If it ain’t got that swing: three of Hong Kong’s top golf courses

This article is part of a guide to Hong Kong from FT Globetrotter

To play golf regularly in Hong Kong requires deep pockets, impeccable social connections and luck. There are, after all, only eight clubs in the Chinese territory and not all accept visitors.

One of the courses guards its members’ privacy so assiduously that it was prepared to let me play a round as long as I did not write about it.

Even by Hong Kong’s extortionate prices, joining fees at many of the clubs are eye-watering. A neighbour who worked in finance once let slip that his employer paid his HK$8mn (about $1mn) debenture. So if you’re not valued highly enough for your company to pay your subscription, the next best thing is to cosy up to a banker or join a golf society for a round.

The coronavirus pandemic made teeing up even more difficult. Before the virus struck and Hongkongers could travel freely, it was easy to pop over the border to mainland China or to a nearby country for a weekend of relatively inexpensive golf.

But for almost three years hardly anyone travelled and golf courses could not keep up with demand.

Unfortunately, I am neither well connected nor in possession of a large fortune, but before my recent move back to the UK, I was lucky enough to bag a few rounds at three handsome courses: the Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club, Kau Sai Chau and Hong Kong Golf Club. With the Asian financial hub finally opening up again, visitors with a bit of spare time have some terrific options.

The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club

• Visitors: Yes (Weekday mornings, except public holidays and Wednesdays)

• Official handicap required: Yes

• Visitor green fees: Off-peak season (June-August): HK$1,600 (about $204; £161) for locals; HK$2,000 (about $255; £200) for overseas visitors. Peak season (September–May): $HK1,900 (about $242; £191) for locals ; HK$2,200 (about $280; £221) for overseas visitors

• Is it extra for golf-cart hire? No

• Website; Directions

From the moment I slipped my battered VW Tiguan between a Lamborghini and a Bentley at the Clearwater Bay Golf Club, I was convinced this was the type of establishment I would belong to if I had worked a bit harder at school.

CWB is simply magnificent. It juts out into the South China Sea like a shimmering jewel. The course, which was described by former world No 1 Justin Rose as “the Pebble Beach of Asia”, was tantalisingly close to the house where I lived. Whenever I hiked the trails in the hills above or paddle-boarded slowly past, I’d cast envious glances at the lush layout.

CWB is also unashamedly ostentatious. It oozes new money and I loved it. But I was also apprehensive. The last time I had played golf regularly was when I lived on the west coast of Canada 10 years ago, and I was worried my fragile game would fall apart.

My confidence wasn’t helped when the club pro Grant Gibson introduced me to my playing partners. Grant plays off scratch, his colleague and fellow Australian Nathan on +3 and club member Raj has a 3 handicap. The best I achieved decades ago was 9.

All three smashed their drives on the opening 10th hole on the back or “Highland Nine” down the middle of the admittedly wide fairway. Miraculously, I followed suit. “Easy game,” I said smugly to myself as I picked up my tee.

I was, of course, immediately punished for my hubris. What followed was a series of hooks and wicked slices as I hacked my way from one side of the course to the next.

In my defence, it was punishingly hot with ridiculously high humidity, one of the perils of golfing in Hong Kong. My golf glove, which was already straining at the seams, simply disintegrated in the heat.

Golf is not the most physically demanding of sports, so I normally scorn players who hop in a buggy. But on that blazing hot day I was pathetically grateful to be driven around the undulating layout. Helpfully, CWB has dotted water and sunscreen stations across the course, which I fell upon with unseemly enthusiasm.

Grant has bags of patience but my erratic game forced him to intercede after several holes. “Your grip is way too strong,” he said, asking me to move my right hand further around the top of the club.

It was uncomfortable but it worked. I reeled off three pars and then, on the signature hole No 3 on the “Ocean Nine”, with the sun glinting off the sea, I hammered a perfect drive over the gorge and way down the centre of the fairway. That left me with a simple chip, which I almost fluffed, but I managed to two-putt for a satisfying par as yachts sailed by just beyond the pin.

The standard of my golf fell away after that, but it hardly mattered as the Ocean Nine is so spectacular.

Some of the big banks have corporate memberships at CWB, while travellers can give the pro shop a ring two or three days before an intended round to see if any slots are available. It’s about a 45-minute drive from the big hotels in Central on Hong Kong Island, but the destination is well worth putting up with the traffic.

Along the same private road as the golf course is the 300-berth marina and country club, which offers a comprehensive spa, gym, pool, golf simulator, a six-hole pitch and putt course, squash, badminton and five outstanding floodlit tennis courts. There is also high-end dining, but my favourite was the more casual terrace, which serves a decent London Pride for those of a nostalgic bent.

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The Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course

• Visitors: Yes (daily)

• Official handicap required: Yes

• Visitor green fees: HK$820–HK$1,110 (about $105–$140; £82–£110) for locals; HK$1,080–HK$1,530 (about $137–$195; £108–£154) for overseas visitors

• Is it extra for golf-cart hire? No

• Website; Directions

There is an old lady who lurks at the exit of Kau Sai Chau car park selling golf balls.

“What course are you playing?” she will yell at golfers, as they file towards the ferry to the only municipal course in the territory, across a pretty harbour filled with sampans and fishing boats.

If you respond the “East course”, she will chuckle and reply: “Then you’ll need an extra bag of balls.”

Alas for me, I took a taxi to the KSC ferry, so missed out on this vital advice before stepping on to the East course on the 670-hectare island.

KSC has three courses but booking a tee-off slot can be difficult. Theoretically, golfers can book up to seven days before a game, but even friends who get their PAs to phone the club repeatedly from 7am fail to secure a slot.

Last year KSC was forced to close for 104 days by Hong Kong’s strict Covid rules but still played host to 129,000 rounds. “We’ve been flat out since the travel restrictions [were imposed],” said Mike Carey, head of golf operations at KSC. Normally the peak golf season is between October and May, because in the summer it’s too hot and humid for golf. “But we’ve had peak golf season seven days a week for the last few years,” he added. Virtually every tee slot from 7am to 5.30pm on the three layouts is filled seven days a week.

Despite the enormous traffic, the holes are beautifully maintained and KSC must rank as one of the most impressive municipal golf courses in the world.

Foolishly, I was feeling fairly confident after a few decent rounds in Thailand the previous fortnight as I inserted my peg on the opening hole.

I trickled the ball off the tee but at least I could find it. That was to prove a highlight as I proceeded to lose at least one ball on almost every hole thereafter. Only the foolhardy or the pathologically mean would attempt to find a ball in the deep rough. Apparently the thick bush is alive with snakes, so when I skewed or pulled a drive into the trees, I simply reloaded.

I did record one triumph, though, on the breathtaking par-4 14th. From a tee high above the sparkling sea and with islands dotted all about, I landed my drive just the right side of the out-of-bounds marker.

My approach found the front bunker but somehow I managed to get up and down for a par.

In sharp contrast to my erratic round, my partners played beautifully. Shane Kuiti, the New Zealand senior pro, struck the ball so sweetly and with such effortless grace that, had he not being such a pleasant chap, I would have resented him.

For the past five years, Shane’s team has run an outreach programme for local schools, with thousands of children learning the game.

The club also hosts golf societies, which is one of the easier ways to secure a round. The WAGs, for instance, not only manage to ensure regular games for their members at quality courses, but raise money for charity, too.

I managed to insult only the East course with my erratic play, but friends tell me the North and South courses are excellent options, too. Both were designed by Gary Player, with the North said to have a “real links feel”. All three layouts, as well as the popular driving range, are served by the same clubhouse with wonderful views over the ocean, islands and the New Territories.

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Hong Kong Golf Club

• Visitors: Yes (Monday to Friday)

• Official handicap required: Not for international visitors

• Visitor green fees: HK$1,300 (about $165; £130) for locals; HK$1,900 (about $242; £191) for overseas visitors

• Extra for golf-cart hire? HK$400 per cart (accommodates 2 players)

• Caddies: HK$345–HK$505

• Website; Directions

The Hong Kong Golf Club is the grand old lady of the Chinese territory and one of the oldest courses in Asia. Its nine-hole layout in Deep Water Bay is convenient for travellers staying on the island but, for a greater challenge, try get on to one of the three championship courses located in Fanling in the New Territories, just across the border from mainland China.

Some of the world’s best golfers, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, have played here, and this year, after a pandemic hiatus, HKGC will host three international tournaments, including the Hong Kong Open in November.

The club also surrounds Fanling Lodge, the country house of the territory’s chief executive and before that the UK governor, who would host visiting royals at the estate. Many members of the city’s pro-Beijing government are allegedly members of the club, which must be rather awkward as the administration is demanding that nine hectares of the Old Course be given up for public housing.

The club is making a big effort to engage the local community through various initiatives and allows visitors Monday to Fridays. The take-up is phenomenal and in 2022, despite the 104-day enforced closure, 133,396 rounds were played across the three layouts.

The Old Course, which was built in 1911, is completely different to CWB and KSC in that it is a parkland course and relatively far from the coast. The layout is tree-lined and quite short, but the holes are cleverly designed and the greens small. Accuracy is a prerequisite. I am not an accurate golfer.

But I thoroughly enjoyed my round with Alex Jenkins, the club’s director of communication, who shared my disdain for fairways. The most interesting, verging on the ridiculous, hole is called Tommy Tucker. It’s a blind drive over a steep hill and then an approach to a tiny, flat green. I was thrilled to get away with a bogey.

Apart from three tremendous courses, HKGC also offers a driving range with TrackMan technology, restaurants, pool, sauna, futsal courts and both a billiard and mah-jong room.

As we sipped our Gunner, a classic and refreshing Hong Kong cocktail, on the terrace, reflecting on the tough conditions, Tiffany Chan walked off the course.

Chan is a local who played college golf in the US and represented Hong Kong in the Olympics before joining the LPGA tour. When asked how she played, she shrugged and said, “OK, I suppose.” She shot 67. Apparently the conditions weren’t that tough.

Tell us where you like to play golf in Hong Kong in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter