When I first picked up a golf club almost a decade-and-a-half ago, playing any of the championship golf courses was a daunting task. The courses were long and the course was full of more accomplished golfers. It was downright embarrassing to hold the groups behind us up as I tried to figure out how to get the little white ball to do what I wanted.
Thank God for 9-hole golf courses!
I used to drive down to the Old Canlubang Golf Club in Calamba, Laguna to try and teach myself how to play. Located in the heart of the Canlubang Sugar Estate, it was a unique layout that meandered through the community with three par-fours, three par-threes and three par-fives. You played your ball over railroad tracks, around the local school and across the church!
It was dirt cheap too. Back in the day, nine holes cost you a hundred Pesos, as did the caddy. I used to play 27-holes of golf for a measly six hundred Pesos, stopping in between nines for refreshments at a sari-sari store not far from the first tee.
In my humble opinion, if there’s one thing that’s holding back the development of golf in the Philippines, it’s a lack of nine-hole golf courses. They take far less time to play and few that I’ve played are long enough to put off the neophyte.
Old Canlubang isn’t the only 9-hole track in the country to be sure. The Cliffs in La Union is a gorgeous nine that sits atop the cliffs bordering the sea at the Thunderbird Resort in La Union. It’s a stunning course but it’s a long drive from the Metropolis.
Cattle Creek in San Miguel, Bulacan is the longest nine-hole course in the country but strictly speaking it was the first nine of a full eighteen-hole golf course built by the Puyat family but was never completed. It’s a tough track that winds up and down the hills of San Miguel. It’s a bit tough to get to, given the traffic in the area but if they ever finish it, it’ll be a heck of a golf course.
The Riviera Golf and Country Club has a neat little par-three nine-hole golf course at the country club on the other side of the property. In my opinion it’s the best layout for juniors but beginning adults will likely outgrow it rather quickly On the Tagaytay ridge just past Splendido Taal Golf Club sits the quaint little nine-hole golf course of Royale Tagaytay Country Club. It was designed as an amenity for the club members during the height of the golf boom in the nineties. Royale Tagaytay is unique in the realm of Philippine golf clubs in that golf is not the primary amenity. It is a full-blown country club with tennis, badminton and a basketball courts, a bowling alley, swimming pool and billiard tables. It also has expansive dining facilities and a bed and breakfast for those that want to enjoy its facilities for more than a day. Rounding out its facilities, members of Royale Tagaytay are entitled to use the club’s beach resort in Luyahan, Lian, Batangas right next to the famed Matabunkay Beach.
As far as nine-hole courses go, this one’s just right; not too hard for the beginner but just tough enough to keep the more seasoned golfer interested. True, the golf snobs will bemoan the fact that there isn’t room to hit their drivers but comments like that miss the point. This is a great little golf course to hone your game and it’s an incredible value.
Of the nine holes, seven are par threes that range from 115 to 190-yards in length. These are good golf holes that would make good additions to any golf course. Five is the longest and most difficult of the lot. Your tee shot must thread a chute defined by the tree line. A ball just a smidge offline will be knocked down far short of the green at best or deflected out of bounds at worst.
Four and nine, the two par fours, are short (208 and 229-yards) but are heavily guarded by water and the mature trees that populate the property. You can go for the green on the ninth, but there’s so much trouble on the fourth hole that laying up presents a much better opportunity to score.
As befits a short course, the greens, though generous, have a lot of slope in them so that hitting the green doesn’t automatically give you a good chance to score. Three-putting is a real danger here should you find yourself on the wrong side of the pin. The course might be short but it’s no pushover. The layout and its nuances make Royale Tagaytay a good track for a neophyte to learn the game or for a more experienced golfer to get a quick fix.
As stated above, a game of golf here is a real value. Unaccompanied rates are 850 Pesos (18-holes) on weekdays and 1,050 Pesos on weekends {rates for nine holes of golf are 450/550 respectively). The published caddy fee is just 250 Pesos for eighteen and just 150 Pesos for nine! That’s such a steal that it borders on being criminal! Factor in inflation and these prices are pretty close to what I used to pay at Old Canlubang back in the day.
The low cost and the accessibility of the course to the general public make Royale Tagaytay Country Club a very attractive location for golfers of all abilities on the ridge looking for a quick game. Factor in the club’s bed and breakfast facilities and the excellent food and you have a convenient base from which to explore the Tagaytay ridge and get some precious time on the golf course to boot.
Image credits: Mike Besa