Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort sparkles in the rain

By Nicklaus D'Cruz

Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort shines in the rain. In the wet season, when the tropical rain beats down, hard, every day for weeks at a time, it makes a great deal of difference to still be able to walk out before -- and especially after -- the daily downpour and play golf. No mud, no slush, no pools and no snorkeling required. But, at the same time, this Alligator Course and water are bosom buddies as can be witnessed by the numerous brimming lakes and ponds covering more than half the number of holes awaiting stray shots and lapses in concentration.

The mat of Zoysia Matrella set in its deep sand base that golfers walk upon through the all-weather fairway is kept in excellent condition. Standards do not fall short on the greens as well where the painstakingly constructed Bermuda Tifdwarf putting surfaces offer predictability and consistency. In the rain, they slow down a little to a speed similar to many Malaysian greens - which may work to your advantage considering the quick speed of these tightly cropped surfaces - but show no other let up in character. They are however not unduly punitive as only two greens feature distinctive tiering. The other greens reward a deft touch and a quick albeit careful read of their gentle undulations.

This review was conducted after a heavy downpour and then through a continuous drizzle that never ceased. The fairways remained in excellent shape and the greens never retained any water. It would be tempting to say that the conditions were great; but that really is not possible because golf in the rain is never so.

Although this Alligator Course is reputed to be the easier of the two current layouts, it is no pushover. It plays very long off the blue tees at a monstrous 6454 metres. Generally wide, it gets tougher on the power players as the fairways have been mowed to become narrower further from the tee. But though it is easy to stray off into the rough, the soft Zoysia, at just over 3 inches, can occasionally offer excellent teed-up lies. Because they are a pleasure to hit off, you really do not feel you are being punished too severely when you wander off the closely mown area.

Shorter players though who struggle with this sort of length can rest assured that playing it easy will mean they should still be able to play the course to their handicap; provided of course they can, more often than not, and depending on their handicaps, produce an "up and down" from inside 50 metres to the flag. Bearing in mind as well that many of the green complexes are well protected from the long approach with a mixture of sand and water, the weaker player must consider setting himself up for a pitch across the many front greenside traps for a chance at least to two-putt. Struggling from 180 to 220 metres down the fairway trying to do the impossible is where the different results in course management show up.

All things considered though, it is a fair layout. More inclined to reward than to punish.

First nine

The first drive of the day must negotiate about 100 metres of water before making it to a landing area barely 30 metres wide. With only young trees planted intermittently along the rough on both sides, it is not very hazardous to stray off the fairway. From the fairway though it is a relatively trouble free ride to the green. Only a little difficulty is introduced at the end of the fairway as it makes a slight turn right to the green complex, which is open and inviting.

If you were to think this formal introduction dictates the general nature of the course, you will immediately be in for a rude shock as you stroll on to the second tee. This next hole carries an index rating of 1, and rightly so. Being about 368 metres, you do not want to lose the advantage of being able to send your approach shot safely over some major hazards to the green. A poor drive will mean you will be faced with some difficulty for the important second shot. The fairway is completely severed as two ponds, starting on either sides of the green, link up about 80 metres ahead of the green complex. With bunkers all round the putting surface, water all around those bunkers and enveloping the second, gingerly piece of fairway, the management has thoughtfully placed a drop zone at the edge of the first half of the fairway, 90 metres from the green for the inevitable many that will find trouble so early in the round. The entire left side of the fairway from just past the teebox is also guarded by the overly generous pond. It will be easy to keep the spirits up though despite encountering trouble as this hole is a truly, beautifully laid out challenge.

Take aim carefully on the sixth hole as a pond runs diagonally across the fairway. A drive of 190 metres is required to clear the right side of the fairway while only 130 metres is required on the left. A bunker is however placed about 200 metres on the left of the fairway for those that want to take this easier line. The green will be blind even from the fairway despite the relative shortness of this hole. It climbs steeply uphill and then descends quickly just shortly before the green. You will have to make the effort to walk a little extra up to the crest to mark the spot where the large bunker fronting the right entrance of the green ends to establish your narrow opening.

A tree sits in the middle of the 7th fairway to create a psychological hurdle and an extremely narrow looking drive. Two long bunkers are placed, one after the other, on the left edge and enhances the impression of a narrow, pinched entrance. This deception in perception forces you to control your drive to ensure it fits between the 20 metre opening. In actuality, and after you have strolled up the fairway upon executing a laid up drive, you will find to your annoyance that the tree sits 210 metres from the tee and the fairway opens up wide after that while the first bunker actually starts 40 metres further on. The tree, intimidating from the tee, is large but you can land under it on any side and still have a great second shot. You should actually use it as a distance target to drive long and set yourself up for a mid iron or less to the green as the complex is well guarded. Make any mistake with you approach and you might find one of the two bunkers, each 20 metres long, straddling both sides of the green on this challenging par 5.

Water fronts this 170 metre par 3 eight. Two bunkers, each half the size of the green, sit on both sides of the green. You may unintentionally send it long out of fear of the water but the advice is to keep it under the pin as the stiff downhill putt on this green will rattle anyone's nerves.

The 9th requires a long drive, struck well and placed on the right of the fairway, otherwise you will be forced to play this hole like a par 5; made to lay up your second. The first half of the fairway tips out into a pond and begins again 10 metres on for about 70 metres to the green. The pond, which first presents itself on the right side of the fairway 130 metres from the tee, continues alongside and then across the fairway to become a threat on the left of the green, and thus elicits an absolutely error free shot to get home in two. Trees line the left of the fairway and will prevent the weaker drive from having a direct line to the green. Four bunkers guard the right side of the complex for this truly challenging approach.

Second nine

Bunkers are set 10 metres into the rough on both sides of the fairway about 200 metres from the 10th tee. Land anywhere between the relatively wide landing area and you will have a straightforward shot to the green. Two more bunkers sit on the left of your approach, one about 30 metres short and the other protecting the left edge of the green.

In an apparent advantage for accidental fades or draws, this wide green on the par 3 eleventh penalises mainly shots that fail to carry to the putting surface. Three large pot bunkers - more like meteor craters - will trap a weakly struck ball and leave a long sand shot to a green with no depth.

Holes 12 and 13 are par fours with the former being rather long. The 13th doglegs left with the turn starting at the two third mark, thereby requiring a good drive that ends up on the right side of the fairway. The green complex has a series of mounds along the right front that will affect your lie with long grass between mounds that turn these areas into shallow grass bunkers.

A large shady tree sits on the left edge of 14th fairway and creates a 25 metre wide entrance for you to maneuver your ball through. The second shot should try to edge far enough left for a shorter approach to the green but must stop short of the large lake. The setting for this approach is dangerously beautiful as you prepare to send your ball over the water to the well-guarded green. Too far and you will find the sand in the back; too short will mean the mounds fronting the green will send your ball backwards.

With all the water you would have encountered so far, you should be well prepared to cross the pond fronting your drive on the 16th hole. You have to carry your drive 180 metres to cross the pond and then find the right side of the fairway to clear the bend as the hole turns sharply, almost 90 degrees left, before it heads on uphill towards the green. A number of mounds front the elevated green complex with the putting surface itself long and narrow. Only an accurate shot with full carry over the short but steep slopes will have any chance of rolling to the pin. Anything else short or long will not be able to scale or stay on the elevated surface.

The 17th shows no kindness to anyone as it is a very narrow hole with the fairway no more than 20 metres in width. Short palm trees with an assortment of other trees are scattered amidst the rough ensuring that only a good, long, straight drive down the centre of the fairway will allow a chance to get the second shot over the stream cutting across the fairway exactly 150 metres from the green. If you have made it safely through thus far then you will be in a reasonably good position to execute your approach uphill, over a series of mounds to the narrow, elevated green. Fade the approach a little too much and you will find one of the two large bunkers that protect the right side of the putting surface.

The second half of the 18th fairway curves left around a pond all the way to the green. Three large fairway bunkers, two on the left and one on the right, guard the turn in the fairway starting about 240 metres from the blue tees and running on for another 50 metres. The 30 metre wide landing area between these traps is where you drive should be pointed at. Of course only long drives that actually flirt with the sand will have a better chance to get safely to the well-protected green complex. A long bunker hugs the front right and curves around to the side of the green while three deep bunkers reach into the left side of the green like greedy fingers to penalizes the draw. The pond remains awaiting the really poor shot on the left.

The writer is editor of The Asian Golf Review.