Golfing in Hainan Island - 海南游记攻略

A.EssentialsofgolfinginHainanProvince

GeographicbackgroundofHainanProv.

(Ican’tfindamapinEnglishwithlatestdata,soaChineselanguagemapisused.PleasereadwithalatestmapinEnglish,thereforeyoucanfindgoodreferencetoeachother.OnlinemapinEnglishrecommendation:Amap(高德)orBaidu(百度)

Hainan(island)istheonlytropicalprovinceofChina.CapitalcityisHaikou,locatedinthenorthpoleoftheisland,whichis~15kmawayfromGuangdongprovincebythe‘QiongZhouStrait’.

Sanyacityislocatedatthesouthpoleoftheisland,it’satypicaltropicalareawithsunshiningthroughouttheyear,thereforeit’sthemostpopulartourismcityoftheisland.Inthewinterpopulationgoes>2millionwhileinthesummercouldbe500~800k.

TherearethreeexpresshighwayfromHaikoutoSanya,1)theWestLine,goesalongthewesterncoastoftheisland;2)theCentralLine,goesstraightlineacrossthemountainland,intheendjoinstheWestline;3)theEastLine,goesalongtheeasterncoastoftheisland.AmongthemthemostfamousoneistheEastLinewhichconnectedmostofthetourismsiteandresorthotels,thusit’samostcrowdedone.

B.BestGolfcoursesinHainanIsland

DrivingfromHaikoutoShanyaviatheEastLine,fromthenorthtothesouth,therearemanygoodgolfcoursesalongthecoast,allgolfcoursesarenormallywithanearbyresorthotel,whichgiveatleastconveniencetothegolfers,inmostcaseswithbestseaviewaswell.

1)However,thefirstoneclosetoHaikouisanin-landgolfresort.Itis‘MissionHillsGolfClub’,30mindrivingfromHaikou’scitycenter,hoststengolfcoursesinonesite.5or6ofthemaretournamentlevel,mostfamousoneistheBlackStonewhichwasdecoratedwithmassivepiecesofvolcanorocks.Thereisahugeandniceresorthotelinthecenterofthegolfclub.

2)About90kmawayfromHaikou,youwillarriveatownnamedBo’Ao,whichisthepermanentvenueofthegeographicalandpoliticalAisiaForum(Bo’Ao).Thetownis10kmoffthehighwayofQiongHaicity.There’stwo18Hgolfcourseinthissmalltown,oneistheBo’AoCountryClub,anotheroneisthesomededicatedcoursefortheForumguests,wherechallengesarelessbutpeoplecouldenjoyabetterscorethere.

There’snearlynothingelsebesidestheforum’shotelandthegolfcourseinthissmalltown.

3)Drivingdown~50kmfromQiongHaicity,there’sShenzhouPeninsularesortzone,there’sa36Hgolfclublocatedhereaswell,linksstylecoursehoststhebestviewofthesea.Highlyrecommended.TheresortzonebelongstoWanNingcity,wheresomebestsurfingcoastinChinaarethere.

4)Drivingfurther50~60kmdownalongtheEastLine,asmallcountynamedLingShuiarrived.There’sa12kmlongbeachcalled‘ClearWaterBay’,apureartificialtownhasbeenbuiltinthelast15years,whereinthewintercanhost300kpopulation.There’saLPGAtournamentcourse(18H)intheNEendofthebeach,calledBlueBayGolf,it’sworldleveltopcourse,it’salinksstyleone.

OntheSWendofthebeachthere’s36Hgolfclubcalled‘ClearWaterBayGolfClub’with2differentstyles,qualityisgoodenough.

Therearemanygoodresorthotelsinthisartificialtown,stayingthereandgoingaroundforsit-seeingwon’tbeaproblem.

5)20kmawayfromtheClearWaterBay,there’slongbeachagainwithnameof‘HaiTangBay’,7or8westernbrandresorthotels,aswellasaduty-freemall,abestclasshospital(whichisrunbythearmy)arelocatedthere.There’ssomemountaingolfcoursesnearby,whichcouldbeanotherkindofchallenges,e.g.ShenQuanG.C.(magicspring?),HaiZhongHaiG.C.(Sea-in-Sea),HongXiaGuG.C.(RedValley).SincethebayisnotfarawayfromSanyacityand,becauseoftheduty-freeshoppingcenter,it’sgettingcrowded.

6)Drivingfurtherdown,theexitofYalongBayappears,thisisaclassicresortzoneofSanyacity,ofcoursethere’s3~4classicgolfcourses,mostofthemarenotsonew,thestandardisOK.TheYalongBayG.Cisjustlocatedinthebay.WhiledrivingtotheHaiTangBayiswithin20km,it’sconvenienttostayatYalongBaythenplaygolfnearby.Thedisadvantagecouldbethecost,indeepwinterthepriceofYalongBayisextremelyhigh.

7)50kmnorthofSanyacity,there’smountaingolfcoursesinthetownofBaoTing,there’sa54Hgolfclubmostlyabouthillyandforestview.

InthecityofSanya,thereisacostalgolfclubnamed‘LuHuitou’(DeerReturns),withhighcoursequality,deservesavisit

C.HintsofgolfinginShanghaiareaandnearby.

Shanghaihasaround20golfcourses.Ifa‘greaterShanghai’conceptcouldbeintroduced,thensurroundingareassuchasNantong,Suzhou,Wuxi,Wujiang,Jiaxing,Hangzhoucouldbeseenasreachablegolfdestinationbydriving.There’retournamentgolfcourseslikeSheshan,LackMalaren,ShanghaiLinks,LanhaiLinks,Qizhong,Tomson,etc,wheresometoplevelPGA,EuropeanTour,WGC,LPGAtournamentwasorarehosted.Toplaythere,normallyamember(atleastplaytogetherwith)ismandatory,therearealsomorepublicones(althoughtheyclaimasmemebershipclubs)wherebookingviasomeagentispossible.OverallthepriceofgolfinginChinaisquitehigh,samelevelasinJPN/KOR.

GolfcoursesoutofShanghaiarealsogood,especiallysomeinSuzhouandHangzhouarea.Aweekendgolftourfor2*18H+1nighthotelstayisquiteconvenientwithadriver.

D.UsefulwebsiteorAPPs

1)http://fun.iwanoutdoor.com/,whichisasub-brandunderCTRIP.COM(携程网),massivepossibilitiesofbookingcourses,packagetours,coursedetails.Unfortunately,mostofthedataareinChinese.AgoodsolutioncouldbeusingtheChromebrowserwithitstranslationfunction,ratherthantheEnglishlanguagewebsite.Mostofthebookingwillendupwithaphonecall,contactinfoareeasytobefoundinthewebsite.

TheyrunanAPPintheapple’sAPPstorewithname:爱玩高尔夫iwan.golf(onlyinChinese)

2)http://www.bookingtee.com/,bestgolfwebsiteinChina,onlyinChinese.Info/datacouldbeviewedbyChromeviait’stranslationfunction.

Alsoagolfer’sAPPsrunbythiswebsitecanbefoundinapple’sstore:云高高尔夫(onlyinChinese)