CONQUERING THE VALLEY
The new 18-hole championship course at Els Club Desaru Coast throws up 175 bunkers. That’s a lot of sand traps, Vijay.
The new 18-hole championship course at Els Club Desaru Coast throws up 175 bunkers. That’s a lot of sand traps, Vijay.
The sweeping panorama in front of us is empty save for a buggy, which promptly disappears behind a copse. The only change to the view half an hour later is the re-emergence of the same buggy on its way to the next hole. This is the new Valley Course at Els Club Desaru Coast and, to the avid Singaporean golfers sitting at the terrace of a restaurant overlooking the scene on a Saturday afternoon, the silence is as glorious as the sunshine.
The 18-hole championship course is spread out before them like their personal estate, a stark contrast to the packed flights on Singapore’s courses. That Valley opened only this March and is relatively unknown is one reason for its emptiness. The price of play, too – RM750 (S$250) for weekends and RM650 for weekdays – tends to discourage players more accustomed to value-for-money greens in Bali, Bintan and Bangkok surrounds.
For this group of golfers who nipped over to Johor Bahru for the weekend to check out Valley, designed to complement Els Club Desaru Coast’s 27-hole Ocean Course, the excitement of discovery overrides the more pragmatic instincts of the money-minded. “Look at that landscaping,” marvels a clearly thrilled player, the chief of a specialist engineering firm.
To be sure, the scenic undulating terrain of the Valley Course is its selling point. But its beauty belies its trickiness. Separating a player from his goal are an eye-watering 175 bunkers, multiple elevated greens and split fairways.
“This is a one-of-a-kind golf course that will reward golfers for good play but penalise wayward shots,” says World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Vijay Singh, who designed the course in collaboration with legendary golfer Ernie Els. On the liberal sprinkling of bunkers, Singh says: “I’ve always enjoyed golf courses that encourage me to play a range of shots. Thus, I try to design courses that have visual impact, yet allow golfers to consider the various ways that they can tackle the holes.”
At Valley, the spectacular hole, the one golfers would want to play twice, is number 14. The par-5 hole features the rare split fairway that forces players to choose between their short and long games, challenging bunker positions and an elevated green. Technicalities aside, the landscape is breathtakingly pretty, with the rolling emerald of the fairway fringed by trees and accented by a stream.
Says Singh: “I wanted to create something that would leave golfers with an image of each hole imprinted in their minds.” Naturally, memorable holes make for a memorable course.
To enhance the golfing experience, the club provides sumptuous locker rooms and state-of-the-art buggies that can be driven on the fairway. The vehicles also come with a GPS-enabled screen that shows golfers the distance to the green, and allows them to order food and e-mail their scores home. A meeting space that can accommodate 120 people allows for corporate and social events.
Says Singh: “I feel the course provides a real element of escapism for golfers. You find yourself on this tranquil corner of south-east Malaysia, overlooking the ocean, and with Singapore in the distance. We wanted to create something that sparked interest in Desaru Coast and put the destination on the map.”
Certainly, it’s a place to rein in one’s ego, says one satisfied player: “When you feel too much of a star, this is the place to go, because it brings you down to earth.”
The course is in its infancy, the latest to have been added to the Desaru Coast destination development that sees the construction of hotels and resorts such as Westin, Hard Rock and Aman. An Anantara is planned for 2019. Golfers in Singapore are well placed to enjoy the course before it makes headlines internationally.