The Hong Kong Golf Club

The Hong Kong Golf Club - Eden Course
香港高爾夫倶樂部、伊甸場

Course Data

Location	Hong Kong, China
Yardage	6060 yards　Par 70
Course Rating	70.5
Playing Date	15 Jul. 2007 & 8 Apr. 2010
Designer	Peter Thomson, Michael Wolveridge
Opened	1970
Caddie	Yes
Golf Cart	Yes

Rating

Overall Rating

4.05

Course Layout	4
Difficulty Level	3
Greens Condition	5
Fairways Condition	4
Landscaping & Views	4

This club has 3 18-hole courses, the Old, New & Eden courses. The Eden is short; 6060 yards for per 70 but many holes are intimidating because there are narrow fairways and big trees bordering both sides. The par 5s are not that good but some of par 3s are really impressive.　

A view from the 7th tee

A view of the 16th hole

Scorecard

1st　 Par 5　468 yards

The fairway is tight with big trees on both sides, so you need to pay a penalty for the poor tee shot. If you drive to the left side of fairway, you need to draw the second shot in order to avoid the trees. If you can’t make it draw and it goes straight, the pond at the right front of the green might catch it. This hole has an excellent layout but is very short for a par 5. Professional tournaments use this hole as a par 4 using the front tee, 30 yards shorter. If this hole were a par 4 for us, too, it would become a great, challenging hole.

1st　Par 5　468 yards (3)

1st　Par 5　468 yards (2)

1st　Par 5　468 yards (1)

4th　 Par 4　428 yard

4th　Par 4　428 yard (2)

4th　Par 4　428 yard (1)

A long par 4 over a valley from the tee. Because the second shot is a downhill, you can’t see the green from the tee, which is a demerit, but the hole has a superb view. There is a bunker guarding the left side of the green and a sharp slope on the right, so you need to hit an accurate shot. Although the hole is not the original design, the club chose wonderful terrain for it and the views from the tee are splendid.

5th　 Par 3　148 yard

5th　Par 3　148 yard

A downhill, over a valley, neat par 3. The green is very wide, not deep, and double–tiered from left to right. This hole is also not the original design I think that the hole is still good as it is but if the tee were 30 yards longer, it would become a more challenging and dynamic par 3.

9th　Par 3　192 yards

9th　Par 3　192 yards

The hole looks easy at first but is in fact a difficult par 3. There is a bunker on the left side of this elevated green and a steep slope in front of and on the left of the green. If your shot is just short of the right side of the green, the slope tends to force the ball to roll down to a bunker and par saving from there is really difficult.

13th　 Par 4　410 yards

13th　Par 4　410 yards (2)

13th　Par 4　410 yards (1)

A sharp left dogleg to the left with an interesting layout. There is an OB line next to the trees on the left side of the fairway. If you hit a big tee shot straight down the right, the trees boarding the hole might catch it. The trees form an OB. This hole is easier to attack if you draw the ball with a driver or a fairway wood. The wide green is elevated by about 5 meters (16 ft.).

15th　 Par 3　200 yards

15th　Par 3　200 yards

A steep downhill par 3. It is very crucial to select the right club because of downhill slope and the relatively strong headwind that blows most of the time. To the right of the green there is a pond and on the left, a bunker.

18th　 Par 4　410 yards

The fully grown trees standing on both sides of the tight fairway. The approach shot is downhill and needs to clear the water and the bunker in front of the green. The green is a natural amphitheater. US Golf Magazine has selected this hole as one of the best 500 holes in the world in the year of 2000.

18th　hole seen from the green

18th　Par 4　410 yards(2)

18th　Par 4　410 yards(1)

19th hole

Visitors can play on weekdays but not on weekends. There are 5 private golf clubs in Hong Kong and Macau and this club is the most prestigious with the longest history among them.

Some famous professional golfers are invited to attend the “Hong Kong Open” held here every year. There are three 18-hole courses in the club. For the Open, the club chooses the best 18-hole combination, which is not open to the public, from this Eden Course and The New Course. If I were able to play this type of quality 18-hole composite course, the course layout rating on this course in my opinion would become a number close to 5 that is the highest.

Menbers' lounge

Restaurant

Swimming pool

There are three levels of caddies, A, B & C, and the fees vary according to the level. For C, they just carry bags, level bunkers and clean balls. For B, in addition to the above they watch carefully where balls land and sometimes read greens. For A, they are interns or have intern-level skills and are familiar with advising on every hole and reading the greens. Each player has his own caddie, costing about US 21 dollars for C and US 35 dollars for A.

Jose Maria Olazabal won the “2001 Hong Kong Open” by only one shot with a birdie on the last hole. The hole that gave him the win was the Eden’s 18th hole. He sliced into the rough close to the right edge of the fairway. Then, hitting from a downhill lie in the rough, he had 140 yards to the pin, making it hard to stop the ball on the green. He needed to calculate the distance of flying and rolling. Moreover, there were big trees in front of him and even professional golfers might have found it difficult to fly over the trees. When he hit the iron shot, the ball not only went over the trees but landed just 2 feet away from the pin, bit and stopped. The kind of great shot showed top-class professional techniques and showed, also, his toughness of mind and concentration. He did it in a very important situation that would never come again.

The works of Peter Thomson (Peter, Wolveridge & Perret) in Asia include the following: Clearwater Bay G&CC (remodelled) in Hong Kong, Beijing Links GC, Beijing Yaoshang GC, Shanghai Golfking GC, Shanghai Binhai GC, Changsha Quingzhuhu GC in China, Tanah Merah CC - Garden Course in Singapore, Jagorawi G&CC, Bali Handara Kosaido CC, Lombok Golf Kosaido CC in Indonesia, Kelab Golf Sultan Abdual Aziz Shah (KGSAAS) in Malaysia, Noble Place GR&CC, Rayong Green Valley CC, Royal Chiang Mai GC in Thailand, and Kosaido Thomson, Nanbufuji CC, Zen CC, Thomson National CC, Three Lakes CC in Japan.