Bali National Golf Club,

Bali, Indonesia

Everyone understands that you’re likely to be hungover in Bali. And that’s why none of the three courses on this island of idyll penalise itinerant swingers for missing their tee times. Am or Pm is all you’re likely to be held to, and as long as you lurch to the tee in the vicinity of those hours, no one will deny you a game. Bali National’s new avatar—the course re-opened in 2013 after major renovations—has brought the oldest layout on the island up at par with the newer Kuta Golf Club and the spectacular par-3 ‘championship’ Bukit Pandawa Golf Club. More so, Bali National has managed to conserve its old-world colonial vibe and the high-ceilinged clubhouse and restaurants exude an elegance that is almost exclusively the preserve of historical golf clubs. The layout with its newly sodded fairways and lightning-fast greens, is still ensconced within a lush tropical forest and coconut groves set against the backdrop of the Indian Ocean on one side and the imposing Gunung Apang mountain. Bali National captures the best of both worlds.