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Despite being a flat resort
course it is liberating to play. The greens and fairways are in excellent condition
for a resort course. The fairways are wide but strategically placed fairway bunkers
as well as water hazards come into play on approach shots, so you need to hit
meticulous shots. The total number of the bunkers is 109. The greens are big and
undulated. The course is located near the ocean and the sea breeze increases the
difficulty level. The front 9 holes have an excellent layout while the back 9
holes make use of a natural in Land River. Overall, you will enjoy the beautiful
scenery and surroundings. |
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| Bunkers protect the elevated green.
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| A beautiful par 3 with bunkers everywhere
and a lake on the left. 。 |
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| Two fairways split by a lake
give you the option of driving left or right. The left fairway gives you a short
cut to the hole but requires an accurate 230-yard carry off the tee. Water on
the right and bunkers on the left eagerly await an errant drive. As long as the
demanding tee shot is successful, the approach shot is not difficult from there.
The right fairway offers the safer option off the tee, which makes this hole a
dogleg to the left. However, the second shot is more difficult requiring a long
approach shot over water. |
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This is a similar layout to Hole
8. Two fairways, left and right are also provided split by a creek. To attack
the pin nearly, you need to hit to the right fairway but must carry the ball 220-240
yards in order to clear the creek. Tail wind encourages you to hit try for a longer
carry. If you choose the safer route down the left fairway, the hole becomes a
slight dogleg to the right. |
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A good dogleg to the right along the river, taking advantage of the natural terrain.
A precise approach shot is needed as the green is well protected by bunkers. The
view seen from green is magnificent. |
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There are many bunkers crisscrossing
this hole. The beautiful fairway bunkers are not much in play but bunkers guarding
the front of the green definitely are. |
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| Because the hole doglegs slightly
to the left, you need to hit the right side of the fairway but well-placed fairway
bunkers narrow most of the fairway. The green is slightly elevated and the bunkers
guarding the left of the green should be avoided as they are deep. |
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| An “S” shaped par 5 to start with
a dogleg to the left with the green swung to the right lasting the end. This is
a long par 5 but even longer if a head wind blows. There is water on the right
side of the green. |
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IIt takes 1 hour and 30
minutes from Haikou by car. The adjacent Sofitel Boao Hotel is luxurious. This
is the hotel world leaders stay when important international conferences like
APEC are held in China. Facilities in the hotel and furniture in the room are
first rate. Also world leaders meet at International Convention Center seen from
the course. The course title, BFA stands for Boao Forum for Aisa. I was allowed
to play from the gold tees, (the longest tees), after I showed the starter a single-handicap
certificate. |
The designer, Graham Mash, is an Austrian PGA and used to be very successful
on the Japanese PGA tour. He has designed less than 50 golf courses mainly
in Austria and Asia. AS far as Asia is concerned, Penang GR, Tropicana
G&CC, Penang GR and Staffield CR and Stera
Harbour G&CC are his designs in Malaysia, Fairways & Bluewater
RG&C and Royal Northwoods G&CC are in Philippine, Klub Golf Bogor
Raya, Gading Raya Pading GC are in Indonesia, Silk River CC is in Korea,
Mission Valley GC, Kagoshima Gaden GC and Karuizawa 900 C are in Japan
and Beijing Huatang International GC is in China.
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A view from the clubhouse