30. Jumeirah—Earth, YAS Links, East London GC, and Maccauvlei GC, UAE and South Africa, January 24-27, 2016

Jumeirah—Earth, YAS Links, East London GC, and Maccauvlei GC, UAE and South Africa, January 24-27, 2016

OK, so everyone knows that Dubai’s airport is one of the truly modern and smooth running one in the world.  If that is the case, I gather that the night of January 23 is the exception that proves the rule.  We landed early…and then it took literally 15 minutes for them to get the jetway lined up to the plane.  I joked to another passenger that the good news was that this would mean the luggage would be there when we got to the carousel.  That was a mistake.  First they had our flight being unloaded at carousel #1…and then had to walk around announcing that it had been switched to #3.  It took 1 hour and 5 min for my golf bag to make it out!!  Finally, I rented a car form Europcar, a very large car rental agency.  They could not process my credit card (which has both a mag stripe and a chip) because eit lacked embossed numbers for card #, exp date, etc.  They only can process but using the manual multipart tickets that were prevalent when I was 30 years old (and that was a LONG time ago…stop laughing, the same is true for most of the readers of this blog, probably including YOU).

Anyhow, finally got to my hotel at about 12:15am (we got to the gate at about 9:10pm), and I tried to get some good sleep…this is to be the tough part of the trip.

Jumeirah—Earth Course, Dubai, UAE, January 24, 2015:  Ever notice the logo on Rory’s shirts?  It is from a huge housing/golf development south of Dubai.  They currently have two golf courses with plans for two more (assuming the housing market there stays OK).  I was scheduled to play the Earth Course at 7:00am.  We were delayed but only about 10-15 minutes due to ground fog.  The front nine was slow due in large part to a member of our foursome who has no business being on such a long difficult course…he probably shot a 60-65 on the front, but mercifully had to leave after nine to get to an appointment.

The Earth Course hosts the DP World Tour Championship (i.e. The Race to Dubai) to complete the European Tour season.  It was designed by Greg Norman (bringing to three the number of Norman courses on this trip…Nirwana Bali, Bluffs at Ho Tram, and Jumeirah-Earth) and stretches to 7706 yards.  It features massive, deep bunkers which must be avoided, and large difficult green complexes.  I thought the back nine was better than the front as the back offered better design variety while the front simply felt very very long.   I was expecting another boring monster championship track…it is a monster but not boring.  I liked it much more than I thought I would.  It made its World Top 100 debut on Golf Digest’s recent list at #97.  That is generally consistent with my thoughts, which would probably place it just outside of the Top 100.

Playing as a threesome on the back we played in about 1 hour 40 minutes, allowing me to get down to Abu Dhabi for my 12:50pm start.

Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE, January 24, 2016:  Abu Dhabi lies about 90 miles south of Dubai, but my drive from Jumeirah was more like 60 miles.  Hit some traffic but still got there with time to spare.  This was always one of the “tight “ days on the trip itinerary, as after the round at Yas, I had to drive back up to the Dubai airport to catch a flight.  Sunday is a regular work day in UAE which would mean fighting traffic the final 10-15 miles of the drive north that evening.

Yas Links was designed by Kyle Phillips (think Cal Club renovation and Kingsbarns) and like Emirates and Jumeirah, made its World Top 100 debut earlier this month in Golf Digest at position #46.  While not a “true links” course (while definitions vary, mine is courses built on sandy soil that was covered by glaciers during the last ice age…and as we all have been taught by Al Gore et al, the last ice age ended with the invention of the internal combustion engine, although it had slowed considerably when cows started farting), it is pretty damn close.  Built along side an outlet to the Persian Gulf, it occupies a narrow strip of land that runs along the water outlet, somewhat reminiscent of how The Old Course occupies a long narrow strip of land.  It stretches to 7414 yards, and like The Old Course is fairly flat, but with wonderful mounds, bumps and rolls in the fairways (as well as defining fairways) which make level lies achievable only by really knowing the course and hitting shots perfect distances (very difficult to do on firm fast courses).  Please note that with Ferrari World, YASC Waterworld, and the Yas Mall across the street, the surroundings do not quite feel like St. Andrews.

Despite the artificial nature of the course, it is brilliantly done and certainly the best of the three UAE courses that made the recent Golf Digest listing.  It clearly “belongs” in the World Top 100.

I played quickly for the first eight holes and then hit a “wall,” but was able to finish, shower, and head up to Dubai International Airport, arriving in sufficient time.  I had to fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, which required me to fly via Qatar airlines and through Doha, Qatar…that truly is the most amazing airport I have seen.  And, my flight from Doha to J-burg was my first on a 787…an incredible airplane.  We landed in Johannesburg around 9am, and after a long wait to get through immigration, walked across the street to my hotel for the next two days (yes…will actually get to stay in the same hotel for two straight nights).  Really really convenient.  I celebrated by staying in my hotel room most of the day and catching up on much needed sleep.  Monday January 25 was “golf-free” and I needed that!!

East London GC, South Africa, Tuesday January 26, 2016:  Pat and I had been to South Africa in March 2015 and I had played all of the courses that had been part of the World 100 EVER bucket list at that time.  However I had not yet set my sights on Tom MacWood’s spoof 1939 list, which I later discovered included two courses in RSA that I had not played…East London GC along the Indian Ocean in the southeastern part of RSA, and Maccauvlei GC, located about 50 miles south of Johannesburg.  So these two were added to this itinerary.

Early Tuesday I flew from JNB top East London (about 1:45) and was met at the ELS airport by ELGC’s GM, Brenden Fourie.  Ther club has hosted the South African Open about 7 times and the course now stretches to about 6770 yards (par 73).  It sits high on bluffs above the Indian Ocean but only close to the beaches in one or two locations.  The course is very hilly, and plays firm and fast.  I played with last year’s Captain, Ed Ashton-Scott who sis a great guy, as is Brenden.  This section of RSA has suffered from a severe drought over the past several months and to my mind that helped the condition of the course.  The fairways have wonderful thick turf.  I loved the course, it is one you could play every day.  We played early and the wind did not start picking up until the back nine…the course usually plays in very windy conditions each afternoon, and that helps make it fun.  And, after having written in a previous post that I had yet to break 80, I hit a 9-iron to 3 feet on 18 that allowed me to finally break 80 on the trip.  In terms of fun courses, only Humewood is better in RSA (IMHO).

After a nice lunch, it was back to JNB to prepare for the last day of the trip.

Maccauvlei GC, South Africa, January 27, 2016:  I checked out of my hotel early, left my luggage in storage and used Uber to get me 50 miles south to Maccauvlei.  The club was founded some 90+ years ago and is the home club of Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters Champion).  The folks at Both East London and Maccauveli were totlally unaware of the MacWood article when I first emailed them (I send them copies of the article) and at both clubs various members came up to me for further explanation.  Here at Maccauvlei I was asked to sign the minutes book of the Board Meetings.  Felt like a celebrity. 

Unfortunately, played a little like a celebrity (instead of like a golfer) for the first 5 holes and then played better…finishing with an 82.  The course is flat, and has seen better days (RSA’s economy and the value of the Rand has suffered mightily in recent times), but the members and staff that I met were wonderful…including Schwartzel’s father, with whom I had a nice talk. 

Took a taxi back to JNB, started working on this last trip post, and then boarded flights back home.  Am flying JNB to London to JFK (visiting family in NY) and then flying to NC Thursday night.  Will be great to get home and see Pat, my wonderful bride.

Bucket List Status January 28, 2016

World Top 100 Ever:  Total of 180 courses have been included on one of more World Top 100 courses since the first was published by Golf Magazine in 1979 (on a total of 35 World Top 100 lists).  I have played 267, and have 13 to go, composed of:

            Australia—6

New Zealand—1

France—1

Italy—1

Canada—2

Mexico—1

Barbados—1

                       

Tom MacWood Spoof 1939 World Top 100:  First published on www.golfclubatlas.com, this list is composed of 101 courses (#100 is a combination of two then nine holers…Royal Worlington in England, and Prairie Dunes in Kansas).  Five no longer exist (or never existed)…leaving 96 that are playable.  I have played 85 of these 96 and have 11 to go:

            England—6

            France—2

            Belgium—1

            Canada—1

            USA (FL)—1

United States Open Championship Host Venues:  A total of 54 courses have hosted (or are scheduled to host) a US Open through 2023.  I have played 52 including the following that no longer exist as golf courses:

            1. Englewood CC (NJ)--I played in about 1961

            2. Baltimore CC-Roland Park (MD)—played remaining 4 holes in 2013, and have played the Club’s newer course twice

            3. Fresh Meadow CC—I grew up about 2-3 miles from its US Open course which closed about 1945; during my sophomore year in high school I dated a girl who lived in the housing development that occupies this land, and in 2015, played the Club’s current course….and these have been deemed to constitute “playing the venue”.

I have not played two host venues:

            Brae Burn CC (MA)

            Skokie CC (IL)

Summary to do:  Total of 26 to go.

Planning/hoping to play:         February 2016...Australia/NZ—6

                                                May 2016…England—6

                                                May 2016…France/Belgium/Italy—5

            Undefined 2016 dates…USA—3

                                                Undefined 2016 dates…Canada—3

                                                Undefined 2016 dates…Mexico—1

                                                Undefined 2016 dates…Barbados—1

Need a plan:                            Australia—1 (Ellerston, NSW)

Courses Played to Date

To date in total have now played 813 golf courses in 44 countries (including the USA and counting N Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England as separate countries).  If I complete all of the above, Barbados will bring me to 45 countries.  Of the 813 courses, 588 are (or were) in the USA and 230 in the other 44 countries.  

Total states played are 42, and I am missing AK, IA, LA, ME, MS, ND, SD, and UT (having never set foot in AK, MS, ND, and SD). 

A list of USA states and other countries where I have played the most courses are (numbers in parentheses indicate total projected if I play the above 26 to complete these three bucket lists) follows.  Note that GB&I totals 79 (86), far surpassing any other world “region”.

Scotland                      30 (30)

England                       29 (35)

Ireland                         17 (17)

Canada                        16 (19)

Australia                     13 (19)

Florida                         69 (70)

New York                    61 (61)

North Carolina            44 (44)

Massachusetts             42 (43)

California                    42 (42)

South Carolina            31 (31)

Pennsylvania               27 (27)

Ohio                            25 (25)

Georgia                       22 (22)

New Jersey                 22 (22)

29. Da Lat Palace and Bluffs Ho Tram, Vietnam, and Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, January 21-23, 2016

Da Lat Palace and Bluffs Ho Tram, Vietnam, and Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, January 21-23, 2016

Up until a few years ago, if you had suggested that I would be visiting Vietnam to play some golf, including a World Top 100 course, I would have simply laughed you off.  But, time does make the world change, and here I was in Ho Chi Ming City (HCMC…the old “Saigon’), which is literally teaming with activity.  The drive from SGN airport (at least something here is named after Saigon) gave me a taste of HCMC’s famous traffic with bikes and scooters filling every empty space between cars and larger vehicles.  The hotel was nice, and after getting there, I had to go out to purchase an i-phone power cord, which gave me a brief taste of the buzz of activity in this city.  I had heard stories from others about hostility of the Vietnamese toward Americans, but felt none of this during my two-day stay.  While I did bristle at seeing the tome of propaganda signs from the government (including hammer and sickle logos everywhere), I loved the industriousness of the people.

Da Lat Palace GC, January 21, 2016:  Was up early to catch a flight at 6:50am north to the city of Da Lat.  This overall trip has two purposes related to my three current bucket lists.  First is to finish off the Asian and Middle Eastern courses on my “Top 100 Ever” list.

The second purpose, is to knock off the four left on Tom MacWood’s 1939 Spoof that are difficult for me to reach…two in South Africa (East London and Maccauviel), Nuwara Eliya in “Tea Country” Sri Lanka, and Da Lat in the Highlands of Vietnam.  On Jan. 20, I awoke early to catch a puddle jumper from HCMC to Da Lat.  Upon arrival, I saw the iron gates at the entrance that I had seen on the club’s website, celebrating its origin in 1922 (see my pic to the left):

The clubhouse area (which is very small and comfortable) occupies two buildings, one encompassing the bar and lunch area, pro shop, and offices, and te other which houses the locker rooms.  The latter building was a beehive of activity as the locker rooms are in the process of being restored. 

Upon entering the clubhouse, I met the GM, who inquired about why I was traveling such distances to play his course.  He was unaware of the MacWood Top 100 Spoof and loved the story.  After I later learned that his daughter is a freshman at Northeastern U in Boston, and told him Pat and I would contact her and have her over for dinner.

The clubhouse is filled with interesting memorabilia, including a bunch of old photos (some of which I had never seen before) of Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead…and a framed copy of the LIFE magazine cover with Ben Hogan and his “secret”.  The LIFE issue was dated August 8, 1955, about 5 weeks after I first took up the game at Camp Cherokee near Honesdale, PA.

The golf course stretches to 7009 yards (somewhat mitigated by the altitude of about 5000’) and features ponds influencing play on 7 holes, some very large bunkers and some very deep bunkers as well.  It is also extremely hilly.  The fairways were too soft but the GM advised that they are trying to firm it up over time.  There seemed to be a lot of course work going on…as was the case with the clubhouse area.  The GM said the course had a major renovation in 1991 (which was obvious from the green to tee distances on about 2 holes) that was led by IMG…I was surprised by that as I never knew IMG to have been in the renovation business.  Any of you have any thoughts on this?

Best two holes are #7 (399 yard par 4 uphill dogleg left with a large pond creating a split fairway about 230 yards off the back tee…safe play off tee is to left leaving a very long second, while tough tee shot to right is rewarded with much easier approach), and #3 (386 yards, slightly downhill off tee and then turning sharply right and downhill to a punchbowl green for the approach…with a large tree blocking the corner of the dogleg, forcing you to hit your drive long and left).  Pictures of these two holes follow.

Hole #7 above and approach on hole #3 below

After the round, had a nice lunch with the GM and then headed back to the airport to get back to HCMC.

Bluffs at Ho Tram, Vietnam, January 22, 2016:  I arrived at HCMC’s airport just before 5pm, looking forward to getting to Bluffs.  However, my golf clubs apparently had become fed up with my game, and decide to fly to Hanoi instead.  With proper use of bar codes on luggage, this should never happen…and believe it or not, I resisted the temptation to lecture the people of Vietnamese Airlines about their luggage procedures.  Actually, the day was saved by one of the employees of Bluffs who met me at HCMC and worked with the airline folks to get the clubs shipped down to HCMC that evening, and then he drove them to Bluffs.  By 10pm during dinner, I knew the golf bag was on its was in a Bluffs car. 

But I am getting ahead of myself.  I was met by three representatives of Bluffs who basically “parted the Red Sea” at HCMC airport, and we were on our way in a luxury van by 5:45pm.  It is a 2 hour drive from the airport to Bluffs, but this was rush hour so it took 2:30.  I was greeted by Patrick Kelly (originally from Brisbane, Australia), head pro, and Ali Macfadyen (originally from Scotland), head superintendent).   The complex basically consists of the Ho Tram hotel and casino complex and the Greg Norman designed Bluffs golf course, which first opened in late 2014, and hosted an Asian Tour sponsored event in late 2015 (Ho Tram Open).

The dinner was great fun…fascinating talk regarding top 100’s, golf course architecture, our golf backgrounds, etc.  Would have bored any normal person to tears.  By about 10:30pm, I was fading fast and we adjourned until 6:30am Friday, when I was scheduled to play Bluffs w Patrick.

My room, correction…suite, was not to be believed…easily nicer than any Motel 6 or Comfort Inn.  Probably about 800-100 sq ft, and beautifully done.  Had a good but short night’s sleep.  This is the tough stretch of the trip until I get a day of rest Monday in Johannesburg.

Patrick and I teed off on #10 at about 6:40am.  We were late as I got lost in the hotel/casino lobby looking for him…place is simply huge.  The course is laid out with every hole running in either a NE-SW or SW-NE direction…which runs parallel to the beach sitting about 200 yards southeast of holes 5, 16 and 17.  The beach and Indian Ocean are clearly visible from about every hole as the property’s elevation rises as you move inland, and virtually all of the golf course sits within 400 yards of the beach. From the tips, it plays to 7007 yards (par 72), which is plenty long for its windy environment and contours (about 170’ of elevation change across the property).  The setting and course are very dramatic.  It plays like a true links course, firm and fast, and the greens are in close to perfect condition.  Overall I would like to see it get a bit firmer and faster and a little “brown” instead of 100% green, but given that it is still in the grow in phase, that will take time…and frankly, it is not clear what the course’s management/owners will want in this regard…as most golfers today still have a love affair with green green tracks.  The fairways have a ton of width, few level lies (excellent contouring), and offer great angles and options, and the greens are large and tough with lots of contours, but are not “over the top” tough.  Bunkers are extremely well placed and beautifully set, and the sand plays well, even if it is soft when walking through the bunkers (my guess is that this will improve with time as the sand settles).  Simply put, this is a great site and setting, Greg Norman and company have done an outstanding job with it, and Ali and his crew are maintaining it wonderfully.  The course offers both “eye candy” and architectural substance.  My favorite holes are #1, 2, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 18. 

My taste would lean to a more traditional, rather than very modern clubhouse, but that is not what the Asian market seems to be calling for, and in any case, is a small point.  Only hole I question is #15…which plays 257 yards up hill to a green protected on the left front by a large deep bunker. Even though its contours give plenty of room to work the ball into the green with a slight draw, I believe it simply puts too much of a premium on power.

Earlier this month, Bluffs made Golf Digest’s World 100 Greatest at position #74.  Only Cabot Cliffs (Nova Scotia, Canada) and Cape Wickham (Kings Island, Tasmania, Australia) came out higher among very recent openings (to date I have not played either but I am planning both for 2016).   I would fully expect Bluffs to ne a fixture in Top 100 listing going forward…especially as the grow in phase continues and the course matures.  Clearly one of Asia’s great tracks.  Following are some photos from my round…

Bluffs #2--par 3 downhill

Bluffs #4 par 3 (above)



Bluffs #7 par 3

Bluffs #8 downhill par 4...drive to split fairway

Bluffs #2 downhill par 4

Bluffs #15...long uphill par 3

After the round, I showered, changed and finished packing, had lunch w Patrick, Ali and Bluffs’ marketing manager, Sonia, then we headed to HCMC airport and I was off to visit Sri Lanka.  Great place and excellent team managing it.

Nuwara Eliya GC, Sri Lanka, January 23, 2016:  In case you didn’t guess, my trip included a stop in Sri Lanka due to Tom MacWood’s 1939 spoof list.  From the first time I thought about trying to complete the MacWood list, Nuwara Eliya always stood out as my toughest “get to”.  Vietnam is not far from the other countries of SE Asia and I had heard that Bluffs was 100 caliber…so Da Lat was not that tough, and while South Africa was out of the way, and I had played all of the great ones from there mast March, having two courses left made that visit easier on the time and $$ wallets.

Nuwara Eliya is in the highlands of Sri Lanka and sits about 80 miles as the crow flies from the capital city of Colombo.  However, research indicated that the trip could take as much as 6+ hours as the roads navigate Sri Lanka’s mountainous tea country.  To be honest, a two-day stopover in Sri Lanka was not high on my list.  Then someone suggested looking at a seaplane or helicopter charter.  Obviously, not the cheapest alternative but thru research on the web and numerous emails, I found one that was not too unreasonable…and seemed to check out in terms of safety, viability etc.  And I certainly did not want to end up having completed all but one of MacWood’s list (note…you may recall that his list totals 101 courses as he included two then 9 holers as his 100^th…of these 101, 5 no longer exist, so my goal is to have played the other 96).

I arrived after a good pair of flights (HCMC to Kuala Lumpur to Colombo…on my 6^th and 7^th Malaysian Airline flights of this trip).  My hotel, the Galle Face Hotel, is a classic old very British hotel dating from well before Ceylon became Sri Lanka.  Sleep time was not long and it was off to a local military base for an 8am take off.  All week long the web had been showing thunderstorms as likely for this date at NE. and further research showed that such storms pop up quickly most afternoons.  I had hoped to depart well before 8am but ground fog at NE this time of year made that impossible.  So I ran the risk of not being able to fly back to Colombo...and arranged for a backup driver jic….which would necessitate a much later flight out of Colombo.  Not a happy thought but doable as a backup.  In any case, the flight to NE was on time and very uneventful (eventful helicopter rides being something one wants to avoid).

Originally built by the Brits, it is hard to guess what Nuwara Eliya was like in the 1930’s, but it is not exactly Top 100 material right now.  I played from about 6100 yards and the course sits at about 6500’…but very wet and soft fairways killed most roll.  The club has a very very British “colonial” feel to it, not surprising, of course.  The weather was beautiful as I tees off on #1 at about 9:10…very very tight relatively long par 4…so tight it reminded me of the first tee at Salahee near Seattle.  When I played Sahalee in summer 2013, at the first tee I wondered whether to take out a golf ball or a bowling ball…same feeling here.  Not a bad layout, but due to space limitations, many fairways literally cross each other.  It does not get much play, or at least it did not on 1/13, so I avoided getting hit by an errant or not so errant ball.  Pictures of course follow:

Entry to Nuwara Eliya

Looking down 1st from tee (bowling alley)

Looking back at clubhouse from 1st tee

Nuwara Eliya Irrigation System

Around 11:00, the weather seemed to turn and I could see the clouds starting to form, so hustled my way through the last 6 holes, said goodbye and got back to the helicopter by noon (about 45 minutes earlier than planned). 

The pilot was called and we started to take off around 12:30…but the engine did not start and the pilot said it was the battery…which was over heating due to the hot weather and thin air.  He called his technical people, and they advised that he give the battery about 15 minutes to cool off and then try again.  I was beginning to prepare for a long drive back to Colombo…and the need to switch to later flights.  We tried again 15 minutes later and the engine just did crank up…much to both of our reliefs.  Flight back to Colombo was again uneventful…but the clouds were quickly forming in the mountains.  If we had tried to leave an hour later, might well have been socked in.  In any case, made it back to Colombo and its International airport, and flight to Dubai was on time and smooth…at least in terms of getting to Dubai…more later.  At this point, have two pot play in Dubai, two in South Africa and then home!

My game:  Frankly, mostly ugly so far.  Trip has been very tiring…and hard to stay focused on the golf at hand.  Plus have hit zero range balls…playing so much want to minimize # of swings to reduce chance of repetitive motion injury.

During my first seven rounds (until I got to Vietnam), had exactly ZERO birdies.  What an embarrassment.  But then birdied #17 at Da Lat…a long, tough par 4 where I hit a 3 wood to 2’.  And made the putt  J.  Then at Bluffs, actually had three birdies!!  Best scores so far has been two 80’s.

Will need to hit the range when I get back to Pinehurst…but not the first day back!!

28. Hong Kong GC, Sentosa GC (Serapong), and Els Club Teluk Datai January 17-20

Hong Kong GC, Sentosa GC (Serapong), and Els Club Teluk Datai January 17-20

Hong Kong GC January 18:  Aside from a workout in the hotel gym, did nothing all day…just hung out in room, updated Blog, (have to keep you folks happy), but mostly just slept…which was just what this old body needed.  Sunday evening, had a wonderful Chinese dinner with Ron XXXX (names always kept confidential to keep them form receiving request for contacts and games, etc) and his wife, Stella, as well as David and Juliana XXXX.  Ron is the former president of a worldwide senior golf association we joined 2 years ago, studied architecture in graduate school at MIT, and runs a large architectural firm in Hong Kong.  He had introduced me to David over a year ago…David was three years behind me at MIT, but did not know each other then. 

The next morning, Ron and I were joined by Ed XXXX for 18 holes at Hong Kong GC’s Eden Course.  HKGC (formerly Royal Hong Kong GC) was founded about 125 years ago and now has three 18 hole courses…Eden, Old and New.  It had been the host of the Honk Kong Open for decades (most recently won by Justin Rose last October) which is contested on a Composite Course, and it is that Composite Course that was included on Golf Magazine’s first World Top 50 lists published in 1979 and ’81.  Other World 100 courses are Royal Melbourne and The Country Club, and for good and valid reasons, almost all publishers of Top 100 listing now prohibit the inclusion of composites.  Since these are usually available for play only a few days each year, it becomes impossible for panelists to rate composites.

I played HKGC’s Old Course in 1974 and its New Course in 1980 (both when it was still Royal Hong Kong) but had never played Eden….which generally has had 9-11 of the Composite holes, and needed to play it to make this “played” designation fully kosher.

Ron and I were joined by Ed XXXX who had been very helpful over the past two years getting me on to Wack Wack GC in Manila.  Ed worked for Citibank in the 1970’s (and later) first in Manila, and then elsewhere in SE Asia…so we had a good chance to trade war stories (all certified to have not one ounce of exaggeration) about the old days at Citi. 

The Eden Course is great fun.  The green complexes are well designed and well bunkered, and the property is fairly hilly and flat lies are a luxury on fairways filled with wonderful rolls and bumps.  The best holes are #5, 6, 9, and 15-18.  The course is very short but absolutely fun to play…the kind of course one could play every day.  And the club is simply superb and maintains its British traditions (even if it did drop the Royal designation at the time of the turnover).  This is not at all like most of the new courses in China and Asia.  No “over the top” sense on this property.

When I first played RHKGC on its Old Course almost 42 years ago, I remember some one pointing out where the property was a few yards from the barrier separating the New Territories of Hong Kong from the PRC (“Mainland China”).  As you stand on the 5^th tee of Eden (a superb short downhill par 3), Shenzhen lies about 2 miles to the north (see picture below).  This city did not exist in 1974 and now is home to about 11 million people and is a modern, bustling city, filled with skyscrapers and can be seen in the background of the picture below of Ron and me.  Simply amazing.

We enjoyed a superb lunch after the round and Ron dropped me off at the airport on my way to Singapore.  Funny how things work…if I had played Eden during one of my earlier trips to Hong Kong, I probably would not have made this stop on this trip.  Glad things worked out as they did!

Sentosa GC—Serapong, Singapore January 19, 2016:  The 4-hour flight to Singapore was smooth, and I arrived at my hotel around 8pm.  Tee off is at 7:07am the next day, as I need to catch a flight at 3:25pm.  A whole bunch of short haul flights these next 3-4 days.  Forecast for Tuesday calls for T-storms starting around 11am, so need to get a little lucky.  Flying from Hong Kong to Singapore is the opposite of  “out of the frying pan and into the fire” as far as I am concerned…they are two of my favorite cities in the world.  Some of you will recall that I was in Singapore in early November to play Singapore Island’s Bukit course…at that time Sentosa had not made a World 100 (more on this later) and was not on my radar as a high potential candidate, so I did not play it.

My hotel is about 200 yards from the course and will allow a late checkout, which should make Tuesday simpler.

Got to the club around 6:30am, had my breakfast (Fiber One of course) and met my playing partner, John, a 62 year old Singaporean who is semi retired from running a large food processing business and took up golf several years ago.  John usually plays as a single first thing each morning with his regular caddy and loves the beautiful solitude of a fine golf course…and Serapong is better than that.  We shared golf war stories and enjoyed a quick front nine. 

Then when we hit #10, the course was backed up as groups had been sent off both the 1^st and 10^th tees.  It very quickly became apparent that my ability to play all 18 might be in jeopardy (also, John had a meeting at 11:30 which was at risk as well).  Quickly sizing up the situation, I notice as we finished #10 that #11 was backed up, but that #18 was free and was right next to #10.  So I played #10, then #18 alone and quickly, then raced to the 11^th tee to rejoin John for #11 and  #12.  When we got backed up again at #13, the starter was there (I think John called him…cell phones are used more frequently than tees on Asian courses) to shepherd us to #16, where we quickly played #16 and #17.  Then John had to run, and I went to #13 and played #13-#15.  The above is a long winded way of saying I got to play the entire back nine but a bit out of order.

Now to some substance.  The course was in fabulous shape, in part because it is hosting the Singapore Open (a Euro Tour event) in about 12 days.  Those of you who have been there know that Singapore is very close to the Equator, is continuously hot and humid , and gets a LOT of rain all year long (their rainy season lasts 366 days this year).  Despite that, the fairways were fairly firm and otherwise in absolutely perfect shape.  The greens were a touch soft (my guess is that rolling them for the event should solve that) but pretty fast and perfectly true.  The course is long (over 7400 yards at sea level and probably plays to par 70 for the Open).  It first made a World Top 100 2-3 weeks ago when Golf Digest announced their 2016 list.  I must admit to being skeptical about this selection when I saw it (#58), but was very pleasantly surprised.  My overall sense is that it does belong in a World 100…but I would place it around #75-100.  Its greens are generally very large and challenging.  The course is Open with great vistas of downtown Singapore and its commercial docks….really a cool setting.

Finished my round by about 10:40, and then raced to the hotel, as I learned that my flight had been cancelled.  There were other flights, but I was flying back to Kuala Lumpur to make a connection and did not want that connection to be too tight…so now it was a race to catch a 1:40 flight (and shower and finalize packing as well).  Got it all done and made the 1:40. 

The Els Club Teluk Datai, Malaysia, January 20, 2016:  When the Golf Digest list came out, there were two “surprise” course in Asia…Sentosa (which I had sort of heard of), and The Els Club in Malaysia (which I had never heard of).  The Els Club is located near Langkawi, Malaysia, on island just off  its western coast and just below its northern border with Thailand.  This area is “quintessential” south pacific/Southeast Asia.  Beautiful beaches, high mountains rising almost straight out of the sea and covered with deep thick vegetation, etc. etc.  It reminded me if the opening scenes from the original King Kong movie.  It is an out of the way resort, and for sure I set a record with this trip, being the first person to come here for less than 24 hours and alone!!  Pat would have loved this place (but perhaps not loved the flights on the way).

The next morning I was on the road before sunrise for the 30 minute drive to the Club.

The place looks beautiful.   They offered me locker #3 for the day…about 2 feet left of Ernie’s as shown below:

The Els Club is a par 72 totaling 6760 yards, surprisingly short in today’s golf world.  Like Sentosa, it was included in its first World 100 earlier this month by Golf Digest.

I got off the first tee just after 7am, and after playing the first two holes noted something very strange...neither hole had any bunkers.  When I arrived at the par 3 third tee…same thing, no bunkers.  Despite being a little tired for my travels, I got to thinking and concluded this might be a trend.  Sure enough, ain’t no bunkers on the entire course.  A number of the holes incorporate very good angles, but on others, there is little or no protection. 

Holes 1-4 worked through the forest and then 5-8 have either greens or tees near the water.  #9-15 are again in the forest, as is #18…but 16 is a spectacular dogleg right which opens up to the water after the turn…it is a sight to behold, then 17 is a short par 3 along the waters edge.  Below are pictures of some of these holes.

Par 3 Fifth Hole at Els

                       Par 5 7th hole at Els--approach shot

                                                    Tee shot on 18th at Els

While the course has a few good holes, and certainly is “different” given it has no bunkers, those are not World 100 qualities.  I hate to say this but the fact is that my locker is much much closer to Ernie’s than The Els Club is to being a World Top 100.  Pretty, but that ain’t enough.  Hopefully neither Ernie nor King Kong will come after me for that assessment.