Serpong Damai course offers best golfing holes

By Nicklaus D'Cruz

The Bumi Serpong Damai Course in Indonesia is a phenomenal layout that caters to almost every aspect of the game. It looks for length on some occasions; it looks for finesse on others; it looks for intelligence; it looks for workable irons by forcing you to play left to right or right to left and even forces you to play away from your target; all with the clever placement of bunkers, offset greens and fairways that make every hole different, challenging and absolutely breathtaking off the tees. Even from the middle of the fairway, when standing over your approach, you cannot help but just dwell in wonderment at the difficulty of the hole or the myriad of choices being presented.

Some holes are near perfect in their designs combining stunning designs with huge, sweeping and intimidating bunkering, clear choices and tantalising danger.

It is not unduly long from the white tees, where most of the members and tourists play, or the blue tees for that matter, but still sometimes encourages a long drive and at other times encouraging the use of an iron and a calm mind. Offset greens require that you meticulously calculate distances, secure the right golf club, work the golf ball while carrying some monstrous sand traps.

What sets Bumi Serpong apart though from the many other courses is its collection of some of the finest golfing holes in Asia - one of the best par 4's, the 6th, two phenomenal par 5's, the 8th and 13th and at least two other par 4's that are worthy challengers for the winner's trophy.

The result from this elaborate effort is that a bigger variety of golf shots are required. The huge amounts of sand contained in waste bunkers and in traps embedded in mounds and positioned below the greens add a great deal to how you route your golf ball while adding to optical illusions; lengthening distances as well and especially because shots over so many endless traps add to the pressure of the game. Many of the greens are slanted, placed diagonal to the fairway or offset to the left or right leave little margin for errors landing short or going long, and emphasise the need for the correct length to the fluttering flag.

With a layout peerless through so many holes, you really get the chance to enjoy the felicities of motion, its inertia stirring you on with each hole like a song in an unchained melody. So many challenges are piled one after another edging you on to recklessness as you dance to their tunes.

It is an exciting way to test your mettle, and analyse your abilities and, where you should fail, you will want your replay, eagerly awaiting another opportunity to pit your skills against the fancy, tumultuous and tempting terrain.

First nine

A friendly opening on a hole with highs and lows faces you on the first tee where you stare down a fairway running parallel to a long waste bunker in play through the first 300 metres before spilling into a lemon grass flower bed. The 35 metre fairway opens up at the 200 metre landing area to a width of 60 metres to help contain your first drive of the day. The situation quickly turns though when you step up to the ball to try to knock it onto the green. In stark contrast, a narrow 10 metre wide passageway is what you will be sending your ball through to a green offset left to right, its front pushed aside by a 30 metre long sand trap. Negotiate that approach well and you would have secured for yourself a happy opening score as the first taste of the greens should be pressure-less with a rather flat surface that allows you to adjust your feel.

The second hole gets immediately more interesting as it doglegs to the left. The sane shot is for you to avoid the two large bunkers tucked in the inside of the turn, next to where a 50 metre wide fairway awaits. To reiterate, don't bother cutting the corner ! The approach is similar to the first although this is a much longer golf hole. One trap is prepared for your arrival ahead of the green and another sits along the right, both a lot deeper than previously. A little depression in the fairway is situated just in front of the green and adds its own encouragement for you to carry your shot through the wide opening all the way to the pin.

The third is a scenic hole where your ball must cross a large pond which inches its way up to the edge of the green. The entire back of the green is lined with sand to collect those shots struck with too much fear. That fear of course is amply justified with the green, laid out from right to left, a narrow and shallow target maybe 5 metres wide in front, and doubling up only in the back. The slightly elevated tee means that you have to lose a club or a club and a half, dependant on your fear of water.

Absolutely beautiful. The 6th. A short par 4 with a waste bunker that occupies what should be the fairway as the crow flies to the green. It stops toying with you starting 50 metres from the front edge of the green; although it does stretch all the way to the green as you wander progressively left. The fairway itself, offset to the right, runs for about 180 metres before it meets with 2 bunkers on either side. This hole encourages you to treat it with abandon. With a good tailwind and a strong drive that flies 210 metres, you may just cross the wasteland and find yourself within a wedge to the green. That can be a truly satisfying experience. There is no point weighing risk and rewards here simply because of the exciting and tempting possibilities laid out here. You are basically a pawn in its grasp. If you have to mess up, this is as good a golf hole as can be. The more level headed golfer can play along the fairway but needs also to decide on whether to lay up or negotiate the land between the sand. This great golf hole is easily one of the best par fours in Asia.

A great par 3 follows where you execute your tee shot from an elevated tee box just 15 metres above the green. The green is just ahead of a ravine and river and what adds to your fear is that you will need to drop two clubs to allow for the descent as well as try to land it below the cup. The undulating green slopes from back to front, away from out of bounds that demarcate the rear. A 2 metre deep sand trap awaits anxiously along the entire left while a grass basin, slightly less threatening, awaits on the right.

The 8th is another grand looking hole where, this time, it should attain top ranking as one of the best par 5's in the region. A huge series of bunkers combine to act as a waste trap occupying the left just outside a clump of palm trees, forcing the fairway to veer out sharply to the right, the latter sandwiched between the sand and water that starts at the teebox and ends 80 metres away. A hill occupies the entire right and this setting makes for the start of this beautiful golf hole and at least a couple of different targets from the tee. The fairway swings to the left around the sand traps before it crashes headlong into another bunker on the right which starts about 100 metres from the green and along which the fairway inches its way till it meets the green laid out diagonally across the fairway. You also have, as a target, a 40 metre long portion of fairway that sticks out into the wasteland for you to manoeuvre your golf ball onto before the final shot home. It should be no surprise that the waste trap sneaks up to surround the front portion of the green completely, through to the back, to basically leave no opening. The balance of the fairway moves up right past the green on the left which would probably be where you would want to think about aiming. This is a scary green to hit, looking almost like an island. If you are aiming your golf ball at the pin, you need not really length but absolute accuracy.

The 9th completes this first half quaternity of the finest golfing holes in the region. An absolutely dramatic waste bunker starts from the red tees just after a lemon grass patch and continues alongside the fairway without running out of steam. 20 metres short of the green, it meets a pond that positions itself along the right edge of the green complex. A great deal of trouble resides in the front entrance as well; a steep fall into a bunker in the right front edge and centre and a 2 metre slope that will roll your ball into the water with no effort to hold it back. A good fade through the offset entrance will have the chance of finding the flag and will put to best use the left to right setting. It is also hard to notice, but the sand trap in front of the green extends 10 metres out to the middle of the fairway, its reach extended by a steep slope about 2 metres long, and if your fade is not played from far left enough, it may just reach out and grab you.

Second nine

The 11th hole is another creation of beauty across a lake setting. An arm juts into the water above which the green resides and where an almost ring-like bunker starts out from the front centre entrance, hugging the left edges of the green complex, as it makes its way to the back. It however acts more as a safety buffer to prevent your ball from getting wet. A hill takes care of the remaining portion on the right and may knock your ball pinwise, if it doesn't get caught in its rough. It is also probably where you will want to aim to contain your errors.

You get another chance to drive over a waste bunker that starts on the right 140 metres from the 12th tee. The trap then fans out to the right and takes itself out of play without really letting you relax. Four bunkers then start the inward journey to the green. Where the first of those bunkers leave off, the second starts smack in the middle of the fairway just preceding the third, similarly positioned and forcing the fairway to split around both sides. You thus have to carry all three separate sand traps one after the other to get to the elevated green complex. Two final traps await on the right, 2 metres below the surface of the green, although from the right side of the fairway, that section of the green constitutes the entire entrance. ... and just more sand that you have to scale to get home. The safe route thus, is to find the high left and fade your approach to end this remarkable hole.

The 13th tries, and successfully, to steal top honours as the best par 5 in the region. What a hole ! Two bunkers are laid out lengthwise one after the other, the first starting 70 metres on the left and running on for close to 30 metres before a 15 metre gap presents the next trap. This should be ample reminder for you to stay in the centre of the fairway. Your next shot meets 3 bunkers laid out side by side across the entire fairway, occupying a depth of 25 metres and which meet a lemon grass covered hill on the left that successfully hides the green after a sharp turn. You will probably have to spend the next 5 or 10 minutes at least deciding on the best move. Basically, 80 metres ahead of this sand crossing is another set of long bunkers, splitting the fairway and requiring that you land short. You have to make sure your caddie gives you the right distance from where your drive ended, and that you come to a decision to play within your ability. Trying to produce incredulously long shots may be what the design entices you to do, but is certainly not the most practical progression if you have to struggle to attain those amazing lengths. That last sand crossing meets up with a final trap on the left edge of the green, leaving a lot of sand trying to annoy you for the last 180 metres. This is a hole that does not like greed and, unless you knock your golf ball 250 metres regularly, play this as a par 5. It may be set up to receive a drive of 230 metres and a homeward shot of 230 metres but chances are slim for the regular player who tries to be that fancy. The very narrow green is also laid out from right to left, clinging to the 60 metre long trap while the last 40 metre segment of fairway tilts to the left to encourage the struggling draw into the sand.

The 17th is another marvellous par 4 with a fairway that runs parallel to a waste bunker in your line all the way to the fringed region of the green, severing the fairway that your approach will cross in the process. The fairway is pushed far right and runs straight down though away from the green; which also means that the further right of centre you are on the fairway, the further you will be from the hole. Bear that in mind because the tiny, slim green is a rather elusive target hiding behind all that sand and laid out diagonally from right to left. Another sand trap is hidden in the back at the bottom of a tall hill while the entire left falls just under 2 metres into the continuing waste trap. If that blue flag waves furiously at you, ignore it and leave your golf ball below it. This short hole has the dubious honour of paring up with the other short par 4 to contain the longest waste bunkers. A tiny opening is left for those coming in from the right. The slim green gets a lot more narrow with the howling wind and its 5 metre wide surface can be truly difficult to find.

With so many great holes, you might be inclined towards forgiveness if the 18th is a letdown. But it isn't and that should come as no surprise. It may be a short par 5 by professional standards but it is a cat and mouse game of risk and rewards. If you play to an average length, then you will nearly be arm-twisted into playing this hole along its twists and turns as the fairway curls its way around a large pond on route to the last cup. It also features a waste bunker that starts at 150 metres on the left and stays in play right up to where it juts into the centre of the fairway, 300 metres from the tee box. If you are going for broke, you must land your ball on the edge of the fairway next to the waste trap. You should have left, after a long and heart wrenching drive, a distance of under 220 metres to get to the green, located at the end of a 90 degree left turn. The green beckons you across the pond and begs you to try to find its dangerous surface. If no sand and no water has gotten you so far on your round then this is the hole that just might do it for you, though chances are you have been rather blessed. The heavily undulating fairway surface slides very slightly downhill to a nearly round target through its last 100 metres. Two sand traps plague the left and another two, the right, while a bit of wind spices up the approaching scene. For those that are crossing the pond to try and lay up within 40 metres of the green, a large trap sits on the left edge, again in the line of your final approach. It is a 20 metre long trap and may just take hold your ball if you only just made it across the water. This is a phenomenal hole mainly because of all the options at hand for you to select, making it a different ball game each time you play it; dependant mostly on how your golf ball leaves the tee box.

Nicklaus speaks

Jack Nicklaus says: "At Bumi Serpong, I began with several objectives. First, I wanted to create a golf course that offered an enjoyable and mental challenge - to force the player to use his mind and make decisions on each hole. There is no single "correct approach" on most holes. Instead, there are many possible solutions - so that the course remains fresh and exciting each time you step up to the first tee.

Secondly, and most importantly, I wanted my first course in Indonesia to be memorable. You'll find my favourite features of some of the world's top courses that I had the privilege to play. And, you'll discover some very unique challenges that I have created to make Bumi Serpong Damai stand out to even the golfer who has played around the globe."

The writer is editor of The Asian Golf Review.