Stoneforest International Country Club is a real jaw-dropper. Set among karst limestone pillars of all shapes and sizes, this is a spectacular course that seems to have been transplanted from Arizona or Nevada. Its twin 18-hole layouts are nothing short of exceptional. The A course, playing 7,241 yards from the black tees, has at least a dozen holes that will have golfers reaching for a camera before hitting a golf ball.
Among them, the 189-yard par-3 seventh that plays downhill to a green backed by a castle-like fortress of stone pillars, is surely one of the most scenic holes on the planet. This hole is perhaps trumped by the 618-yard par-5 10th hole on the B course that climbs uphill (after a downhill tee shot) to huge battlement-like pillars, which assume a red colour in the setting sun.
There is no accommodation at Stoneforest but the course is close enough to Kunming to enable a day trip - or, ideally, can be combined with visits to Spring City and Brilliant Resort & Spa.
Meanwhile, Honghe Spring, located near the city of Mile, 100km south-west of Kunming, rates as one of the toughest courses in China. Steep elevation changes, jungle-like rough and sometimes narrow fairways through up challenges that are rarely experienced at other courses in the immediate region.
Mile, an attractive city on a lake, is renowned for its mineral springs, which are also an attraction at Brilliant Resort & Spa, just a 10-minute drive from Spring City.
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