Scorecard |
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| A long, gentle dogleg to the left
with a generous fairway. You should drive to the right to give you a much better
angle of approach, avoiding the deep bunkers guarding the left front side of the
green which is elevated a little. |
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A sharp dogleg to the left. A series of bunkers, as much as 50 yards long, guard
the left corner of the dogleg, so the layout does not allow you to take a short
cut easily. The green is guarded by a naturally wooded hillside and two bunkers
on the left. |
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| A beautiful hole with a drive
over a lake. The lake crosses the entire width of the fairway and a carry of 240
yards is needed to clear the right side of the lake to the fairway. The fairway
is tight and bush on the left and the creek on the right come into play. The green
is big and has a severely contoured putting surface, so you might have 3 putts
if your ball is far from the pin. |
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A picturesque par 3 with a peninsula
green. The tee is elevated and the distance is relatively short, but the green
is surrounded by water and the prevailing wind affects your shot, so it gives
you some pressure. |
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| A gentle dogleg to the left. The
second and the third shots are downhill against the wind from the lake, which
makes it play substantially longer. The second shot must be strategically placed
as a series of bunkers down the middle split this into a double fairway. Going
left will leave an easier chip for the third shot, but going right to the wider
part of the fairway will force you into a harder approach over deep bunkers. |
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| A beautiful gentle slight uphill
par 5. Bunkers are well placed. You should avoid the deep bunkers guarding the
front left of the green. |
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| A relatively long par 3 over a lake.
You need to hit an accurate shot because the lake runs down the entire right side
of the hole and bunkers guard the left side of the green. You can also enjoy there
are pretty cottages behind the green. |
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| The
longest hole on the course. The fairway is tight and the bunkers about 120 yards
off the green come into play for the second shot, so careful planning is needed.
The third shot is downhill. The lake behind the green looks really beautiful.
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| A par 3 with a spectacular view
of the countryside. The narrow, double-tiered green is well guarded by bunkers
on the left and hollows on the right. |
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The elevated tee gives a good
view of the numerous bunkers which meander through the hole and of the other hazards.
The fairway has strong undulations sloping from the front left to the back right.
The tee shot is intimidating since there is an OB on the right, which makes fairway
to look tighter. The green is narrow sideways and strongly contoured, so putting
is difficult if your ball is far from the pin. |
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| A
very long “signature hole”. This hole was selected as one of the best 500 holes
in the world by 2000’ s poll of US Golf Magazine. The second shot is extremely
difficult. A long iron or a fairway wood must carry over the intimidating ravine
that runs right across the hole, 10 yards short of the elevated green. If in any
doubt about reaching it in 2, laying up short of the ravine is the safe option.
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It takes about 45 minutes from Kunming Airport
by car. The altitude of 2000 meters (6500 ft.) above sea level adds some 10% distance
to your driver. The hotel adjacent to the club is comfortable and you can enjoy
a resort life.
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Beautiful flowerbeds with
various colors are placed on sides of all tees; players can understand why Kunming
is called “ the flower capital”.
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Caddies were well trained
and they fixed green divots as soon as they found them. Also, employees who are
not caddies put sand, the same color as the green, on the divots carefully through
their fingertips, which was very impressive. This is a secret to maintaining the
course in top condition.
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I have
played twice, two years ago, Aug. 2002, and this time, and the course conditions
were excellent. However, my friend who played in Aug. 2004, said that the conditions
then were not that great. This golf resort is often written about by many Asian
golf magazines. In August, holidays and the best season for Kunming’s pine mushrooms
coincide, so too many players tend to go there and it might affect adversely the
course maintenance sometimes. The other Jack Nicklaus designed
courses in China are Chung
Shan Hot Spring (中山溫泉)GC
– Jack Nicklaus Course, Pine Valley International (華彬國際)GC,
Shanghai Links (上海林克司)
G&CC, Palm Island (棕櫚島)
GC, Wuyi Fountain Palm (江門五邑蒲蔡) GC, Hangzhou West Lake
International (杭州西湖國際) G&CC, Suzhou Sunrise (蘇州中興)
GC, Nanhu (南湖) GCC,
Mission
Hill (觀蘭湖)GC – World Cup Course.
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2nd Par 4 452 yards (2)