It took us about an hour to drive up from the Lovina Beach to the Bali Handara Kosaido Golf and Country Club, using an alternative mountain road off Seririt, ascending rapidly to hit 1300 metres above sea level skirting two huge volcanic craters now filled up with water to become the Lake Tamblingan and Lake Buyan.
Along the way we passed by many little villages with cloves, coffee and cocoa beans being sunned and dried on mats by the roadside. The most famous Balinese coffee is planted in this region.
The weather became pleasantly cooler as we made the ascent to the golf resort. We reached the club at around 2 pm and two flights of Japanese golfers were just checking our after their game in the morning.
We were the only two golfers who signed up to play in the afternoon. Just imagine....the whole golf course to yourself.......!
Bali Handara is quite a distance away from downtown Kuta, Sanur and Jimbaran, so golfers would rather play at the courses in Nusa Dua, New Kuta or Sanur itself. Due to the poor patronage, I guess, Bali Handara looked somewhat neglected and not in good condition. What a pity....
The 2nd Nine had a slighlty more hilly terrain with with more narrow fairways. Pakdokter maintained a steady game returning another 45. Bernard, who by now, had corrected his faults, started playing better. He scored 3 pars ( par 3 No. 11, par 3 No. 14 and par 5 No. 15) to return a score of 44!
We took about 3.5 hours to complete our game. Although it was a buggy course, on many parts of the course there was no proper buggy path. Due to rain the night before, the course was a little soggy and our golf balls did not run much on the fairways. So most of the time pakdokter had to use one or two clubs longer than what pakdokter would have used at the Royal Selangor.
Playing from the white tees, the par 72 course measured 6371 metres. The 1st Nine was rather flat with wide fairways but the rough was of thick bush that will surely cost you your golf balls if you were to hit wild. That was the fate of Bernard, pakdokter's mate who came from the French Alps, who last played golf some 8 months ago, because at the mountain skiing resort where he lives, the golf course there is only playable for 2 months in a year. The rest of the year, he said, the town's golf course is covered with snow and ice....
Pakdokter returned a score of 47 with one par at the par-4 hole No. 7. Bernard played considerably well despite not having played for so long, carding a score of 55.
The 2nd Nine had a slighlty more hilly terrain with with more narrow fairways. Pakdokter maintained a steady game returning another 45. Bernard, who by now, had corrected his faults, started playing better. He scored 3 pars ( par 3 No. 11, par 3 No. 14 and par 5 No. 15) to return a score of 44!
We took about 3.5 hours to complete our game. Although it was a buggy course, on many parts of the course there was no proper buggy path. Due to rain the night before, the course was a little soggy and our golf balls did not run much on the fairways. So most of the time pakdokter had to use one or two clubs longer than what pakdokter would have used at the Royal Selangor.
The caddies were very good with club choice and with putting lines. Both of them ( guy caddies) play to low handicap..
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