Tee off in Jakarta and Manila – A number of other golfing hotspots are steadily gaining in popularity with the regional golfing fraternity

6WHILE Singapore offers some exceptional golf courses to play on, there’s something rather appealing about rustling up a few good buddies and jumping on a plane to play regional golf. Aside from the prospect of playing a few rounds over a couple of days or a long weekend, it’s a good opportunity to test out one of the many new and challenging layouts on our doorstep.

Thailand, Malaysia and Kunming in China may be firmly at the top of many lists, but a number of other golfing hotspots, in and around the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Metro Manila in The Philippines, are steadily gaining in popularity with the regional golfing fraternity. BT checks out some of their first-class courses.

Cengkareng Golf Club (www.cengkarenggolfclub.com)

This semi-private club is practically located in-between the runways at Jakarta’s international airport, and is a mere five-minute taxi ride from the terminal. Venue of the 2005 Indonesian Open, Cengkareng has one 18-hole layout designed by Walter Raleigh Stewart which is a walking course.

While general manager Howie Roberts is reluctant to release monthly flight numbers, he does say that it’s one of the busiest 18-hole facilities in the region and one of the best maintained. ‘Our course is one of the best conditioned courses in South-east Asia,’ he says. ‘We put money into it and re-invest in course maintenance.’ The club allows the public to play on weekdays and weekends.

Damai Indah Golf & Country Club (www.damaiindahgolf.com)

Featuring two 18-hole championship courses – the Robert Trent Jones Jr designed Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) and the Jack Nicklaus designed Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), which both opened in 1992 – this club played host to the Asian Tours Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open this year.

Next week sees the Jakarta World Junior Golf Championship 2007 being played on the BSD course, which was named best golf course by Golf Digest in 1999, and also one of the best golf courses in Asia-Pacific in 2000. The private club was founded by an Indonesian real estate developer who also owns the Ciputra Golf and Klub Keluarga in Surabaya. The BSD course, which attracts between 4,000 and 4,500 flights per month, was Nicklaus’ first signature course in Indonesia, while the PIK course, which is the only facility in Jakarta to offer nine holes of night golf, sees monthly flights of between 6,000 and 6,500. Facilities include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, driving range, practice bunker, and putting and chipping greens.

Emeralda Golf Club (www.emeraldagolfclub.com)

This exclusive private club consists of three nine-hole courses which opened in 1995 – two were designed by Arnold Palmer (River and Lake courses) and one by Jack Nicklaus (Plantation course).

The River’s most difficult hole is the dog leg par-4 sixth which requires a well-placed tee shot rather than a huge drive from the tee box, due to the creek running along the fairway, and an accurate second shot with bunkers left and right and a creek at the back of the green.

The Plantation’s par-4 third looks pretty straightforward with one fairway bunker, but it’s the second shot which requires spot-on club selection with the small green protected by five bunkers. Aside from the 27 holes, with a further Nicklaus-designed nine being built, the club also hosted the 2006 Indonesian Open.

Eagle Ridge Golf & Country Club (www.eagle-ridge.com)

Eagle Ridge is one of the largest golfing facilities in The Philippines, with four 18-hole championship courses designed by Nick Faldo, Andy Dye, Greg Norman and Isao Aoki.

A semi-private club, allowing public access, its majority shareholder is St Lucia Property Development Company, a major player in golf club development and which is in the process of completing a number of other golfing and real estate projects in the country. All four courses are quite different and challenging in their own way, but the Faldo course, with its undulating fairways and numerous bunkers, is testing even for the experienced golfer.

The par-4 ninth is a long uphill hole, especially when played against the wind, and it is imperative to hit a long straight drive and to have that extra bit of confidence when hitting your approach onto the green, as there is a deep hazard on the right hand side of the fairway. Facilities include three club houses, resort style facilities with indoor and outdoor sports and accommodation.

Riviera Golf & Country Club (www.therivergolf.com)

Having hosted three Philippine Opens, this semi-private club, whose majority shareholder is the AFP-RSBS (the Armed Forces of the Philippines Retirement and Separation Benefits System), boasts two stunning 18-hole championship courses designed by Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples.

One of the signature holes of the Langer course is its spectacular par-3 17th which features a 30m drop to an island green with a ravine running at the back, front and sides of the green. Both layouts are testing, though, for both advanced players and beginners, with tricky tee and approach shots on many of the holes, where club selection and accuracy is key.

Wack Wack Golf & Country Club (www.wackwack.com)

Founded in 1930, this famous club is one of the oldest in The Philippines, and features two 18-hole championship courses – the East and West. Venue of the year’s Philippine Open, the East course’s par-3 16th is considered the signature hole of the club by Gary Player.

At 207 yards long, with its green surrounded by bunkers, it is often described as a make-or-break hole; it’s a tough, long hole. The shortest par-4 on the East course is the 343-yard seventh which can either be a birdie chance or an absolute disaster, depending on where your tee shot lands.

A 125-yard long artificial lake guards the left side of the last part of the fairway, narrowing the remaining side on the right to around 50 yards at the most.

Source:
Business Times, The (Singapore)
Date: May 26, 2007