Spring City’s always-exemplary course conditioning is now matched by a stunning new clubhouse, while a new pro shop and locker rooms are under construction. Until the opening in 2009 of Sky Oasis (originally called Skyait Golf Club), and in 2010 of Stoneforest, Spring City was streets ahead of anything else in and around Kunming.
Not so much now. Sky Oasis’s twin wetlands and mountain layouts and Stoneforest’s A and B courses, designed by Schmidt-Curley, are worthy competitors.
Like Spring City, both are outside Kunming - Stoneforest about an hour’s drive south-west near the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Shilin Scenic Area, and Sky Oasis a two-hour drive north.
Situated in a traditional rural area of Yunnan, Sky Oasis is a complete surprise. Played mostly by Kunming locals, its appeal will undoubtedly grow as more foreign players hear about it. A new highway to Kunming, planned but not yet in construction, will also make a huge difference.
But the journey is well worthwhile. The lowland A Course plays through and around wetlands on the first nine, then rises to a pine-fringed mountainside on the homeward nine. Playing a little more than 7,000 yards from the back tees, it is an enjoyable and highly playable experience.
The real challenge comes on the B Course, a mountain wonder that rises to a highland plateau where you can seemingly touch the sky. Billowing clouds sweep seemingly at arm’s length overhead and steep gorges drop to the Niuhan River far below. Indeed, Sky Oasis is an ideal name. Another major attraction is the Eagle Hole, an extra par-3 shaped like an eagle that serves as a jackpot hole for visitors seeking to score a hole-in-one. It’s not part of Sky Oasis’s twin layouts, but could be incorporated into one of several new planned courses on the site, one of which is in the early construction phase.
Pages
Click here to see the published article.
