“As long as you avoid the bunkers, it’s not difficult.”These were the common sentiments of the players on the first day of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Tour’s Bizplay Electronics Open (total prize money of 700 million won) at Cosmos Rings (Par 72) in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do on Thursday.The course at Cosmos Rings resembles the surface of the moon with a minefield of 365 bunkers that look like small craters on 18 holes.The bunkers are as narrow as two meters in diameter and as deep as a man’s height, so once you’re in them, you’re out of luck, which is why they’re so intimidating on the tee.Players who first encountered the course during the Pro-Am and practice rounds felt overwhelmed, but like the pros they are, they quickly found a way around it.”I was worried about the bunkers, so my tee shots were tricky,” said Park, who shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 in the first round to finish tied for the lead. “But once I avoided the bunkers, the next shot was easy.”In fact, Park didn’t putt into a bunker once on the dayThe 7,400-yard course didn’t hurt either.The newness of the course helped the players, as the rough hadn’t grown in yet.Park’s tee shot on the 18th hole (par-5, 612 yards), which has 37 bunkers on both sides of the fairway, landed in the fairway after a 338-yard flight, and his second shot dropped into the rough, but his 29-yard wedge sank into the hole for an eagle, illustrating the Cosmos Rings’ approach.”I will continue to play calmly and avoid bunkers tomorrow,” said Park, who started on the 10th hole and made an eagle and five birdies.Seo, who showed signs of a slump with a poor tee shot, also shot a 6-under 66, thanks to not putting a single tee shot into a bunker.Starting on the 10th hole, Seo put on a show with five straight birdies on holes 1 through 5.”It wasn’t difficult as long as I avoided the bunkers,” he said.”The fairway was open on both sides and there were no OB stakes, so it was psychologically comfortable,” said Seo, who recently had an OB off the driver tee.Cosmos Links is built on a reclaimed landfill, so there are no trees or forests along the fairways.”My tee shots were getting closer and closer to zero, but playing on such a comfortable course gave me more confidence,” said Seo Yosub, a player in his 60s.”Considering the distance and accuracy of our players’ shots, there are 365 fairway bunkers, but they are not very threatening,” said Kwon Chang-won, chairman 스포츠토토 of the tournament committee, explaining that the weather, including the sea breeze, is a variable.