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longer Tiger tee has a slightly higher course rating. |
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The Country Club, Philippines is a very challenging championship course
on a gently rolling hill. The routing is unique where the front 9 goes
out and comes back in the same relatively narrow terrain in the same way
of classic links courses of “going out, coming in” for 18 holes while
the back 9 meanders through the other property and only two holes 12th
and 13th move in the same direction and the other 7 holes change directions
each time. After two years of extensive remodeling started in 2013, the
distance is increased by nearly 500 yards to over 7,700 yards, but Weisskopf's
original routing was retained. Weisskopf took advantage of the natural
flow of the land and successfully routed the course, taking advantage
of major terrain features, without cutting or digging the terrain of the
former sugar cane fields. Regarding the normally prevailing wind direction,
1st and 9th have diagonal cross winds, 2nd to 5th is set upwind, 6th to
8th downwind, and for 10th to 18th the wind directions change on almost
every hole.
The course crosses deep ravines on 6 holes, the Diezumo River and lakes
come into play on 7 holes, and the river and a creek crosses three fairways.
The Diezumo River forms a formidable hazard and surrounds many of the front
9 holes. Nine greens are guarded by three to five bunkers, and some of them
are as large as the green. The greens are joy to putt on. Though occasionally
severely contoured, they are fair and can have multiple pin positions. The
front 9 demands a lot of distance and accuracy. The fairway narrow as you
approach the greens. On headwind holes, a fade or a draw can easily turn
into a slice or a hook that find itself in the hazard. The front is harder
than the back 9, and is the hardest 9-hole stretch in the Philippines. The
back 9, on the other hand, has more open feeling, and the fairway is wider.
Though well treed, there is a minimum of obstructive and annoying landscaping.
The general feeling is one of wide, almost links-like open space. However,
the testy nature of the 9 holes remains the same. The conditioning of both
greens and fairways is immaculate, and one of the best in Southeast Asian
Courses. The Country Club hosted the Philippine Open for the third consecutive
year from 2017 to 2019.
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A gently downhill par four that turns right from the second shot. The
green, sloping a little from back to front, is protected by a lake on
the left and two bunkers on the right.
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A slightly dogleg to the right and a long par five. Both the tee and
the second shots have an OB zone on the left side and the Diezumo River,
winding its way along the entire 600 yards, trees and bushes on the right
side. The river flows to the right of the green, and two bunkers are placed
in front of it.
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A dogleg to the right, a shortish but intimidating par four. The tee shot is over
a valley and the Diezumo River flows on the right side of the fairway and
the green. The green is slightly elevated, and is guarded by two bunkers
on the left and by the river connecting to the back and bush on the right.
A ridge crosses on the green surface. The tee shot should be accurate while
the approach will be no less demanding. |
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| A slight dogleg to the left, a tough par four. Since a creek
diagonally crosses the fairway and divide the landing area. it is necessary
to choose which fairway, left or right, to hit off the tee. The creek crosses
the fairway in front of the green again and forms a small lake. The left
side of the green faces the lake and a large bunker is placed to the right
of the green sloping toward the water on the left. Water hazards are come
into play on both the tee and the approach shots, so accurate shots and
good hole management are required. |
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A long par three over the Diezumo River. The green is highly elevated and
guarded by bushes on the right & in the back and by the river and three
bunkers in the front. Except for the green, only the left side is the bailout
area and it is not difficult to approach from there. The apron of the green
is a steep descent, so there is a risk of rolling down to the river unless
you fly it on the green surface. The green is sallow with a ridge creating
an interesting elevation change on the horizontal. |
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| A slightly dogleg to the right, and an excellent “risk &
reward” par five. The Diezumo River flows to the right on the tee as well
as on the second shot, and the fairway bunkers are strategically positioned.
The green is two-tiered with a decent elevation difference, and is guarded
by a large & deep bunker on the right. A long hitter, who can drive
beyond a big Acacia tree on the right and two bunkers on the left off the
tee shot, has a chance to get on the green in two shots, but there is a
risk because the right side faces the river. |
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A slight dogleg to the right and a long uphill par four. There is bush along
the right side off the tee. The elevated green is long and three-tiered
with a steep swale on the right. The hole will become an uphill 516-yard
monster par 4 from the Tiger tee. |
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A dogleg to the right. The tee shot have options of flying over a cross
bunker in the middle of the fairway, or of hitting to its left or right.
The second shot is over the Diezumo River crossing the fairway. When you
lay up the second in front of the river, the slightly uphill approach shot
will be long and thus will be harder to hit the green in regulation. The
green is deep and narrow with bunkers on the front left and right. |
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A very long, downhill par three. The green is protected by three bunkers
and there is a bush at the rear. It will be 276 yards par-3 to hit from
the Tiger tee which is the similar distance as a short par four, and even
some pros will hit it with a driver in the normal against the wind. It is
a very difficult hole, whether it’s good or not. |
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An uphill dogleg to the left, and the shortest par four. Trees on the left
side come into play off the tee. The green is protected by four bunkers,
and is nestled in a grove of tall trees. |
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| An almost straight hole with the series of bunkers guarding
the line of play. On the tee shot the wide fairway is divided into the higher
left and the lower right. The second shot is over the Diezumo River diagonally
crossing the fairway. The second and third shots are gently uphill, so the
real distance is longer. The green is angled and is protected by three bunkers. |
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A dogleg to the left, a pretty hole. There are three bunkers on the left
off the tee. The approach shot is uphill and over a river to the elevated
and sloping green. In case of shorting the green, it is better to hit on
the left front where there is no bunker and a down slope of the apron is
not severe. It will be 483 yards long from the Tiger tee. |
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A slightly downhill, beautiful and over-a-lake par three. The front and
the right sides of the green border the lake. The green is double-tiered
with a higher right back and has a bunker on the left back. |
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| A signature hole. A dogleg to the right, a challenging and
magnificent par four. On the tee shot, a huge bunker like a beach bunker
on the right side comes into play. A long drive that cuts the dogleg and
challenges both bunker and water all along the right side is necessary.
The approach shot is over water onto the green facing the lake on the right
and the right back. The green is two-tiered and is protected by the lake
on the right and four bunkers around it. It will be more difficult when
the pin is placed on the back tier. When you bail out left off the tee,
a lay-up is in order. In that case, your third shot much be precise, too,
if the pin in located on the top tier. |
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It is a 50 minutes’ drive south of Makatie or Manila Airport. Since it
is a private club, visitors need to be accompanied by a member. At the
time of play, the number of active members was only 70 or 80, so I have
heard few players came on weekdays, and there were only three groups on
the day I played. The course is located between Sta.
Elena G&CC and Canlubang G&CC, both about 15 minutes away
by car. The club was founded by seven volunteers from Manila GC and is
now the most exclusive golf course in the Philippines.
The top 100 golf courses (top100golfcourses.com)
ranked 1st in the Philippines Top 30 courses in 2020. There are about 100
courses in the Philippines.
Tom Weiskopf designed mainly in the US, and I played Double Eagles Club
in Ohio, Forest Dune GC in Michigan and The Rim GC in Arizona, all of
which are excellent courses. The world-famous course is Loch
Lomond GC in Scotland, and The East and The West Course at The Dunes
at Shenzhou Peninsula in China are highly rated, too.
On the previous day, I stayed at the City Garden Grand
Hotel in Makati.
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1st green seen from right