Laguna National’s World Classic course is bold, brash, and every bit as bodacious as it looks from afar. by ju k. tan

Okay, I’ve said it. The World Classic Course at Laguna National Golf and Country Club is one fun course to play.

Of course, this doesn’t come without its share of qualifications. It is fun if you don’t intend to shoot the best round of your life, or feel like a golf course owes you anything, or you expect bounces to go your way all the time. Another words, if you go out looking for a game that requires you to think on every shot, have little expectations on how many strokes you take, and want to take in one of the most dramatic topographical scenery you’ll ever see on reclaimed land, then you ought to be awed by a round here.

Golf, after all, threatens our sense of humour no matter where we play. It just takes an extra dose of it when you tee it up at the World Classic.

When Laguna National wanted to rebuild its Classic Course some years back, it hired its original designer Andy Dye to take on the task. The mandate was to create a course that would reflect some of the iconic holes on some of the most famous courses in the world. While it would take some stretch of imagination to compare the holes at World Classic with the holes it drew inspiration from, there is little to doubt that the course has no problem matching any hole anywhere in terms of challenge and demand.

The best way to go about playing and enjoying a round at World Classic is to not have any expectation of what you’ll shoot. Teaching professional Dino Kwek, based in Laguna National, professed that, “I love playing the course because I don’t have any pressure to play well here.”

Still, there are a few things you probably need to do well if you are to keep all your senses in one basket after playing the course. You’ll need to hit your driver straight, be able to get out of deep bunkers, and possess the ability to hit high lob shots with a decent amount of spin. You’ve probably surmised by now that there are a vast number of bunkers on the course - many of them very deep - fairways that don’t look too inviting, and raised greens surrounded by fall-away slopes on most sides. All true, but there are exceptions.

Like many difficult courses, the World Classic is one that takes a few tries to get a hang of it. On some holes, the fairways are wider than you think or that it looks. Knowing not to go long or hit short when approaching several of the greens can keep you from notching up a high score. You still have to stay on your toes each time you address the ball, but once on the putting surface, more often than not, you can exhale realising that the breaks are not as drastic as the undulations you had to endure getting there.

There is water on the course, but not as much as you’d imagine given that there are hardly any trees around to avoid. Awkward lies, greens set up on mounds, and sand hazards (granted, many of them waste bunkers) shore up most of the course’s formidable defenses.

Right on the outset, the first hole, a par-4, wakes you up with a tee shot that is as intimidating as it is remarkable. You’ll never see as many Hershey-shaped mounds on a single golf course, let alone a single hole. In an aesthetic way, the hole, and many like it on the course, can be viewed as a work of art. Certainly, looking at the photographs I took through my round there, many of the pictures look computer-rendered even if they were as real as the double,and triple bogeys on the scorecard of my maiden round.

There are a couple of holes that I really liked. The par-4 sixth that plays around a pond requires you to place a shot strategically behind a sand bunker with a very high bank so as to offer a view of the green on the approach. And the eighth, a 293m par-4 (blue tees) is the ultimate in risk-reward given that all sorts of sandy treachery lay in front and to the sides of the small green. The 17th, a long par-3 is one of the prettiest holes on the course, and in many ways, it's most conventional. Inspired by TPC Sawgrass’ famed and notorious 17th, but very much longer, golfers will need to muster their best shots to keep their balls dry.

To be honest, and after having spoken to a few people who have played the World Classic, golfers have very opposing views of the course. But most importantly, they all have something to say about it. Indifference, as we all know, is the last thing anyone wants for a golf course.

Laguna National intends to position the World Classic at the very top end in Singapore, and a unique system has been put in place to help golfers have the best experience possible. “We intend to position World Classic as a premium golf experience on a very unique and challenging layout,” said Patrick Bowers, Managing Director of Laguna National Golf and Country Club. “We feel this combination will result it in it becoming a “must play” for the region. It occupies a strategic place in our total overall club experience and supports our objective to be the private course of choice for discerning golfers in Singapore.”

The club is the first and only club to employ female “golf guides”, and it has also tended to the little things that make a round there special. “Our goal is to move the experience from that of random or predictable to superior,” adds Bowers. “All players are personally greeted at the bag drop. If a Member has elected to accompany guests to play, they will have our specially trained Golfing Guides assigned to them. Tee times are 15 minutes apart to enhance the exclusive appeal and allow the players to enjoy their game. We have added the Laser Link golf measuring devices for all the caddies, or the Member can elect to take one with them during their round for deadly accurate yardages from every fairway. Future additions will include cold and hot towel services, stocked water coolers on course and a very professional and expensive yardage guidebook. We have several more ideas planned but we can’t give them all away here! The key is to keep the game real while meeting the expectation of today’s international golfer regarding what a special golf experience should consist of.”

 This special experience doesn’t come cheap. Member’s guest fee is S$390, arguably the highest in Singapore. But this comes with extras like the buggy fee, Golfing Guide (caddie) fee, the initially stocked cooler box, and use of the Laser Link range finders. On top of that, no tip is required for the Golfing Guides after your round. In the future, golfers playing on the course would also receive a yardage book as part of their fees. “It is our philosophy that once your fee is paid, you should not have to dip into your pocket again,” Bowers professes.

In retrospect, “Classic” may not be the most accurate choice of names for the course. Unique, unconventional, and daring are adjectives that come to mind. Without reservations, this is one difficult course and will test your skills, patience, and imagination. But it will also awe you with its incredulity and ethereal surrealism.

World Classic, with all its teeth and nails, held me in a vice grip, chewed me up and spat me out. It broke me down and humbled me…and I can’t wait to go back to play it again.