| |
|
Mount Malarayat Golf & Country Club consists of a 27-hole golf course
that is deployed in a relatively cool and flat hilly area, located at
around 1,300 ft. (400 meters) above sea level. I will be reviewing their
best 18-hole course combination of – Mt. Makulot & Mt. Lobo Course.
While each hole is relatively flat, the course offers a much more formidable
challenge than it looks. Players will often encounter lakes & bunkers
around the greens, not to mention the heavily undulated green. Mount Malarayat
is a walkable course with stunning mountain views, and is very fun to
play.
|
|
|
|
A slight dogleg to the left. A dried creek running along the left side of
the fairway wiil come into play on the tee shot. There is a pot bunker in
the middle of the fairway for about 240 yards starting from the tee. Players
will encounter another dry creek on the left side and a bunker on the right
side of the elevated green, so an accurate second shot will be needed.
|
| |
|
|
|
A long par 3 with a wide green. When the pin position is on the right, an
accurate carry will be required since there is a hollow just in the front
of the right pin. |
| |
|
|
|
A dogleg to the right. Players need to choose one of double fairways, upper
left or lower right, off the tee. The right fairway is a short cut but it
is narrower in a lower position. Pot bunkers are scattered all around the
wide green with the greatly concave center. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
A dogleg to the right with the green sweeping further away to the right.
Off the tee, a long fairway bunker that runs along the right corner of the
fairway will come into play when players try to take a short cut. Carrying
it is only chance to hit the green in two. The green is shallow and double-tired
with the lower left, which is sloping down toward a lake. The peninsula
green is guarded by 5 deep bunkers, and is surrounded by the lake in the
front and on the right, long hitters will be forced to decide whether to
aim for the green on the second shot or layup safely. This hole has been
selected as one of the best 500 holes in the world in 2000 by US GOLF Magazine. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
An over-a-pond par three. Since the green is shallow, an accurate shot
to hit the green and stop abruptly is required.
|
| |
|
|
| A dogleg to the left with a double fairway. While
the fairway to the left offers itself as a shortcut, it is significantly
narrower and faces a lake. Regardless of either route, the second shot will
require the ball to cross over the lake, and if the pin position is in the
left back section, the ball also need to carry the waterfall that will make
this hole more demanding.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
A relatively straight par four. Off the tee, four bunkers that are
strategically arranged on both the left and right sides of the fairway
will come into play. While there are no bunkers surrounding the green,
there are humps and hollows on both its left and right sides, making
approach shots relatively difficult.
|
| |
|
|
|
The green is elevated and descends towards the back. |
| |
|
|
|
A dogleg to the right. While it is reachable in two shots, players
must figure out a way to avoid both a pond and a deep guard bunker
that surround the front of the green. When lay up on the second
shot, players should be careful of the fairway inclining toward
the pond on the left.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
To get to Mount Malarayat, it is a two-hour drive from Makati city. The
accommodation, The Suites at Mount Malarayat, is available adjacent to
the golf club.
The 2017 edition of the Top 100 Golf Course of the World (top 100 golfcourses.com)
ranked this course as No.9 in its category of best 30 courses in Philippines.
As of 2015 there are a total of 100 courses in Philippines.
Another course designed by J. Michael Poellot is Aplaya Laiya Resort.
He designed and overhauled 66 courses worldwide including 34 in Asia.
His famous works in Asia are Caledonian
GC, Tomisato GC, Nasu
Chifuriko CC, Glen Oaks CC in Japan, Agile
(雅居楽長江) G&CC - A Course, Long Island (長安)
G&CC, Beijing (北京) GC in China, Royal
Kuan-His (老翁関西) GC in Taiwan, Lakewood
CC in Thailand, and Rainbow Hills G&HR in Indonesia.
|
Hole 3 Par 4 390 yards (2)