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Tagaytay Highlands GC is a very hilly resort course with
severe elevations changes. Located 700 meter (2300 ft) above sea level,
it is cooler than courses around Manila. The courses can be quite fun
with some unusual courses and lots of elevation changes. Although the
overall distance is short, many holes are narrow, and five man-made ponds,
some bunkers, numerous valleys & hills will come into play. So accuracy,
not distance, is the key to success at Tagaytay Highlands.
After playing good par-4 First and par-3 Second, par 4 Third and par 5 Fourth
are stunning downhills. The two holes drops as much as 120 meters (400 ft).
The remaining 5 holes in the front nine are fairly straightforward. The
back 9 also has a lot of ups and downs and features two tough back-to-back
par-5s, Fourteenth & Fifteenth. The routing is not that great as there
are too many downhill holes, the difference in elevation between last and
first holes of each nine is so huge, a gandora of a cable car will ferry
players from 9th green to 10th tee. When the cable car is out of order,
a big bus is a substitute. Tagaytay Highlands is not the course you would
want to play every day, but sometimes you would like to play this hilly
course to enjoy 360-degree panoramic views including Lake Taal in the cool
air.
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A slight dogleg to the left & an uphill, short par four. On the tee
shot, there are a downhill rough on the left and a valley on the right.
The green is guarded by a bunker to the front left, a pond to the left,
and a valley to the right. |
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An uphill par three. The hole is built on a narrow ridge with valleys on
the left and right. The green has drop-offs on both sides and an errant
shot has a possibility of rolling down to the valley beyond. Hiding in the
forest in front, you can't see the left side of the green off the tee sloping
from back to front. The actual distance is much longer because of the uphill. |
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A slight dogleg to the left & a strongly downhill shortish par four.
The tee shot is blind. When a long hitter uses a driver, the ball rolls
downs to a small pond in front of the green. When you lay up safely with
an iron off the tee, due to slightly narrow fairway with valleys left and
right, you can still aim the green with a wedge or short iron. However,
the downhill approach makes it hard to stop the ball on the shallow green
protected by water in the front and a bunker and a drop-off at the rear.
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| A slight dogleg with the very demanding tee shot. The green
drops nearly 100 meters from the teeing ground where the fairway looks very
narrow with the hazards both sides. In fact, the landing area off the tee
is tight and the tee shot has an option anything from a driver to a seven
iron. With the long & accurate tee shot, you can hit the green in two
shots probably with an iron. When you decide to lay up, the landing area
is tight as with trees and bushes on both sides. The green is wide and protected
by two bunkers in the front. |
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A downhill & slight dogleg to the left. A valley on the left comes into
play off the tee, and the fairway is narrow. The approach shot is over a
creek onto the green sloping form back to front. |
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An uphill & dogleg to the left. There is a valley along the left off
the tee. The approach shot is sharply uphill onto the tree-tiered, deep
and narrow green with a strong drop-off on its apron. The green is protected
by three rock on the left and a long bunker on the right, and valleys on
both sides. |
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A strongly downhill, over a valley par three. The green is surrounded by
trees, with a bunker on the right and two bunkers in the back. There is
a valley just in front of the green, so it is necessary to select the right
club that will surely reach the green surface, taking the downhill and the
wind factor into consideration. The bailout area is from the left front
to the left side of the green, and it is an easy approach from there. |
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A dogleg to the left & an uphill, difficult par five. The fairways are
tight with a hazard area on the left on both the tee and second shots. The
green is strongly elevated and slops from back to front. |
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| The tee shot is straight and downhill, followed by a sharp
dogleg to the left on the second shot. Although it is possible to hit the
green in two shots, it will be a blind second shot. The green is horizontally
long and two-tiered, with two bunkers in the front and hazards on the left
and the back. |
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It is a one hour 15 minutes’ drive south of both Makati and Manila Airport.
Since it is a private club, it is necessary to be accompany by a member,
but the golf reservation agency will perhaps arrange the member. Tagaytay
Midlands GC is a 10-minute drive away. The two golf courses are also
connected by a cable car.
The top 100 golf courses (top100golfcourses.com)
ranked 27th in Philippines Top 30 courses in 2020. There are about 100 courses
in the Philippines.
Richard Bigler, an American, has designed five or six courses in the
United States, but none are so famous. In the Philippines, he also designed
Tagaytay Midlands
GC.
On the previous day, I stayed at the City Garden Grand
Hotel in Makati.
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Hole 1 Par 4 341 yards (2)