Yufeng Ridge
18 holes · Par 72 · 7,127 yards*
The route began above the property, with views across the complex and surrounding countryside. Its eighth hole, a par four, played towards a wall of rock and vegetation.
Shilin County · Kunming · Yunnan
Shilin
Stone Forest
Stone Forest International Country Club
石林国际乡村俱乐部
Closed · Historical course profile
Three courses. Fifty-four holes. A landscape unlike almost anywhere else in golf. Shilin’s fairways once wound between the limestone pinnacles that made this corner of Yunnan famous.
- Former golf complex
- 54 holesThree 18-hole courses
- Designer
- Brian CurleySchmidt-Curley Design
- Opened
- 2010A and B open by November
- Closed
- 2016Officially listed in 2017
The setting
Golf shaped
by stone.
At Shilin, the landscape was the main event.
Set near Yunnan’s celebrated Stone Forest in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, the club brought together woodland, open countryside and towering karst formations. Its three courses—Yufeng Ridge, Masters Resort and Leaders Peak—shared the same remarkable setting, while offering different routes through it.
Brian Curley’s design gave the rock formations room to dominate. The lasting images are of fairways disappearing between stone walls and greens framed by jagged limestone, rather than a course imposed on an ordinary landscape.
A Chinese golf writer who played all three layouts in 2011 described two distinct moods: Yufeng Ridge and Leaders Peak kept a wilder, stone-led appearance, while Masters Resort used more garden-like planting. Even the bunker sand on A and C was grey river sand, chosen to sit quietly beside the rock rather than stand out in bright white.
The new clubhouse was in place by November 2010. Contemporary reporting described Yufeng Ridge and Masters Resort as admitting visitors, with Leaders Peak intended as the members’ course. These were the arrangements at the time, not current access information.
The complex attracted international attention during its short playing life. Its architect’s honours include second place for Best New Course in Asia-Pacific in 2011 and eighth place in Golf Digest China’s 2013 course ranking.
Three layouts, one remarkable landscape.
The former 54-hole complex
Masters Resort
18 holes · Par 72 · 7,320 yards*
Conceived as the tournament layout, Masters Resort used grass-faced bunkers and more contoured greens. At its uphill par-five tenth, the elevated tee sat among stone pinnacles; the approach rose to a green backed by rock.
Leaders Peak
18 holes · Par 72 · 7,565 yards*
The most wooded route became famous for its holes among the rocks. Historically reserved for members, it included the extraordinary stone-surrounded twelfth green.
*Lengths published in contemporary course profiles. Historical listings vary.
More views from Stone Forest.
Archival photographs from before closure
The defining holes
An island green,
surrounded by stone.
The par-three twelfth at Leaders Peak offered an unusual version of the island-green idea: limestone formations surrounded the putting surface in place of water. It became one of the complex’s most recognisable holes.
The appeal extended beyond a single green. Shilin’s rocks influenced the view, the line of play and the sense of scale throughout the round.
The architect’s awards record also lists Leaders Peak’s eleventh among Golf Magazine’s Top 20 Most Scenic Holes in the World in 2012.
Beyond the fairways
Part of a much
larger ambition.
Stone Forest was developed by Yunnan Yuantong Investment as part of the wider Yuyunlin (御云林) tourism and property project. Plans extended beyond golf to hotels, shopping, conference facilities, leisure attractions and villas. These were development ambitions, rather than a list of completed facilities.
The scale of the wider estate is sometimes confused with the playing area. A 2011 Xinhua report put the club estate at around 10,000 mu (667 hectares), with the golf courses themselves occupying more than 2,400 mu (160 hectares).
The same report documented questions over leased agricultural land, construction approvals and local oversight. That early scrutiny helps explain why Shilin’s history includes a reported suspension in 2011 as well as its eventual closure in 2016.
A short chapter in Yunnan golf.
Opening, tournament play and closure
Yunnan Yuantong Investment began construction. The project had been presented as an ecological and ethnic sports ground.
The club entered trial play. Yufeng Ridge and Masters Resort admitted visitors, while Leaders Peak was described as a members’ layout.
Xinhua reported a land-use investigation and a suspension of operations. Tournament records from later years show that this was an earlier interruption, before the final closure in 2016.
More than 110 golfers competed on Yufeng Ridge in the Kunming stop of the Honghualang amateur tour on 31 October.
The club shut during the golf course clearance programme. Chinese reporting described removal of practice facilities and tree planting on the C Course.
Yunnan’s official register listed the site among nine courses whose closure had been completed, under its ecological ethnic sports-ground project name.
About the former course
Is Shilin golf course still open?
No. Stone Forest International Country Club is closed and is included in our Lost Courses of Yunnan archive. This page preserves its history; tee times are unavailable.
Are Shilin and Stone Forest the same golf club?
Yes. Shilin is the local place name; Stone Forest International Country Club is the English name used for the former 54-hole complex. It is also found as Stoneforest International Country Club in English course listings.
Where was the course?
The club was in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, within Kunming municipality, near the Stone Forest scenic area. Historical course listings give Sanjia village in Shilin town as its address.
There is more Yunnan golf to discover.
Explore the courses in our current guide and plan a round in Kunming and beyond.