Just Back From China Pt. 2

In my previous post I talked about my terrible game of golf on one of the most beautiful courses in Sanya on Hainan Island, China. I wonder if I would actually play better golf if I played on a worse course? I still don't think so.

However, the other course that I visited was not nearly as impressive as Yalong Bay. It was a newly constructed course that didn't even have a paved entrance road to it yet. Thankfully my driver had a truck which gave us enough clearance to get through some of the huge potholes, but I don't know if I can say the V12 Jaguar in the parking lot had as much luck.

Dragon Valley Golf Course is a very new course which is stuck up in between two large ridges. The area is very great and I was told it had great Feng Shui because there was a large hill behind the club house, then a great valley which held the course, and then water visible as well. Feng Shui is very important around here and the site and course layout were probably based upon Feng Shui principles.

The course was in OK condition, but it lacked character. Yes, there were things here that I had not seen before, like the giant rock in the picture below, but the course was very unorrigional. The cart path was very rough and was not too pleasant to ride on. There was also a huge lack of definition by having a rough that was cut too close to fairway height. If the rough was cut longer, but still at a reasonable height, it would have created a huge, dramatic visual effect.The clubhouse was still very unfinished and had some strange features to it. Many parts of it seemed very gaudy, and distracted from the views the clubhouse offered. I guess I don't have much of an idea about interior design, but I didn't find the 12 foot tall front doors filled with gold golf balls appealing at all. To some, they may find that very appealing, but to me, it just looked tacky...along with the giant thing hanging in the foyer that looked like a huge hot chili pepper.It was very interesting to see this course and to notice some of these things that I didn't quite like. I heard they were selling memberships at a reasonable price (>1,000USD) but I still don't think I would spent that much money to become a member of the club. If I looked at the course from an agronomic standpoint and had to comment on the quality of the turf, I would say it was reasonable, but because of the choice of turf, I believe the amount of disease pressure will be great.