The Sultanate of Swing

The layout is as testing as you would expect from a Nicklaus course. It has hosted the Brunei Senior Masters on the European Senior Tour on several occasions and the closing two holes, a spectacular dogleg to an elevated green and a snaking downhill finale, are fit to conclude any course. However for a truly unique Brunei experience, the Royal Brunei Country Club wins my vote as the top draw - the encroaching jungle imbuing each hole with a sense of splendid isolation. It’s just you and those ball-tampering monkeys.

Brunei, it has to be said, is possibly not for everyone. Although the golf is very good, the off-course action could best be described as somnolent. Banter is also slightly limited on the course. Brunei operates under a tolerant, but strict, Islamic system. Therefore, there is no sale of alcohol and public consumption of booze is banned. Male golfers used to the attentions of young female caddies will also be disappointed.

Those looking for a laid-back experience without the frenetic pace of other countries in the region will, however, find much to love.

Although Brunei Golf and Country Club was my favourite, I prospered most at the Empire course where I produced a towering performance entirely out of keeping with my usual form. On the signature hole, the 15th, a 549-yard par-5 that stretches along the beach, I killed a 7-iron stone dead. “You’re never a 24-handicapper,” remarked my playing partner Dougie. First a Sultan, then a world-beater. ‘I could grow to like this place’, I thought.