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| Kabul Golf Club: play the "browns" |
GOLF fever shows no signs of abating in Asia, where the latest set of clubs remain a definite status symbol. The good news for enthusiasts of the sport is that the region’s top courses are not only for the Tigers and Ernies of this world – there are plenty of scenic greens on which to practice your putt in resort surrounds. On then to our roundup of the most interesting golf courses in Asia.
Take the high road to Kabul
But it’s not all boring greens. If you have the moxie, head to Afghanistan to check out the devilish “browns” at the Kabul Golf Club (www.kabulgolfclub.com), a high-altitude high-risk desert course where the hazards go beyond the usual roughs and bunkers. The greens are “browns”, carefully compacted oil and sand, that have seen their share of live combat - and landmines - through the years. The 9-hole course tees off from a wooded or artificial-turf mat high up the valley where the views and the lack of oxygen may leave you breathless. You can play a full 18 holes by teeing off twice per hole from varied locations. Watch for sand and rocks and more sand. Your ball soars through the rarefied air, whizzing a reported 10 percent farther than at sea level, all for the same effort. Enjoy the luxury of a bag caddie as well as a “fore” caddie who runs ahead to spot errant balls. Kabul is a desert course but yes there is one water hazard, at times. The course is open from 7am till dusk and is just 10km from the Kabul InterContinental (tel: [93-20] 220-1321, www.intercontinentalkabul.com), your closest digs. Green fees at the Kabul Golf Club are around US$15
The best golf courses in Thailand
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| Blue Canyon, Phuket/ photo: club |
Extending a royal invitation and doing some of the legwork for you is “Golf in a Kingdom: The Thai Golf Experience”, (www.golfinakingdom.com), an itinerary that matches some of the country’s top courses with a few of its best hotels. The Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) has partnered with six hotels (including four Anantara’s and two Marriotts), Golfasian and eight golf properties, some of which are reviewed in detail below. Golf in a Kingdom covers six distinct geographical regions – from 8,000ft mountains in the north to limestone islands rising out of the Andaman Sea in the south, so choose your golfing poison, sea, sand, or sky high and get swinging.
Thailand is almost as famed for its golf courses as it is its beaches, and you can’t go wrong in Phuket for a good combination of both. Laguna Phuket Golf Club (tel: [66-76] 324-350, e-mail: golf@lagunaphuket.com or visit www.lagunaphuket.com/golfclub) is part of one of Thailand’s top golf resorts and visitors have a choice of five Laguna Phuket hotels to stay at: Banyan Tree Phuket, Dusit Laguna Resort, Laguna Beach Resort, Angsana Laguna Phuket (formerly Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket) and Allamanda Laguna Phuket. The 18-hole, par-71 course was designed by Max Wexler and David Abell and features gently undulating fairways with lagoons and large greens. There’s also an indoor teaching centre that opened mid-2004. Green fees are from Bt2,890 for resort guests.
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Possibly the most famous golf club in Phuket, the championship Blue Canyon Country Club (tel: [66-76] 328-088, e-mail: reservation@bluecanyonclub.com or www.bluecanyonclub.com), is served by several five-star resorts within striking radius. Among these is the Trisara, which holds membership at Blue Canyon and offers the complimentary use of high-quality golf clubs to guests. Blue Canyon, surrounded by mountains and sea in northern Phuket, has two 18-hole par-72 award-winning championship courses: the 7,179-yard Canyon Course and the 7,129-yard Lakes Course. Green fees and caddy charges for 18 holes at the premier Canyon Course are roughly Bt5,300. These are perhaps the best Phuket golf courses.
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| Laguna Phuket Golf Club/ photo: club |
Still, to complete your Phuket golfing spree, also try Phuket Country Club (tel: [66-76] 321-039), Loch Palm Golf Club (tel: [66-76] 321-930, www.lochpalm.com) and the 27-hole Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa (tel: [66-76] 310-888, e-mail: reservations@missionhillsphuket.com or www.missionhillsphuket.com). Mission Hills opened for play in 2004 and should not be confused with the mammoth Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, southern China, featured later in this report.
Bangkok has a number of notable golf courses, but none can be described as golf resorts as such. The Ronald Garl-designed championship Alpine Golf and Sports Club (tel: [66-2] 577-3333, e-mail: go@alpinegolfclub.com or www.alpinegolfclub.com) is a relatively rural option. It was venue for the 2000 and 2004 Johnnie Walker Classic PGA tournament, and is about an 80-minute drive from the city. It also hosted the 2000 and 2004 Johnnie Walker Classic, and those in the know say it’s one of Thailand’s more challenging courses.
Golfing in Thailand doesn’t stop here. On the north coast of the idyllic island of Koh Samui, is the international-standard, 6,932-yard, 18-hole, par-72 Santiburi Samui Country Club course (tel: [66-77] 421-700, e-mail: info@santiburi.com or www.santiburi.com), with green fees from around Bt3,350. Opened in 2003, the course (nicknamed “the beast of Samui”) is set on a mountain slope between 30m and 190m above sea level, and therefore boasts more than decent views and cool breezes. The 6th, par-3 hole features a vertical drop and a waterfall. Stay at the luxurious Santiburi Resort, or at the contemporary Thai-style Bo Phut resort (managed by the Santiburi Group), with a regular shuttle service between the hotel and the course.
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| Santiburi course, Samui/ photo: Santiburi |
Pattaya can be a bit rough around the edges, but a short drive from the seaside town is the Laem Chabang International Country Club (tel: [66-38] 372-273, e-mail: reservation@laemchabanggolf.com or www.laemchabanggolf.com), a par-72, Jack Nicklaus-designed course. Featuring an intimate 40-rooms, The Golf Lodge is linked to the clubhouse by a bridge. There are two courses, the 3,446-yard Mountain 9 and the 3,419 Valley 9, with a stream running through it. The charge for visitors is from Bt2,500 (weekdays). Lodge guests and members’ guests pay less. There’s a golf academy programme that caters to a range of abilities, from beginners to advanced.
Chiangmai Highlands Golf and Spa Resort (www.chiangmaihighlands.com) offers an eighteen-hole course with paspalum fairways and Tiff eagle greens, which translate into greener fairways and faster more consistent plays. Bunkers are deep and severe on errant shots. Mown grass areas surrounding the approach to the greens provide the option of playing either a chip-and-run, pitch shot or even putting the ball up onto the green.
The resort at Chiangmai Highlands offers villas and rooms. Each villa has its own private outside shower, spoiling bathroom, minibar and a bed set on wooden deck, Thai style. If you’re really keen you can buy a house here, from 222sq metres to a two-storey 382sq m Lanna-style home.
For an inland Thai location, the Santiburi group offers the Santiburi Country Club Chiang Rai (tel: [66-53] 662-821). This is an 18-hole, 6,853-yard Robert Trent Jones Jr-designed course, 10km from the Chiang Rai city centre. Landscaping, lakes and streams are the order of the day on this north Thailand championship site, and it’s suitable for players of all capabilities. Green fees are from Bt1,000 for visitors, week days. Another Chiang Rai option is the championship course at the Waterford Valley Chiangrai Golf Club & Resort Wiangchai Hills (tel: [66-53] 953-425, www.waterford.co.th) with green fees from Bt1,100, weekdays. There’s a comfortable golf lodge that caters both for families and business travellers, and features horse riding, a swimming pool and tennis grounds on site. And that’s the best of golfing in Thailand.
Some Indonesia golf options
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| Golfing at Bintan Lagoon Resort/ photo: hotel |
Golfing in Bintan is so popular with Singaporean day-trippers and weekenders you’d be forgiven for thinking it was perhaps just off Orchard Road. In fact Bintan belongs to Indonesia. Here the Ria Bintan Golf Club (tel: [62-770] 692-868; e-mail: enquiries@riabintan.com or www.riabintan.com) has a popular 27-hole championship golf course designed by veteran Gary Player, consisting of an 18-hole Ocean Course and a 9-hole Forest Course. An Asian-based golf magazine has named the Ocean Course’s hole 7 the “best par-5 hole in Asia”. The golf club is part of the Bintan resorts destination (just 45 minutes by ferry from Singapore) and there’s a choice of accommodation options, including the beachfront Club Med Ria Bintan (tel: 1-800 258-2633, Singapore toll-free, www.clubmed.com.sg). The luxurious all-villa Banyan Tree Bintan (tel: [62-770] 693-100, www.banyantree.com/bintan) has its own 18-hole Greg Norman-designed Laguna Bintan course with signature holes 7 and 8, framed by the South China Sea. Green and buggy fees start from S$50 on weekdays for hotel guests.
But wait... there’s more. The Bintan Lagoon Resort (tel: [62-770] 691-388, www.bintanlagoon.com) has its own two acclaimed championship courses. The first, a Seaview Course designed by Jack Nicklaus has a distinctive par-3 hole 12 played against a backdrop of the South China Sea, and Ian Baker-Finch’s Woodlands Course runs over undulating natural landscape. The Baker-Finch course has undergone renovation and emerged crisper. Golf gear and clubs can be rented here, and golfing fees (including green fees and buggy) are from S$64 on weekdays, for nine holes. The resort also offers year-round coaching and golf classes.
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| Bali Golf and Country Club/ photo: club |
To swing out and about in paradise, there’s always the “Island of the Gods”, Bali. The award-winning Bali Golf and Country Club (tel: [62-361] 771-791; e-mail: reservation@baligolfandcountryclub.com or www.baligolfandcountryclub.com) in Nusa Dua has a famous par-72 course that provides “three distinct” playing environments. Holes 1 to 9 are uphill through dense tropical vegetation with sea views, holes 10 to 16 are on lush fairways through a coconut grove while holes 17 and 18 have a beachside setting. The daily rate for 18 holes is US$142. Playing nine holes (after 2pm) will set you back US$85. The club also manages the luxurious three and four-bedroom Wantilan Golf Villas (e-mail: reservations@wantilangolfvillas.com), which are available for indulgent short-term holiday rentals. Overlooking the greens is the stately Amanusa by Amanresorts (www.amanresorts.com). Golfing in Bali, particularly in Nusa Dua, is not just for the rich and famous but if you’re well heeled it helps.
The luxurious Le Meridien Nirwana Golf & Spa Resort on Bali’s west coast, next to the must-do Tanah Lot temple, comprises the Nirwana Bali Golf Club (tel: [62-361] 815-960; e-mail: reservation@nirwanabaligolf.com or www.nirwanabaligolf.com), opened in 1997, with another multiple award-winning Greg Norman-designed course. Think rice terraces, lush greenery and Indian Ocean views. Green fees are from US$150 (including green, cart and caddie fees). The par-3 hole 7 (played from a cliffside tee to the fairway across a piece of the Indian Ocean) is a dramatic signature hole. Hole 13, played along the cliff tops, requires a fair amount of concentration. The course is just up the coast from swinging Seminyak.
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| Le Meridien Nirwana, Bali/ photo: hotel |
About two hours’ drive from Bali’s Nusa Dua resort area, the Bali Handara Kosaido Country Club (tel: [62-362] 22-646, e-mail: info@balihandarakosaido.com or www.balihandarakosaido.com) is a cooling option at 1,142m above sea level. Found within a mountain resort with room and bungalow accommodation, this public golf course is set inside a volcanic crater beautified by tall trees and flowers. Green fees are from US$55 for guests staying at the resort, which also has facilities for small meetings and conferences.
Also from the same designers but with a totally different flavour (albeit very Indonesian), is the Finna Golf and Country Club Resort (tel: [62-343] 634-888; e-mail: gm@finnagolf.com or www.finnagolf.com), a 45-minute drive from Surabaya in East Java. The designers closely stuck to a brief requesting that the resort and all its facilities blend into the environment with minimal disruption to the surrounding nature, and the par-3 hole 5 has views of the countryside as well as the famously volcanic Mount Penanggungan. The resort has 32 private luxury cottages.
Malaysia golf courses and golf resorts
Malaysia golfing is flush with quite a few top resorts, of which the Mines Resort & Golf Club (tel: [60-3] 8943-2288, e-mail: mrgc@countryheights.com.my or www.mines.com.my/golf/leisure.asp) near Kuala Lumpur is a prime example. It is part of the Mines Resort City with its giant, extravagant Palace of the Golden Horses, and the course – designed by Robert Trent Jones – is situated on what was once the largest opencast tin mine in the world. Its distinguishing feature is a huge lake, created to fill in part of the mine. Among the clubhouse facilities are a high-tech boardroom, an open-air restaurant, a spa, VIP waiting room and two presidential suites.
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| Saujana course, Kuala Lumpur/ photo: hotel |
Designed by Ronald Fream, the Saujana Golf & Country Club (tel: [60-3] 7846-1466, e-mail: golf@saujana.com.my or www.saujana.com.my) in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur has hosted seven Malaysian Opens. It boasts two famous international courses – the Palm Course and the Bunga Raya Course – both designed by Ronald Fream. Green fees are from Rm220 for 18 holes on weekdays, and caddies and buggies are extra. Players can then snooze in style at the five-star The Saujana Kuala Lumpur (www.thesaujana-kualalumpur.com), with extensive conference facilities and sprawling gardens.
Nearby is the acclaimed The Royal Selangor Golf Club (tel: [60-3] 9206-3333, e-mail: rsgc@rsgc.com.my or www.rsgc.com.my), with 36 holes that comprise an 18-hole Old Course, an 18-hole New Course and a 9-hole Suleiman Course. The institution was established in 1893 and is the haunt of many a cabinet minister and other high-flyers. Its signature hole is the Old Course’s 17th hole, which, according to the club, has “significant elevation changes and an elevated green, guarded by bunkers”. The course has been reconstructed. Weekday green fees for hotel guests are from Rm250 for 18 holes, and from Rm120 for members’ guests.
Colonial comforts and undulating tea-strewn hills are very much the flavour at Cameron Highlands, a cool getaway 200km north of Kuala Lumpur. Like many hill stations, this was developed as a summer escape for sweaty Europeans – and Britain’s more pleasant influences live on in scattered rose gardens and mock-Tudor architecture.
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| Datai Bay/ photo: Datai |
 Tee off with tea garden views at the 18-hole, par-71 Cameron Highlands Golf Course (tel: [60-5] 491-1126) in Brinchang. This is a public course and is considered relatively challenging, with thick rough, a number of streams and fine sand bunkers. Early play is advised to avoid the afternoon rains. Green fees are RM52.50 on weekdays and RM84 on weekends and public holidays, with a caddy fee of RM25. Two pleasant colonial-stay options nearby are The Lakehouse Hotel (tel: [60-5] 495-6152, www.lakehouse-cameron.com) with 18 rooms, and lashings of charm, and the elegant, upscale Cameron Highlands Resort (tel: [60-5) 491-1100, www.cameronhighlandsresort.com). (Cameron Highlands Resort features in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
For a special game of golf, head for the mellow Malaysian island of Langkawi, where The Golf Club Datai Bay (tel: [60-4] 959-2500) is set in a tropical rainforest with all the flora and fauna to match. It’s not unusual to spot a monitor lizard ambling across the fairway. The golf course is attached to the splendid and atmospheric five-star GHM property, The Datai (www.ghmluxuryhotels.com). The last hole is played out of the forest onto the Andaman coast.
More island golf is available in multi-attraction Penang where the large business-friendly Hotel Equatorial Penang (tel: [60-4] 643-8111) near the airport is conveniently neighboured by the18-hole Bukit Jambul Golf Course (www.bjcc.com.my). The hilltop course has views of Penang and the Penang Bridge linking it to mainland Malaysia. It’s been extensively renovated since it first opened in 1984 and it has hosted the Malaysian Open. This is another Robert Trent Jones course, with a famous 10th hole – the tee is located 100ft above the fairway. Green fees are from Rm70, 18 holes, weekdays. And that in a nutshell sums up golf in Malaysia.
Swinging out in “dry” Brunei
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| Empire Brunei course/ photo: hotel |
The small, “dry” sultanate of Brunei may not be a party animal’s paradise, but when it comes to golf and glamour you can’t go wrong. The Empire Golf Club attached to the large and glitzy The Empire Hotel & Country Club (tel: [673] 241-8888, e-mail: golf@theempirehotel.com or www.empire.com.bn, green fees from B$135, weekdays) is a golfers’ dream. The par-71 Jack Nicklaus-designed championship course has fabulous sea views with cliffs and ravines thrown in. All 18 holes are floodlit so you’ve got your evenings cut out for you. The signature hole is the 15th, which takes players right along the beach.
Top Vietnam greens
Vietnam is still an up-and-coming golf destination, but the Nick Faldo-designed Ocean Dunes Golf Club (tel: [84-62] 823-366, e-mail: odgc@vietnamgolfresorts.com or www.vietnamgolfresorts.com) that opened in 1996 has already gained some acclaim. The course winding over beach dunes is right next door to the Novotel Phan Thiet. The Dalat Palace Golf Club (tel: [84-63] 821-201) has been around since 1922, but was redesigned in 1994. There are plenty of lakes and large greens to suit the lush, lake-dotted alpine city, established by the French way back when as a ‘Petit Paris’. Each hole has four different tee areas, letting players choose their own degree of challenge. Guests have the option of staying at the nearby Sofitel Dalat Palace hotel (www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fichehotel/gb/sof/1744/fiche_hotel.shtml).
China – where golf is a “mission”
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| Golfing in Dalat, Vietnam |
Not surprisingly, golf is booming in China and the country already has a number of world-class championship courses, of which the gargantuan Mission Hills Golf Club, spanning Shenzhen and Dongguan (tel: [86-755] 2802-0888, www.missionhillsgroup.com, very near the border with Hong Kong), is arguably the most famous. Accredited by Guinness World Records as the globe’s biggest (with 25sq km currently in use), the 80,000sq m club is part of a sprawling family resort also offering leisure, entertainment, spas and restaurants. It has also been chosen as the host for the next 12 Omega World Cup tournaments, as of 2007. If you truly can’t get enough of golf, this is the place for you: there are no less than a dozen 18-hole courses designed by legends such as Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, to name just a few. Stay at the five-star Mission Hills Resort & Spa and improve your game at the Mission Hills David Leadbetter Golf Academy on-site. Also in Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Golf Club (tel: [86-755] 330-8888) was one of the very first golf clubs to be built in China and, with its 27 holes of international standard (an original 18-hole and more recent 9-hole course), it has gained a decent reputation.
The highly ranked Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (tel: [86-871] 767-1188, www.springcityresort.com) is located about 40 minutes from Kunming in China’s Yunnan province, at 2,100m above sea level. It sports two courses built in 1998: a Robert Trent Jones Jr Lake Course known for being challenging (there’s a drop of 150m from the clubhouse to the 8th green), and a Jack Nicklaus Mountain Course. As the names suggest, lake and mountain views abound. The club is part of an integrated resort. Stay in one of the lodges, with different room types and suites offering all the mod cons.
Another famous Chinese championship course, this time shaped like a dragon’s claw, is the par-72 Yalong Bay Golf Club (tel: [86-898] 8856-5888, e-mail: welcome@yalongbaygolfclub.com or www.yalongbaygolfclub.com) on China’s resort island of Hainan.
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| Scenic Spring City, China/ photo: hotel |
Players have to negotiate lakes, marshes and coconut palms and no-one with a handicap of over 40 is allowed to play here. There’s night golf, too. This is another of the many Robert Trent Jones Jr courses in Asia, located at the Yalong Bay Golf Resort, 25 km from Sanya city. Weekday green fees for resort guests are from Rmb600 for 18 holes; Rmb850 for visitors.
Golf in Hong Kong and Macau
Contrary to popular belief, Hong Kong offers a lot more than city attractions and highrises. There’s plenty of green space and a number of quality golf courses, though none attached to resort hotels. A famous spot to tee off is The Hong Kong Golf Club, Fan Ling (tel: [852] 2670-1211, e-mail: enquiry@hkgolfclub.org or www.hkgolfclub.org) – an institution that has been around since 1911. Green fees from HK$1,400 and visitors are welcomed from Mondays to Fridays. There are 40 twin rooms available. The non-profit Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau (tel: [852] 2791-3388, e-mail: jckscpgc@kscgolf.com or www.kscgolf.com), which like the Fan Ling course is located in the New Territories, is Hongkong’s only public golf club, with no membership required. There are two Gary Player-designed 18-hole courses, a North Course and a South Course, but non-Hongkongers may play there only on weekdays. This is a scenic spot with picturesque sea and mountain views.
Nearby Macau is booming, and golf is one of its attractions. The par-71, 18-hole championship course at the Macau Golf & Country Club (tel: [853] 871-188, e-mail: mgcctee@macau.ctm.net or www.macaugolfandcountryclub.com) is attached to the five-star, family-friendly Westin Resort, Macau. The hillside course is designed by Japanese course architect Hiroshi Ikeda, and has views over the Pearl River estuary and a nearby beach. It hosts the Macau Open, which is part of the Asian PGA Tour.
Golf courses in The Philippines
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| Manila Southwoods/ photo: club |
The Philippines is home to a number of world-class courses, including the well-known Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club (tel: [63-46] 430 0260, e-mail: golf@manilasouthwoods.com or www.manilasouthwoods.com) in Cavite, about 34km south of Manila. The club has hosted many top tournaments and features two par-72 Jack Nicklaus courses: the Masters – with water hazards surrounding 15 of its holes – and the Legends. Green fees are from P1,500 (week days) and the club is allied with the adjoining 72-room Manila Southwoods Manor (www.southwoodsmanor.com).
In Laguna province, about 40 minutes’ drive from Makati, the Santa Elena Golf Club is a 27-hole course over 120 hectares of gentle terrain. If you want to play here though, you have to be accompanied or sponsored by a member.
Wallet-humbling Japan golf courses
Japan is famously exorbitant when it comes to golf (and many other things), but as a country of golf fanatics there are more than 2,000 courses in the country. It can be tricky to get a game at Japan’s best members-only courses though, among them Hirono (which has hosted all the major Japanese championships), Tokyo Golf Club (you need an invite to play there) and Naruo (which, according to one golf site, has 700 members with an average age of 71).
However, there are some options for visitors passing through Japan, such as the Phoenix Country Club (tel: [81-985] 39-1301, www.seagaia.co.jp) set within the Phoenix Seagaia Resort on the coast in Miyazaki. The club with its resort-like atmosphere gained fame for hosting the Japan PGA’s Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, and the 27-hole course, lined by pine groves, is known to be a challenging one. At the centre of the resort is the five-star Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort (www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton) with Pacific Ocean views from all 743 rooms.
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| Ananti Club Seoul/ photo: club |
Sold as “Tokyo’s premier international golf destination”, the Windsor Park Golf and Country Club (tel: [81-296] 88-2221, e-mail: wpgcc@manager.interq.or.jp or www.wpgcc.com) also has conference and meetings facilities. The Windsor Park Hotel takes a maximum of 27 guests at a time but has sweeping golf course views. The 18-hole course is geared towards golfers of all levels, and there’s a driving range and practice putting green. Sunday rates are highest, at about Y14,000, but they can be less than half that during the week. Parents can relax though: there’s a dedicated children’s centre to look after tots while the grownups golf.
Golfing in South Korea
The Ananti Club Seoul (Tel: [82-31] 589-3000, www.ghmhotels.com) is a spacious and intriguingly modern 27-hole golf course in the Yumyeongsan forest a 30-minute drive from the city. This is a generous 486 acre spread with plenty of luxuriant green underfoot interspersed with some stunning and sleek, minimalist space-age architecture. The golf course and club includes 12 lakes, a library, tennis courts, outdoor swimming pool, children's pool, clubhouse and a stylish restaurant and cafe. The venue can also be used for small corporate meetings with a banquet hall that can hold up to 80 persons.
Indian golf courses and a fox hunt too
Golfing in India is no problem at all. Most Indian metros will have a reasonable golf course or two. New Delhi boasts the charming Delhi Golf Club, the oldest in the capital and smack in the centre of town. The greens are lined by over 200 species of trees and wild birds flock here in winter for sanctuary from harsh Russian winters. Designed by Peter Thompson the par-72 course is 6,869 yards. The club offers a swimming pool, pro shop, restaurant and bar. The neighbouring and superbly run The Oberoi New Delhi (tel: 91-11 2436-3030, www.oberoihotels.com) is a splendid place to park. The Classic Golf Resort in Gurgaon (just across the Delhi border to the south) is a Jack Nicklaus inspired course set in extensive greens just a 50-minute drive from the capital. Swing out at the 9-hole Canyon Course or flash your clubs at the main 18-hole Championship Course.
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| Delhi Golf Club, near Oberoi/ photo: Oberoi |
For something a tad different, higher and cooler head to the Ooty Golf Club set at an elevation of over 6,000ft with 18 holes racking up 6,074 yards with a par-70. To make things more challenging, half the holes are “blind” which means you’ve no idea where the hole is, well… At the 13th green pause to savour the sights and smells, perhaps even of the Ootacamund fox hunt (that dates back to the mid 1800s). Higher still is the Gulmarg Golf Club, a par-72, 18-hole, 6,760-yard affair where your lungs will strain to take in oxygen. Created by the Raj as a flavoursome summer retreat, the Gulmarg Golf Club was redesigned by Peter Thompson. It offers tennis, a restaurant, lounge, library and bar. Apart from being among the highest courses in the world (it claims to be the highest), the place features the country’s longest hole, a 610-yard par-5. The toughest hole is the 17th. Watch too for crows that occasionally swoop down to cart off a ball or two.
And if you still hanker for that rarefied oxygen-deprived air, try the Shillong Golf Club in the eastern Himalayas, an 18-hole with 5,873 yards to play across. The magnificent views may hold up your play so factor it all in.
Golfing in the Dubai sands
Finally, Dubai may be in the Middle East rather than Asia proper, but the magnificent Emirates Golf Club (tel: [971-4] 380-2222, www.dubaigolf.com) deserves a mention. Its championship Majlis course (18 holes from US$160) was the first 18-hole grass course to open in the Middle East back in 1988 and is the location of the famous annual Dubai Desert Classic tournament. The closing hole is a signature hole: a shot across a lake to a green shaped like a bow tie. There’s also an 18-hole Wadi course that was redesigned by Nick Faldo in 2006 and is now known as the “Wadi by Faldo”. This is known as a “thinker’s course” since you have to “plot your way around it”.
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| Golfing in Ooty, India |
Four Seasons Golf Club Dubai Festival City (www.fourseasons.com/dubaigolf) opened in 2007, and has been growing in popularity since. Designed by Robert Trent Jones II, the par-72, 7,303 yard course offers golfers a “desert oasis” theme with ponds, lakes and waterfalls. Apart from enjoying a day out on the greens, golfers can sharpen their skills at the golf academy, a state-of-the-art facility that has two swing studios, a driving range, chipping area and putting green. It also boasts the region’s only TaylorMade Performance Lab. After a hi-tech analysis of putts, swings and drives, golfers can relax at the Club where there are lounge areas, steam and sauna rooms, and four dining options. Accommodation will be available in 2011.
Well, if you’re going to splash out all that cash, you’re going to have to think long and hard.
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