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golf courses
Dye Another Day
Over the years, the Dye Course at Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club has gotten the reputation as one of the most punishing golf courses in the country. Stories of greens with more undulation that the Sierra Madres, deep, deep bunkers, yawning ravines and long carries over water hazards put most golfers off and has popularized the unhappy refrain, “If you play the Dye, you will die!” But I am here to tell you that this need not be the case.
Luisita Revisited – A year on under the Lorenzo Group has revitalized the course
It’s been a year since we first visited with Luisita Golf and Country Club after its purchase by Martin Lorenzo and company and in that short span of time, so much has changed and for the better.
Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club aka Marapara
It’s unusual for me to write about a golf course that I haven’t played but I’ve been victim to the unfortunate circumstance of having visited the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club on two occasions as a journalist covering a tournament there instead of as a competitor. I did manage to play the more intriguing back nine during the 2005 PAL Interclub and spent three days on the course as a rules official on the recently concluded ICTSI Negros Occidental Championship so I’m not totally unfamiliar with the golf course.
World Class – Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club Revisited
The term “world class” ought to be used with a bit more caution these days. Over-eager marketing and public relations people use it in a somewhat cavalier fashion these days to describe products that over promise and under deliver. This is clearly not the case when the conversation turns to Ayala Land Premier’s magnificent golf course at Anvaya Cove. This is a property that absolutely lives up to that lofty billing.
Wack Wack’s East Course – The Beast
Wack-Wack Golf Club’s East Course is the country’s oldest and most storied championship golf course. William J. Shaw was the impetus behind the club’s genesis. Disgusted with the elitism and policy of exclusion displayed at the 1926 Philippine Open when then sixteen-year-old Larry Montes was refused a seat at the victory dinner because he was a caddy, Shaw determined to build a golf club with the aim of promoting peace and harmony between golfers of all races. Working with a group of golfers from the old Municipal Golf Links, he succeeded and Wack-Wack was formed in 1930. The club’s name derived from the squawks of the crows that used to inhabit the land. The following year, Shaw contracted the services of Jim Black, a golf professional from the United States, to oversee the construction of the East Course.
Valley Golf and Country Club’s South Course
Today when one thinks of championship calibre golf courses, one thinks of Wack Wack’s East Course, Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club’s Makiling Course, Canlubang Golf and Country Club’s North Course, the Palmer Course at The Orchard Golf and Country Club, the Langer Course at the Riviera Golf and Country Club and The Masters at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
Splendor in the East – East Ridge Golf and Country Club
During the golf boom of the 1990’s, the greatest concentration of golf clubs was South of Metro-Manila. The hills of Rizal, though closer in proximity to the city center were largely neglected due mostly to the higher costs and more difficult logistics of carving a golf course out of the mountains. But those that dared were rewarded with unique golf courses with spectacular vistas.
South Forbes Golf City – A Bad Rap
Mention South Forbes Golf City to foursome looking for a place to play and result usually isn’t too favourable. Really, that’s just not fair. One of the things that drew me to golf is the seemingly never ending diversity that you encounter and South Forbes gives you one of the most interesting experiences in local golf.
Siam Country Club Plantation Course – Golf in the Kingdom
For golfers looking to tee it up in Pattaya, a game at the historic Siam Country Club is an absolute must. The Club is home to two wonderful golf courses including the first privately owned course in the country which gives in a unique place in the history of golf in Thailand. The Siam Country Club is located just 20 minutes drive from Pattaya. There are two courses a few kilometres apart, both with their own excellent clubhouses and facilities.
Sherwood Hills Golf Club – The Philippines’ Best?
So much of what a golf course is has to do with the piece of land on which it’s built. You can do great things with great land and Sherwood Hills Golf Club on one of the best pieces of golfing of real estate in the country.
Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club
Rancho Palos Verdes is the first modern golf course constructed in the Davao City limits. Built by the Sta. Lucia Realty Corporation on the top of a ridge in what used to be a pomelo plantation in Barangay Mandug/Indangan, Buhangin District some thirteen kilometers outside the city proper, the course is a must-play for any golfer worth his salt on a visit to this fair city.
Luisita Golf and Country Club – The grand dame of Philippine golf
Hacienda Luisita was once part of the holdings of Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas, Sociedad Anónima, better known as Tabacalera, which was founded on 26 November 1881 by a Spaniard, Antonio López y López from Comillas, Cantabria and Santiago de Cuba; and Don Guillermo Rubio born in Santander, Cantabria. The estate was named after Antonio’s wife, Luisa Bru y Lassús.
Kota Permai Golf and Country Club – Malaysia’s Best
A unique opportunity came my way a couple of years ago. I got a phone call from the Tourism Malaysia station inquiring whether I’d like to fly to Malaysia and play Kota Permai Golf and Country Club. After recovering from the initial shock, I rushed to pack as I was to leave in two weeks. Soon I was on board a Malaysian Airlines Airbus A330 bound for Kuala Lumpur.
Is Sherwood Hills Golf Club the Best Golf Course in the Philippines?
It is the question that I am asked the most. “What is the best golf course in the country?”
Iloilo Golf and Country Club
AFTER THE UNITED STATES TOOK OVER THE PHILIPPINES in 1901, the new regime inaugurated a raft of development programs. Among these was infrastructure building to support to hasten economic growth. The U.S. Congress approved in 1905 the construction of railroads all over the archipelago. In Panay the task fell on Scottish and British engineers. But beyond building what they had been commissioned for, they built something else—a golf course. Not just any kind of golf course, but one that echoed the dramatic dunes of Scottish links.
Forest Hills Golf and Country Club Palmer Course
Forest Hills Golf and Country Club recently took the wraps off the newly completed Palmer Course. As most of you already know, the opening nine of the Palmer has been in operation for some time now. But the middle holes on the back took a while to complete. Much has been said about the delays but whatever caused it is now a moot point because Forest Hills has a gem of a golf course here.
CDC Golf and Country Club aka Mimosa
Known to the rest of us as Mimosa, the CDC Golf & Country Club was built on the original Clark Air Base Golf Course. Intended to be the ultimate getaway complex in golf boom of the 1990s Mimosa is built on what was known as the Clark Air Base Golf Club. The original eighteen was split and expanded into what are now two lovely golf courses.
Canlubang Golf and Country Club
Canlubang Golf & Country Club is one of my favorite golf clubs in this country. This is one club where you won’t see a grand clubhouse, marble floors and a five star restaurant. This is a club that you go to celebrate the great game of golf and the field on which it’s played. In all the Philippines, there are few locations as natural for golf as Canlubang.
Cebu Country Club
Smack in the middle of Cebu City in Banilad sits the scenic Cebu Country Club. The club traces its beginnings to the early 1900s as a nine-hole golf course built by British and American executives. Today, almost a century later, it has blossomed into the premiere course in the Visayas. The course is beautiful. The trees that border the fairways are as mature as any golf course I’ve seen. The fairways are carabao grass but this is part of the charm here; it is golf the way my grandfather played it, the way it used to be.
Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club
I first set foot at Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club in 2005 and was just blown away by everything about the golf club. The setting, the golf, the facilities, food, service and people all blend together to give the golfer one of the most pleasurable golfing experiences in the country. I’ve been back many times since and I still get that giddy feeling I did five years ago.
Davao Golf Safari
I was going over my Facebook page a few months back and as it does, a pic of me playing golf in Rancho Palos Verdes in Davao came up on my feed reminding me of a golf trip there with my buddies. The image immediately brought back the happy memories of those fun times; of Rancho Palos Verdes and Apo Golf and Country Club, the food, the order and the kindness of the Davaoeños made me long to make the trip down to reprise those memories and make a few new ones.
Camp John Hay Golf Club: My refuge in the City of Pines
As the irresistible urban sprawl invaded Baguio City, I grew increasingly desperate at the destruction of the Baguio I knew as a youth. Taxi cabs and diesel dust drown out the fragrant aroma of the pine trees. Houses stacked one on top of another decimated the beauty of the mountains. I have to wonder what in God’s name happened?
Ayala Greenfield Estate Golf Club: World class from the ground up
When the Ayala Group starts something, rest assured the end product will be world class. Ayala Greenfield Estates is a perfect example of this vision. The Robert Trent Jones, Jr. designed course is serviced by a clubhouse that redefines the amenities one should come to expect from an exclusive club for residents. The structure was designed by Architect Ruben Payumo and utilizes indigenous materials to stand in harmony with the tranquil Laguna landscape. The feel of the clubhouse is more that of a luxurious home than one of a private club.
Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club Aoki Course – One of a kind
The Aoki Course at Eagle Ridge is unique on several levels. It is the only golf course in the country designed by Japanese golfing great Isao Aoki. It also possesses the only Japanese themed clubhouse in the country. It has the only hole that I have played in this country that does not have a single sand trap. More importantly, it strikes that unique balance of providing a pleasurable golfing experience while continuing to challenge the golfer.
Apo Golf and Country Club
Apo Golf and Country Club is the grand old man of golf in the fair city of Davao. It might not be as pretty or picturesque as its younger, newer neighbour but it is by far a sterner test of golf. At just over 7000 yards in length, Apo will test your abilities with your longer clubs severely. Just two of its par fours are under 400-yards and on most of them you’ll need to lay up short of the many streams that bisect the fairways.