Rolling it in Rangoon

Where to Play

Pun Hlaing Golf Club ****

Much like his fantastic work on the original 36 holes at Kau Sai Chau, Pun Hlaing Golf Club is Gary Player at his best. Located to the west of the city in a luxury 263-hectare housing estate where US$400,000 can purchase a two-storey 317-square-metre residence overlooking the 18th tee (complete with golf membership), this resort-style course is as good as any in Asia.
What stands out at this par-72, 7,012-yard layout is aesthetics, as the country’s top international course features an abundance of lush exotic flora and fauna. Adding to the experience is a view of the Shwedagon pagoda in the distance. With big greens, wide fairways and good undulation, this is a course where a player’s skill level needs to increase with each successive hole. The 452-yard, par-4 2nd is the top-rated hole. It requires a massive drive followed by a confident approach as a creek cuts across the fairway about 100 yards from the green. Making par on this difficult hole will build confidence for your round.
The 174-yard 12th is the club’s signature. Player, a nine-time Major winner, said this par-3, which requires hitting over water to a hard-sloping, long green protected by four bunkers, reminded him of Augusta. The home hole, a 520-yard par-5, provides a fitting finish. With water up both sides of the fairway, the green is reachable in two for big hitters, but likely three shots for most. The approach is the key as a large body of water in front of the green must be successfully navigated to reach the long, narrow putting surface.
Pun Hlaing has a strong Hong Kong connection as club owner, tycoon Serge Pun whose company is also behind the Gary Player-designed layout at Sand River Golf Club in Shenzhen, is locally based, while course superintendent Allen Percival previously served at Skycity Nine Eagles.
Pun Hlaing Golf Estate Avenue, Hlaing, Tharyar, Yangon
Contact: (95-1) 684-020; punhlaing@spa.com.mm
Green fee: US$65

Yangon Golf Club ***

There’s never been a better time to visit this historic venue. One of the grand old clubs of the Asian landscape, YGC celebrates its centenary this year, barely 12 months since Cyclone Nargis registered a direct hit, which destroyed more than 40 percent of its tree-lined fairways. Since then, US$20,000 has been spent to clear the devastation on this roomy par-72, 7,010-yard layout and the club is back enjoying its status as one of the country’s finest.
While the designer of the club is unknown, the layout appears very Alister MacKenzie-like in its traits with a simplistic design that follows the lay of the gentle-rolling landscape, abundance of water (coming into play in some form on 15 holes) and tiny greens. Adding to the challenge are the cowgrass-turfed fairways where balls sit down on the thick-bladed grass and hard earth.
Among the numerous standout holes are the 414-yard, par-4 7th, which features a blind drive, and the 186-yard, par-3 15th with the Yangon suburbs to the back of the tee and a pond in front of the heavily-bunkered green.
The open-air colonial-style clubhouse is a virtual museum to the club’s history, documenting visits by such greats as Gene Sarazen, Peter Thomson and Paul Harney, its hosting of the Putra Cup and Myanmar Open on several occasions, and the development of home-grown champions Zaw Moe and Kyi Hla Han, the current Asian Tour chief executive.
Danyingone, Insein Township, Yangon
Contact (95-1) 635-617, 635-842; www.yangongolfclub.com;
Green fee: US$20