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This Canyon Course is one of the most prestigious courses in Asia. It
has two 18-hole championship courses, Canyon and Lakes
Course. Developed from an old tin mine and rubber plantations, both
courses are molded around the existing canyons and rubber plantations,
with minimal disruption to the natural landscape. The Canyon Course is
a masterpiece of golf course design with spectacular, sometimes daunting,
natural hazards, plus acres of lakes accentuated by towering rubber trees.
The fairways often go straight to jail, blocked by rubber trees planted
in tight, straight rows. The course is really challenging and is best
suited to advanced players. Tiger Woods won the Johnnie Walker Classic
here in 1998, and Greg Norman prevailed here in 1994.
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| A very long and slightly uphill all the way par 4. The narrow
fairway is well guarded by trees on both sides, so accurate drives and second
shots are needed. A big and tall tree in the center of the fairway 75 yards
short of the green might disturb your second shot. A good game plan to handle
the tree is required to save par on this difficult hole. This tree is locally
named “ A God Tree” and it is said that if you hit it, your golf will improve.
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A slight uphill, straight par 4. OB runs from tee to green on the left.
A strong approach shot over the green is suicidal as there are trees at
the back of the green. The bunker on the right of the green is in play and
the green has two-levels. |
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| A difficult hole with a dogleg to the left fro the remaining
100 yards to the green. Both sides of the hole are guarded by trees and
the landing areas of the tee and second shots are narrow. The tee shot is
slight downhill and the seconds shot is over a small pond to hit from a
downhill lie. The second shot must be placed to the left side of the fairway
in order to have a clear view to the green on the third shot. If right,
it can not aim for the green because of the trees in front. |
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| It is straight up to 460 yards from the tee and then an almost
90 degree dogleg to the left for the reaming 100 yards. Even if you lay
up, the landing area of the fairway is narrow and guarded by water on both
sides. The third shot is uphill over water, and the right judgment of the
distance is required for the approach shot. The green is very undulating
and fast from back to front. |
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| A very long demanding par 5. The tee shot is slightly downhill
and the ideal position is as close to the creek crossing the fairway as
possible favoring the right side of the fairway in order to open up the
second shot landing area, well guarded by bunkers on the left and by palm
trees over the fairway. But the bunkers on the right can come into play
on the tee shot. The long narrow green has bunkers and there are creeks
on both sides of the green.
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A booming tee shot to the relatively wide fairway is needed to set up a
long iron or a fairway wood approach over a creek to a narrow green. The
green slopes from the back to the front and the shot beyond the flag will
leave a very fast downhill put. |
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A sharp dogleg to the right. The tee shot is from a bluff above a lake
to another bluff. The hole might remind you of “Grand Canyon” in the US.
You need to hit 220-40 yards over the bunkers to the right of the trees
at the corner of the canyon. The easiest shot is an iron shot from the
tee but then you will find a long second to an undulating and well-guarded
green. It requires 290 yards a little uphill to the front edge of a green
from a tee and you need to hit a very high ball to clear the high trees
in front of the green. Tiger Woods hit the left edge in 1 at a tournament,
which required very high a 300-yard drive. He had not only the technique
but also the toughness of mind to hit such a great shot at an important
event. I cannot believe it!.
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The beautiful par 3 needs a gut-tightening tee shot that descends to a natural
island green whose shape is not a circle but a reverse “L”. The green looks
narrow and the ball is influenced a lot by the wind, so the correct club
selection is crucial on this hole. Fortunately, the teardrop-shaped green
floating out in the lake is not as small as it looks. |
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| A long double-dogleg to the left, then to the right. The tee
shot needs to carry the lake and needs to avoid the bunker on the left and
the OB on the right. If the drive is short, it may be better to lay up to
the water hazard that crosses the fairway. |
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This hole was selected as one of the best 500 holes in the world by US Golf
Magazine in 2000. It is very neat but difficult. The green is “『”shaped
and extends to the right to surround valley. When the flag position is on
the back right, a carry of 230 yards is required to clear the canyon and
there is a width of only 20 yards between the cliff of the canyon and the
bunker at the back, so even the top pros do not aim directly at the flag
but aim safely at the left back of the green. |
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Need to be accompanied by a member or to apply for a golf tour sponsored
by an airline or some travel companies in order to play here. The meals
at the restaurant were good and the club has Jacuzzis, steam room, sauna
and massage facilities. It takes only 5 minutes from the Phuket Airport
by car. The hotel is adjacent to the golf club and the room with the golf
course view is recommended, although a little more expensive.
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The Canyon Course is the one of the best among the courses designed by
a Japanese who has done overseas work. The other courses of the Japanese
architect Yoshikazu Kato are Treasure
Hill G&CC in Thailand and The Southern Links GC in Okinawa, Japan.
I have heard that he was worried by the maintenances of keeping the course
in great conditions, so he decided to move to Thailand from Japan. He
is still an advisor of the golf club.
According to the top100golfcourses.co.uk
site,Blue Canyon CC (Canyon) was ranked 8th out of the 270 (as of 2015)
courses in all of Thailand during its 2015 evaluation.
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3rd Par 4 449 yards (3)