Small is Beautiful

Duncan Forgan reports on the opening of Bukit Pandawa Golf & Country Club, the first 18-hole par-3 championship course in Indonesia designed by Bob Moore

The hazardous 183-yard 9th

I can certainly attest to the veracity of the challenge presented by the course. Although I’m not a particularly confident or accurate driver of the ball, shorter holes tend not to create quite as much of a psychological bind. And with 18 of them in front of me, I approached the 1st tee at Bukit Pandawa in a pretty bullish (for me anyway) frame of mind. Moore, however, has pulled some rather ingenious tricks out of his design bag with judicious length variations and changes in elevation that range from subtle to dramatic forcing golfers to think their way from hole to hole. A pitch and putt this most decidedly is not.

One standout hole is the 148-yard 13th, which is framed by three bunkers and features curved walls in the foreground and a traditional Balinese kul-kul tower in the background.

In designing Bukit Pandawa G&CC, Moore, whose firm is responsible for championship-calibre designs all over the world including the acclaimed Royale Jakarta Golf Club in Indonesia’s capital, embraced the contours and characteristics of a site that was rife with rock outcroppings, architectural ruins and sea views. Indeed, the ocean is visible from 15 holes.

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