The Thrill On The Hill | Milestone in History | The Bukit Course - Hole by Hole
The Thril On The Hill
 As the venue for this year’s Lexus Cup, the Bukit Course at Singapore Island Country Club is no stranger to high-profile events. Steven Ray Wemple recounts some history and quirks of the James Braid design, and reviews what the world’s top women golfers will be up against this month.
SICC’s championship 18-hole Bukit Course has hosted many international events, including the 1969 World Cup, the 1993 Johnny Walker Classic, the Rolex Masters (from 1973 to 1998), at least 28 Singapore Opens (from 1962 to 1995) and the Inaugural Caltex Singapore Masters in 2001.
With such pedigree, it is no wonder it’s the most historic golf course at the club.
It will host the fourth iteration of the Lexus Cup 2008, which will again see 24 of the world’s best professional women golfers from Asia and the West compete against each other from 28 to 30
November 2008.
It all began at the turn of the 20th century, when then-president of The Golf Club, John Sime, chose a new home for the golfers at Bukit Timah next to the MacRitchie Reservoir catchment area. Work to clear the jungle started in 1920, and in 1924, Bukit was opened for play. The cost of creating the course – plus other auxiliary works, which included the construction of a road, gardeners’ quarters and a temporary attap clubhouse – was more than S$45,000.
At their new location, The Golf Club (as SICC was known then) members voted for a one-storey clubhouse to be built. The governor, Sir Laurence Guillemard, officially opened this building on 17 March 1925.
Golfer Nick Faldo once declared Bukit a “beautiful course”. It borders the placid and huge MacRitchie Reservoir, and has 3,000 fully-grown trees of at least 10 varieties. Abutting the reservoir, Bukit today remains one of the few pristine parkland courses in Singapore. Its cowgrass fairways and Serangoon grass greens grow on indigenous clay soil, which makes maintenance a challenge when the rainy season comes at the end of the year. It is for this reason, and the need to upgrade its façade, that the club is planning to remodel and rejuvenate Braid’s historic layout in the coming year.
“We have several goals with the renovation of the Bukit Course,” professes Jimmy Stewart, SICC’s golf course consultant. “As a members’ club, we need to make it enjoyable for all skill levels. We need to lengthen the course to over 6,400 metres, so that international events, like the previous Singapore Opens, can potentially be held here again.”
But the club and its new committee are dedicated to maintaining the original layout, if only to retain some of the great history inherent in its roots.
 “Retaining the integrity of the Bukit Course is a priority,” Stewart adds. “We will maintain the Braid routing as much as possible. But we need to pay attention to the essentials like adding drainage, drainage, drainage and more drainage.
Finally, changing from Serangoon and cowgrass to modern turf grass will bring the courses in line with others in the region.
“Special care has been taken to make sure that we maintain the nuances and characteristics of the Braid design. In fact, if anything, these have been – and will be – enhanced. To accomplish this, I joined a group of architects who went to visit Braid’s famous courses in Scotland during our master-planning phase, to review some of his masterpieces – Gleneagles, Carnoustie and others.”
From a scant look at the planning stages, the remodelled Bukit is something to look forward to. The course already sits on some of the most scenic, undulating and forested land in Singapore – a perfect foil for a great British-style layout.
Stewart adds: “In addition, to pick up more length and the fact that the property boundary is set in stone, we had to look at creative ways to pick up another 400-plus yards to attain a desired championship length. One of the main changes to accomplishing this was the rerouting of
holes 3, 4 and 5.
“However, as Braid was known as the ‘father of the dogleg’, we have incorporated this feature to create added length and interest for these holes. On other holes such as 11, 16 and 17, we have incorporated a Scottish burn look, like those at Carnoustie. This will replace the regular Singapore storm drains or lakes that have no resemblance to Braid and his design characteristics.
The undulations and movements in the Bukit fairways have also been modelled to look like a Gleneagles, which has a similar rolling, hilly terrain.”
 For now, though, the Lexus Cup ladies will have to contend with conditions and a layout that has remained pretty much unchanged for over a hundred years.
“As golf is played on various grass around the world, it will be important for both teams to familiarise themselves with the course and conditions in the practise rounds,” admits Robbie Henchman, senior vice-president of IMG, the organisers of the Lexus Cup series. “As the cow grass has broad leaf blades and cannot be cut as short as the hybrid grass that the Lexus Cup players are accustomed to, they will need to be aware of hitting flyers. And distance control will be vital.”
IMG feels that there is little need to make any drastic changes to Bukit, given the time remaining to the tournament. And their expertise in putting together events of this caliber should see Lexus Cup 2008 through.
Those familiar with the Bukit, particularly the members, will point out that when it rains, conditions might pose a challenge. But Henchman and IMG are well aware of this, and contingencies are in order to make sure that everything flows smoothly if the weather turns inclement.
Henchman adds: “We have a weather system to forewarn the LPGA and IMG events team of any bad weather moving in, and have developed an evacuation plan to ensure we can get everyone off the Bukit if lightening is detected. If the tournament is affected with bad weather, we will look at adjusting the tee times to ensure that we finish on Sunday.”
As the Lexus Cup is a team tournament of 24 players, we do not have the same pressure as a full-field event, and only need to get six groups through on Friday and Saturday, and 12 groups on Sunday (for the singles). So, in that regard, we are fortunate.
“The surface drainage of the Bukit is very good, and standing water clears quite quickly. The recent Putra Cup tournament was a good test for the playability during a very wet week – and the course held up very well. The green speed was maintained between 9.5 feet to 10 feet despite the wet weather, and the comments from the players were positive.”
The stage is set and Bukit, once again, will come to the fore of Singapore golf to host a tournament of international proportions. History has proved that, come rain or shine, the course has – and will – prevail. It is all part of the game.
Photographs from Singapore Island Country Club and lexus
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