New World Golf – Exotic Asia Home To Game’s Future
Anyone who watched the final round of this year’s PGA Championship could see the changing nature of golf. With the pressure of an entire continent on his shoulders, on the final hole, Y.E. Yang from South Korea feathered his hybrid 210 yards, over the bunkers to a pin tucked in the back corner of a nasty green. Yang calmly stepped up and sunk the birdie putt, then double fist pumped in celebration as he became the very first Asian male to win a major title. The guy he beat, Tiger Woods, is half Thai and when you add the 50 Korean women who now regularly tee it up on the LPGA Tour, it’s becoming clear that the future of the game is in Asia.
Besides great players, Asia is home to some terrific courses. Not surprisingly, China is the leader in new course resorts. The best known is Mission Hills in the south of the country. The extraordinary resort boasts 12 courses making it the largest golf facility in the world. (It even features a layout designed by Vijay Singh that is fully lit by flood lights so you can play it 24 hours a day. The resort is also hosting the upcoming World Cup which runs from November 26 – 29.) But there are a number of other exotic golfing destinations sprinkled across Asia, from Korea to Malaysia. Here are some of the best.
Thai Treasures
With over 250 courses spread across the country, Thailand is one of the leaders in the Asian golf boom. The first layouts were built around the edge of the extraordinary city of Bangkok and then further south, peaking out over the golden beaches in Phuket. More recently, the game has moved north to the mountains and the jungles of Chiang Mai. There are some terrific layouts here. The Royal Chiang Mai Golf Club is a Peter Thompson designed course that stretches to nearly 7,000 yards, rolling through the lush foothills. Thompson, a five time winner of the British Open and one of Asia’s favourite architects, has punctuated the course with greens that are often wrapped with water.
The Mae Jo Golf Club, which bends behind one of the city’s top universities, is dotted with elevated tees, which look out to the glorious Doi Sutlep mountain range. The fairways are lined by some of Mother Nature’s sweetest plants, everything from mango to tangerine trees.
While the golf is good in Chiang Mai, what really makes the place a `must visit’ destination are all the other possible adventures. The city is home to a stunning array of 13th century Buddhist temples and everything from Thai cooking to Thai massage schools. There are zip-line tours that rush through the heart of the rainforest , rafting expeditions that zig-zag through the jungle and guided tours of coffee and tea plantations. What’s really unique though is Chiang Mai’s Elephant and Nature Park where currently 30 rescued elephants live. Visitors can actually volunteer to help look after the elephants.
Malaysian Magic
Canadians are just beginning to discover the magic of Malaysia. Divided into two distinct sections with 11 states lining a rugged peninsula and two more located on the northern edge of Borneo, the country features an incredible array of looks from sugar white beaches to leafy highlands, sophisticated city centre to ancient monuments. The centrepiece of the country is the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, a former site of the Commonwealth Games and which is currently in the running to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. At night, Kuala Lumpur absolutely glitters, especially the architectural wonder known as the Petronas Tower – two skyscrapers that both rise up 88 stories and which are attached at the 41st and 42nd floors by a double decker, pedestrian skybridge.
Like Thailand, Malaysia can boast over 200 golf courses with designers ranging from Nicklaus to Norman. The country’s best known layout is the Mines Resort and Golf Club which sits just 15 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur. Opened in 1994, the Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed course was an immediate hit and in 1999 hosted the best players on the planet when it was the site for the World Cup. Besides being known for its high quality golf, the course is famous as one of the game’s most important reclamation projects. Up until the 1980s, the area was the site of the largest open cast tin mine in the world. The former slash on the landscape was then transformed into a first class golf resort. Jones was able to run the opening nine through the local jungle and then cleverly laid out the back nine around the edges of a massive 150 acre lake, once the heart of the tin mine. While the course is a private layout, it offers tee times to guests staying at the adjacent Palace Beach Resort and the Palace at the Golden Horses resort.
Not far away is another development known as the Mines Golf City which when completed will include schools, hospitals and homes, all wrapped around golf courses designed by Si Re Pak and Annika Sorenstam.
Golf Krazy In Korea
Y.E. Yang’s victory at the PGA Championship wasn’t the only big time win for Korea this summer. In August, Ben An, a 17 year old from Korea won the US Amateur, making him the youngest winner in the tournament’s 109 year history. And with 50 Korean women currently teeing it up on the LPGA Tour, the country has proudly been racking up wins all season long. Nobody knows for sure why the Koreans are currently dominating the game. Some of it has to do with their steely determination but there is definitely some magic in the air and that’s why it is worth making the trip to Korea just to see if a little bit of the good vibes will rub off on your own game.
For the perfect mix of golf and stunning scenery, make the pilgrimage to Jeju Island, which is a one hour flight south of Seoul. A chunk of brown volcanic rock that rises dramatically out of the sea, Jeju is sprinkled with craters and crashing waves, long stretches of beautiful beach and verdant valleys. It also holds some of the country’s top courses including The Club at Nine Bridges, which has been ranked among the world’s top 100 layouts and has hosted an LPGA event. Another top spot is the Blackstone Golf Club and Resort, which is tucked next to the Yellow Sea and is studded with rocky outcroppings and caves and peaks out to the imposing vista of Halla Mountain. The most intriguing place though is Jeju Jungman Golf Resort where from the oceanside holes, whales can be spotted leaping from the sea.
Golfers on the go will want to check out SKY 72 Golf Club, a vast golf complex located just off the runways of Inchon International Airport. Laid out by Nicklaus Design, the club features four, full bodied 18 hole courses as well as the Dream Golf Range, the largest range in the world. The mind-boggling practice facility includes 300 auto-tee bays (you don’t even have to bend over to tee up your ball) and stretches to 400 yards, all backed by ocean views.
Hong Kong Highlights
While Hong Kong is internationally known for its spectacular skyline and warren of tiny shops where you can get five star, tailor made suits and satin dresses, all within the hour, it’s also an important golf destination. In fact the game was first introduced to Asia in Hong Kong more than a century ago and features high profile clubs like the Hong Kong Golf Club where such hall of famers as Tom Watson, Nick Faldo and Bernard Langer have won the local Open. The Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau which curls along an island ridge in Hong Kong’s New Territory is a public facility that includes 36 holes designed by Gary Player and another 18 by the team of Nelson and Haworth. All of the courses are dramatic with sweeping views of green mountains and the South China Sea. (The Club is also committed to the greening of golf and its solar panel powered golf carts are the first in the industry.)
The ferry that links the club to the mainland sails past jagged peaks and tiny islands, finally docking at the village of Sai Kung where small houseboats bob in the harbour and local fishermen unload their daily catch at the seafood restaurants that line the water. Hungry patrons pick their entrees from the glass tanks out front. It is an exotic scene – there is nothing like it in Canada. However, as golf groups wait for their lunch, they sip Chinese beer and compare scorecards and swap stories about missed birdie putts. Maybe golf in Asia isn’t so different after all.
For more information on golf in Asia, contact:
Links Marketing Group Inc.
1371 Marshall Crescent
Milton, ON Canada L9T 6N4
Tel: 905 636 1400 Fax: 289 878 3925
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