- Lotus Hill Golf Resort
- Reviewed by:
Review Summary:
Impressive clubhouse, very enjoyable course - including some highly memorable holes, - a good all round club which everyone should visit at least once. The fact that it's a walking course is, in my eyes at least, an advantage.
| Address | Lotus Hill, Changan Town, Guangshan Road, Guangdong |
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| 007 booking hotline | +852 2187 3146 or book-on-line |
| Website | http://www.lotushillgolf.com/ |
| No of course | One 18 hole |
| Par / Back Tee | 72 / 6,277 meters |
| Designer | Bernhard Langer |
Club Facilities / Reception / Scorecard / Driving Range / Slope Rating / Midway House
Introduction
Located 20 minutes from Panyu town, Lotus Hill Golf Resort is home to a an attractive Bernhard Langer designed course, an impressive club house and various other resort facilities. The most convenient way to get there from Hong Kong is by ferry (China/HK city – Lian Hua Shan: 1hr 30 mins) and then shuttle bus (5 mins from ferry pier) but it can be reached from Huanggang in around 1hr 30 mins by private transport. No carts are available – LHGR is a walking course.
Club Facilities & Service
The clubhouse is very big for an 18 hole course and is nicely decorated. Well-appointed rooms are available for golfers wanting to stay the night. Overall, both the facilities and the service of the staff is very good.
Fairway & Green maintenance
September 2005: Generally very good. The greens are running well but the fairways are still very wet (to protect them against burning out) and don’t allow much roll on tee shots.
Caddy Service & knowledge
Posssibly the weakest part of the place. Played here many times and have never had a caddie that’s been much better than average. Don’t want to be too critical so perhaps I’ve just been unlucky. Perhaps it’s because they’ve got to carry the clubs rather than hang off the back of a cart.
Course Design
The first thing you notice about Lotus Hill is the amount of water in use around the course. 17 of the 18 holes feature the ‘wet stuff’ in one form or another but fortunately it isn’t in play as much as you might think. For a start the fairways are relatively generous and the hazards tend to flank them on either side rather than in front of the greens – in other words you really have to be hitting it wildly to regularly lose balls off the tee! The course is generally very flat but kudos to Langer because it’s definitely not boring. In fact, the last serveral holes are as exciting as they come with the 16th, 17th and 18th providing an unforgettable finish. (Forget what I said earlier, water is the main danger on these three beauties and the par 3, 17th has attained almost legendary status thanks to its island green and towering rock formation.
The course isn’t overly long from the blue tees and is measured in meters rather than yards which, if like me you’ve been brought up on yards, can take a bit of getting used to. Those Aussies must love it – damn the metric system. Anyway, apart from the final few holes, much of the difficulty of the course lies with the par 3s. Generally long and well-protected by bunkers, there are at least three on the back nine that can be real cardwreckers. Attention should be paid to the medium-length par 4, 9th – as dangerous as it is gorgeous.
Photos
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Fairly straightforward opener. Important to avoid the fairway bunkers.
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Tiny, downhill par 3. Green breaks a lot from back to front.
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Pretty dogleg right.
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Reachable par 5, slightly uphill. Water shouldn’t really be in play.
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Long par 3, better left and away from those bunkers.
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S/I No. 1. Split fairway and quite long. Green is elevated. Par is a wonderful score.
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Nice dogleg left. Water guards the front and left of the green.
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Straightaway par 5 with water all the way down the left. Again, it’s reachable in two for the longer hitters.
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Cracking hole! Plays uphill to a green guarded by deep traps. Water on both sides of the fairway – better be accurate!
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Lovely dogleg right here. Water shouldn’t really be in play as the fairway is realtively wide.
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Tough par 3 – left is much much better than right.
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Longish par 4. Good drive required.
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Short par 5 with water all the way down the right. To carry those trees on the right (& leave a short route to the green) you need to hit it 240 yards.
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Another longish par 3. Green is quite big but features a lot of slope.
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Short par 4 requiring nothing more than a long iron/fairway wood from the tee. Stream in front of the green.
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Very dangerous par 5. Good straight drive will leave you the option of going over the trees on the left to try and reach the green. Water short and left of the putting surface!!!!
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The club’s signature hole and a pretty spectacular one at that. Green is relatively wide – only really needs a 9 iron or so but you wouldn’t believe the number of balls in the lake.
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John Daly could drive this par 5. Huge dogleg right, if you can carry 240 yards you can take the tiger line over the water which will leave you a mid iron. Find the lake and you’re left in the drop zone miles back!!!
007’s Rating
Impressive clubhouse, very enjoyable course – including some highly memorable holes, – a good all round club which everyone should visit at least once. The fact that it’s a walking course is, in my eyes at least, an advantage.
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