅. Also, tee time waits can be on the longer side when playing night golf

Source: Saltbay GC webpage

📌 Quick Facts (2025, updated)

• Location: Incheon, west of Seoul (~40–50 minutes)

• Course: 18 holes, Par 72, relatively flat and forgiving

• Greens: Bentgrass (very slow)

• Fairways: Zoysia

• Membership: Public access available

💰 Price (July 13, Sunday Night Round)

• Green Fee: ₩159,000

• Cart Fee: ₩120,000

• Caddie Fee: ₩160,000

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🏢 Facilities & Food

• Clubhouse: Clean, functional, nothing too fancy

• Locker Rooms: Located in B1 with the starter house; lobby on 1F

• Driving Range: Natural grass, 60 balls for ₩40,000 — a rare luxury in Korea

• Restaurant: Standard Korean golf club dining 1F + halfway snack bar B1

• Pro Shop & Banquet Rooms: Available.

• Practice: Driving range on-site! Short game area, bunker, grass driving range, and your typical driving range are all there (for a price :))

🍴 Food Tried

• Gochujang Bulgogi (₩24,000): A Fair portion of protein, but I prefer the halfway snacks at B1

• Old-School Fried Chicken + Sausage Skewers (₩41,000): Surprisingly delicious mid-round snack

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⛳ Course Difficulty & Play

• Red Tees: 5,114m (≈4,676 yards) — very easy, big distance gap from White

• White Tees: 5,816m (≈6,360 yards) — but not as long as they claim to be

• Greens: Extremely slow at night, even slower than the already slow daytime pace

• Signature Hole: Hole 9 — a tricky par 4 with a mid-fairway water hazard and a right-side bunker. For me, this hole is cursed. No matter what, my tee shot or second shot always finds water, leading to my usual triple bogey. Ironically, it even had an oversized “big cup” hole (huge cup), but what good is that if you never make the green?

• Overall Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ (easy)

Source: Saltbay GC webpage

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🌙 Night Golf Notes

• LED lighting is excellent — visibility is never an issue.

• Payment system: For night rounds, players are asked to settle payments before finishing the round. Bags can be loaded into the car before heading to the lobby for payment, so the flow is smooth.

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🏌️ My Round (July 13, Night)

This was one of those magical days where everything seemed to fall into place. Even with some truly awful shots, the golf gods were on my side:

• Long putts were dropping

• Balls that should’ve been OB or dead somehow bounced back in

• Even a shanked tee shot on a Par 3 ricocheted off a fence and rolled onto the green 🤯

Despite losing four drives, I managed to score an 88 — my first time ever breaking 90! 🎉

What helped? Honestly, hitting 60 balls on the natural grass range before the round. I couldn’t hit anything well, so I threw away all expectations. On the course, I remembered my iron shots were all leaking right, so I aimed left, trusted my swing, and found myself on more greens than usual. It felt like real course management for once.

On the greens, the extreme slowness turned out to be an advantage: just focus on distance control, hit with “normal” screen-golf pace, and somehow everything dropped. My partners were laughing with me every time another unlikely putt fell in.

One of my friends even showed me a neat trick with a pitching wedge “bump and run” style approach — something I want to practice next time. The best part? That friend usually shoots low 80s, and I managed to keep pace as a fellow 80s golfer for once.

My scorecard before the app

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🎯 Conclusion

Salt Bay GC might not be the most polished course, but it offers fun, value, and the occasional miracle round. For me, it will always be remembered as the place I broke 90 for the first time.

• Facilities: ★★★★☆

• Course Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

• Round Experience: ★★★★★

• My Skill (this day): ★★★★☆

Final verdict: Breaking 90 is possible here. Just bring bug spray, patience for slow greens, and maybe some luck from the golf gods 🙏.

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