The rolling hills of former oil palm estate have
been turned into two 18 holes golf courses, Palm and Bunga
Raya. Both courses have undulating fairways, mounds, bunkers, ridges,
lakes and ponds to prevent you from getting that "par" or "birdie".
Both are equally challenging, maybe difficult should be the word.
At the Palm Course, the sloping greens are fast while the dramatic changes
in elevation and undulating fairways are challenging even to professionals.
When your shots are not accurate, it is easy to lose them among the rows
of palm trees that line the fairways. The front 9 holes are very difficult
that remind me of Blue
Canyon in Thailand while the back 9 are easier. It has played host to
the prestigious Malaysia Open four times and was also given the honor to
become the first golf course in Asia to host the inaugural European &
Asia PGA Tour event. Nicknamed “the Cobra”, the Palm Course is widely acknowledged
as the toughest in the country with its tight, palm-lined fairways and fast
tricky greens. Carved out of a former oil plantation where cobras were introduced
to keep the crop-destroying rats at bay, the Cobra was an obvious and fitting
nickname. There are signs warning of cobras along several fairways, but
I was told that a sighting of one is extremely rare. At 7024 yards, the
Palm Course is not the longest but what it lacks in length it makes up for
in layout. All-round golf skills are a prerequisite to success. |
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| A par 3 over a ravine. It looks easy at first
but actually is very demanding. It is said that it is one of the most difficult
holes in Malaysia. The jungle palm trees surround the hole with an OB on
the left, a deep ravine in front of the green, and three bunkers guarding
the green. The green is highly undulating with a strong mound, so 3 putts
or 4 putts are likely. |
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| A downhill hole where you often come across monkeys.
The green is as highly elevated as 4 meters (13 ft.), so the approach shot
from off the green is difficult. Because the green is double-tiered with
the subtle slopes, putting is demanding, too. The green has a magnificent
look. |
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A very short par 4, dogleg to the left. The tee shot is downhill, so its
layout tempts a long hitter to go for the green in 1. However, the front
side of the green is guarded by water and pot bunkers protect the green
on the right. The view of spreading palm trees seen from the tee is excellent.
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| A straight hole with an OB on the left. The second
and third shots are downhill. The green is guarded by a creek on the front
and bunkers on both left and right. |
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A gentle uphill, strong dogleg to the left with a deep ravine at the turn.
The second shot remains 150 to 200 yards from a steep side hill lie. You
need to manage the way to attack the pin with a long iron or so. If you
miss the green to the left on the second shot, there is a steep slope and
a deep bunker, which makes saving par difficult from there. |
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A dogleg to the right, flanked on both sides by OBs. The narrow fairway
is guarded by trees, so the landing area off the tee is extremely small.
A bunker guarding the front left of the long, narrow green is in play. |
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A neat par 3. The green is slightly elevated. When the pin position is on
the left, the bunker in front of the green comes into play. |
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A very long, uphill hole. You need to drive very hard due to the long distance.
The uphill on the second shot becomes steeper. This is a hole that you are
happy with par. |
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| A straight hole with a pond guarding the green.
A middle or short iron is used on the second shot. It becomes the slightly
downhill lie, which makes the shot difficult, and If you are short of the
front edge of the green by a mere 5 yards, the shot will be in the water.
If you have a bad lie on the second shot, you had better lay up on the fairway
on the right side of the green. |
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It is a 40 minutes drive from Central Kuala Lumpur and 50 minutes drive
from the KL International Airport.
In order to play, you need to stay at the adjacent hotel. I recommend
you stay at the Saujana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Club. (formerly named as
Hyatt Hotel, Regency Club). If you pay a little over USD 100 per night,
the beer, wines, drinks and some snacks are free of charge at the lobby
from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm. The hotel changed ownership in May, 2005, but
the service remains the same.
The caddies were well trained. 3 players are needed to play on Saturdays
and Sundays. The distance sticks are in yards, which is not common in
Malaysia as meters are used.
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| Carlsberg Malaysia Open, on the European PGA
Tour, was held at the Palm Course in 2004 and 2005. The course was voted
as the best course in Malaysia by Asian Golf Monthly in 2003 and 2004.
Among Ronald Fream designed other courses, in Asia are, Kelab
Golf Perkhidmatan Awam, Awana Genting G&CC, Karambunai
Resorts GC and Bangi Golf Resort in Malaysia, Mountain
Shadow GC, Panya Indra GC and Windsor Park &GC in Thailand, Bonari
Kogen GC, Happy Valley GC and Oumurawan CC - New Course in Japan, Asiana
CC and The Club at Nine Bridges in Korea, Tianjin Warner International
GC Grand Shanghai International G&HR and Orient
Xia Men G&CC in China, and Royal Brunei CC in Brunei.
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2nd hole seen from the green