When one mentions Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club ("KLGCC"), the words, prestigious, beautiful, expensive and CIMB Classic usually follow.
KLGCC has two 18 holes courses, the East Course and West Course.
I first stepped onto the KLGCC grounds last year during the CIMB Classic tournament and suffice to say I was in awe. As I made my way around the West Course during the competition, I was left salivating at the thought of playing there one day.
If it was good enough to host a PGA event, it was a must play course in my mind. That's not to say the East Course (where the 2014 Sime Darby LPGA event will be played) is anything less stellar.
As a matter of interest, I am told that memberships are priced upwards of RM200,000.00 (Blimey!~), however, only term memberships are available at present.
For the uninitiated like myself, the green fees were an eye opener.
Visitor's green fee for 18 holes on the weekends (including buggy, caddy and insurance) will come set you back about RM780.00. Note that there is an additional surcharge of RM50.00 if you choose to play on the West Course.
Bookings were full for the West Course on the Saturday afternoon, but we managed to get a flight on the East Course and I was fortunate that a flightmate was a member and thus only paid the member's guest rates (RM300++ which was way less then the visitor's rate). Otherwise I would honestly have given it a hard-second thought.
If you park at the multi storey visitor carpark, have a look at the adjacent driving range and you will probably get an idea just how prestigious KLGCC is.
If only we have such a facility here in Kuching.
Part of the clubhouse
I forget whether this is hole 1 or hole 10 of the East Course.
My thoughts of the East Course? For starters, its a beautiful course. I am always taken in by good landscaping and both the East and West Courses do not disappoint in that regard. Difficulty wise, the course layout presented quite a challenge.
The greens in particular were something else. Reminded me of the greens at the Siam County Club in Pattaya. On average I was making 2 to 3 putts on every hole. Couldn't come to grips with the green speed and our Caddy wasn't very good with giving line reads either. More on that below.
Condition wise, I thought it wasn't as good as say Sungai Long Golf and Country Club. For instance, there were alot more divot marks on the fairway and the bunkers weren't as fluffy. Probably caused by the large number of golfers but for RM700+ green fee, you would expect immaculate conditions. That said, conditions were still good in my books and naturally, conditions get better closer to and after the LPGA and PGA events.
When I made my last putt, it was bitter sweet that our round was over but it was very fulfilling nonetheless.
Onto the ratings.
My Ratings:-
Course conditions - 4/5
Course difficulty - 5/5
Caddy rating - 2.5/5 (our male caddy, though experienced and friendly appeared rather disinterested and wasn't very helpful with green reads.)
Club house facilities - 5/5 (from what I saw - rest rooms and golfer's terrace)
16.5/20 - Play it at least once!
Some will say that KLGCC is over rated and that you can play at just as good courses for much less. While I agree with the 'much less' statement, I personally think that you should play at there at least once, simply because it hosts such prestigious events.
As I said earlier, if it's good enough for the LPGA and PGA, what more can I say.
A round on the West Course in future? Let's see.
A round on the West Course in future? Let's see.
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