GolfTalkCentral

Mini-golf flair on standard golf course at Mission Hills

By Golf Channel Digital
Dec 24, 2012 9:14 AM ET

Mission Hills, in Hainan Island, China, is home to 22 courses, but none like the one scheduled to be opened in 2014.

The complex is building a standard golf layout with mini-golf flair, complete with a giant panda bear, replica Mayan ruins and man-made gale-force winds.

"Traditionalists will probably hate it," course designer Brian Curley said to CNN. "But this is real golf, with real clubs on real fairways."

One par 4 will have a replica of the Great Wall of China winding its way down the 440-yard hole. There is also an island-green hole, like the par-3 17^th at TPC Sawgrass. But instead of water separating the tee box and putting surface, there is an 88-yard wide noodle bowl with 55-yard-wide chopsticks.