Samanah

The buggies immediately came in handy because there is a steep uphill walk to the second green and even more uphill to the 3rd tee. Holes three through six are in a mountainous forest. In addition to trees, there is more vegetation at the sides of holes starting at number two. From the elevated 3rd fairway mountain ranges are visible in the distance. This is an extremely quiet part of property. On the fourth hole Shenzhen starts to come into view. I was told none of this skyscraper panorama existed 20 years ago. It is the result of huge growth in China in a very short period of time.

After the sixth hole, the course returns to much more level ground and similar to what is found on the New Course. In all there are 62 bunkers and water comes into play on 10 holes of the Eden. Just to the right of the 13th hole is The Hong Kong Jockey Club, one of the venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ equestrian events.

Both the New and Eden courses are lovely to play and the Composite Course at par 70 I am sure would be an enjoyable challenge.

The Odyssey

The Eden is short; 6,060 yards for par 70 but many holes are intimidating because there are narrow fairways and big trees bordering both sides. The par 5s are not that good but some of par 3s are really impressive. For example the downhill 148-yard par 3 5th is very short but charming and surrounded by natural trees and vegetation. You hit over a valley to the green which is a very wide, not deep, and double-tired from left to right.

The signature hole is the par 4 410-yard 18th. The fully-grown trees stand on both sides of the tight fairway. The approach shot is also demanding as it clears the water and the bunker in front of the green, shaped like a natural amphitheater. It’s not advantageous for long hitters on this demanding hole. When the drive is too long, the approach shot is played from a steep downhill lie. There was a miracle shot hit by Jose Maria Olazabal on this hole, which helped him win the 2001 Hong Kong Open by only one shot with a birdie on the last hole. His drive sliced into the thick rough close to the right edge of the fairway. Then, hitting from a downhill lie in the rough, he had 140 yards to the pin, making it hard to stop the ball onto the green. He needed to calculate the distance of flying and rolling. Moreover, there were big trees in front of him and even professional golfers might have found it difficult to fly over the trees. Luckily I was watching in front of him. When he hit the 9 iron shot and opened the face a lot, the ball not only went over the trees but also landed just 2 feet away from the pin, checked and stopped. This great shot showed top-class professional technique, and also his toughness of mind and concentration. He did it in a very important situation that would never come again. Kimi. To read more about the Eden course at Hong Kong Golf Club, click here to visit my website.

I am a single figure handicap golfer and I would rate this the number 1 course in Hong Kong. It is not a long course and perhaps that hurts its ranking a little. The course is always very well maintained and the greens fast, smooth and quite tricky. 12 of the holes are used during the HK Open European / Asian Tour event. The par fives are reachable to longer hitters and the 18th is a spectacular finishing holes. During weekdays the course is very quiet. The clubhouse are very strict with what you wear. Great course.