中山温泉高尔夫俱乐部、新场
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| Chung Shan Hot Spring Golf
Club (Jack Nicklaus Course) 中山温泉高尔夫俱乐部、新场 |
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| Wider and more extensive fairways than Palmer Course but many rolling hills, deep bunkers and intimidating ponds are strategically placed and give players good challenges. There are many impressive par 3s and par 4s with the excellent layouts. I felt that if the course had some of the distinctive par 5s that the Palmer Course has, it would have higher quality. Nevertheless, the course is surely first-class and #18 is one of the greatest finishing holes anywhere, and should have been chosen as one of the best 500 holes in the world. Most Nicklaus-designed courses are suitable for fade ball hitters with high trajectories, from my previous experience of having played them many times and I felt this course is as well, although it is my first time to play here. | ||
There is a huge bunker, extending from tee to green and forming a substitute for a pond. It is very pleasant to hit a ball while enjoying the good view of a splendid mountain far behind the green. | ||
A big pond faces not only the right side of a fairway but the front side of the green. |
 5th Par 4 392 yards | |
A slight dogleg to the right and a little uphill par 4 with good distance. A deep bunker guards the front of a green, so it is difficult to save a par unless you hit a high ball and stop it by using a 3 wood or so. |
7th Par 4 449 yards | |
Various bunkers positioned on both sides of the fairway are impressive. The green is very wide and it is advisable to hit a high ball and stop it on the second shot. | ||
A slight downhill with a narrow fairway. Bunkers on the left side of the fairway are well in play. For the second shot, you need to use middle irons or so on complex downhill & sidehill lies (ball above your feet), and you need to exercise a lot of imagination planning how to attack the hole. |
 12th Par 4 432 yards | |
A beautiful short hole over a pond. The left side of the green has a pond. If you escape to the right side, a bunker is waiting for you. |
 17th Par 3 178 yards | |
The tee shot is big downhill dogleg to the right. The second shot is a long one over a pond. If you hook the ball, it falls into the pond. If you slice it, a deep bunker waits for it. It is a very tough hole. A beach sand bunker between the pond and the elevated green is very attractive. The pond, the beach sand bunkers, the elevated green, tranquil townscapes & a splendid mountain at the back blend well each other and create a unique scenic beauty. This is a great hole. |
 18th Par 4 471 yards | |
I have heard that this is a well-managed golf club. The quality of caddies is very high, which is rare in Mainland China and they are well educated. There is another 18 holes with the different flavor which was designed by Arnold Palmer. You need to pay attention to the distance; it is not measured by yards but by meters. I have a friend who played the 18th hole with Jack Nicklaus in the same flight in 1993. It seemed that Nicklaus used whew a persimmon wood driver from the tee and a 7 iron over the lake for the second, and hit the green just 5 yards away from the pin. He successfully conquered this difficult hole, overcoming the features the designer intended to “trap” him. The persimmon driver used at that time is now displayed in the clubhouse. The other Jack Nicklaus designed courses in China are Spring City (春城) Ｇ＆ＬＲ - Mountain Course, Pine Valley International (華彬国際)GC, Shanghai Links (上海林克司) G&CC, Palm Island (恵陽棕櫚島) GC, Wuyi Fountain Palm (江門五邑蒲蔡) GC, Hangzhou West Lake International (杭州西湖国際) G&CC, Suzhou Sunrise (蘇州中興) GC, Nanhu (南湖) GCC, Mission Hill (觀蘭湖)GC – World Cup Course.
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3rd Par 3 207 yards