Story & photos by Mike Besa
The Philippines stands at the dawn of a new age with the sport of golf. The government has embraced golf tourism, recently hosting the Asian Golf Tourism Convention. The country’s potential as a golf tourism destination cannot be underestimated. That the convention saw a record number of delegates speaks much of the interest the rest of the world holds for golf in the Philippines.
Are our golf courses ready for the rest of the world?
A valid question. The golf industry is coming off a prolonged slump, which saw financial difficulties afflict a number of golf clubs. This resulted in many of them suffer in terms of the condition of their golf courses. Also, how will the traditionally built (carabao grass, surface drainage, zoysia greens) golf courses be received? Tourists demand ideal conditions for their hard-earned money. It would be just as easy, perhaps easier, to go elsewhere where the golf courses better fit their preferences.
I’ll wager that once they see a traditional golf course like the North course at Canlubang Golf and Country Club, they’ll make their way to our shores with golf clubs in hand.
The Canlubang’s North course is an icon among Philippine golf courses. It was Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s first major project as an architect and was constructed on a scale that will never be seen in Philippine golf ever again.
Set in a former coconut and sugar plantation just below the Tagaytay ridge and in the shadow of what is now the Tagaytay People’s Park, Canlubang is a natural beauty. You won’t find neatly manicured gardens or cute, manufactured waterfalls here. The golf course is carved out of the landscape with most of the natural features and beauty of the land left intact for all to appreciate. Canlubang is a bastion of golf; a place to go to play and revel in the game we all love.
The scale on which the course is built is unmatched. Everything here is extra-large; supersized. Take the size of the practice green as a clear indication of what the golf course is like. It is gigantic. You could fit an entire barangay on an area of the same size. The fairways are equally generous. If you can’t find one here, you most likely can’t find one anywhere else.
Canlubang Golf and Country Club was built in the 1960s. This meant Bermuda fairways as he and his father used at Luisita Golf and Country Club but zoysia matrella on the greens. There has been some infiltration of carabao grass on parts of the golf course (most of it on the periphery of the fairways), but it hasn’t affected the golf course’s playability much, if at all.
It is a special occasion to tee it up at Canlubang Golf and Country Club. The drive to the course takes you through the vast property of the old Yulo Estate to the foot of the Tagaytay Ridge. It takes you back to the time of the sugar barons. This property extended as far as the eye could see and beyond. The clubhouse was designed and built by national artist for architecture Leandro Locsin. Its sweeping veranda gives its guests a magnificent view of the property. It’s a great venue for a cold one after a good game of golf.
The North course is the championship layout at Cangolf. A lack of length will be penalized on the inward nine as this is where the longest of the par 4s are located. The par 3s are severe. If the wind is up, you could need as much as 190 yards off the tee requiring a forced carry. In fact, there are a number of forced carries on either course but that is part of the charm at Cangolf. Being an older design, there are only three sets of tees, limiting the options of those less endowed off the tee.
I’ll concede that the North course isn’t for everyone, but if you have the game, it is a spectacular venue. The closing holes on either side are the most memorable in the country. They share a large, severely sloped double green and will provide great drama.
The outward nine builds you up with a number of short but tricky par 4s. Place the ball in the right spots and you’ll have your share of looks at a good score. Fail to do so…and well, you know the drill. It’s the par 3s you’ll need to tread softly on. Both require substantial and spectacular forced carries; number four over a yawning ravine and six over a large pond. There is no room to bail out on four, and while six offers you one, it still requires a decent carry over a corner of the water hazard.
The inward nine starts quite benignly, but bares its teeth from 12 on in. Thirteen is the beast; a 464-yard par 4 that plays into the teeth of the stiff Laguna breeze. The par-5 14th is only slightly longer and represents your best chance for an eagle.
The last two holes are severe tests; 17 is a monster of a par 5 with a watery ditch bisecting the fairway that complicates placement of the second shot. The green is one of the smaller ones on the course and an elusive target for the long hitters trying to find it in two.
The dominant features on both courses at Canlubang are the deep, lushly vegetated ravines formed by the Balibay River. The Yulos (who commissioned Jones Jr. to build the golf course) told Jones to take as much land as he needed, and he did. It isn’t perfect nor is it in the best of shape but as a venue for golf, it compares to the best that Asia has to offer. It is a trip back in time to our past to savor the game as it was played then.
The North course at Canlubang Golf and Country Club is one of my favorite layouts in the country and is truly an icon of Philippine golf.