Mission Hills' Golf Courses
This is the world's largest golf course with 180 holes! It is located in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

Founded in 1994 and just at the border with Hong Kong, Mission Hills is the World's No. 1 Golf Club as accredited by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2004. It is an exclusivey gated residential complex housing a five-star hotel, resort and country club with the largest tennis facilities in Asia as well.

The 180-hole course is actually represented by 10-signature golf courses. It is also the home base of China's David Leadbetter Golf Academy. The Mission Hills complex is one of the top 10 sights in Shenzhen and is nationally recognized as one of the top-rated tourism resorts. Shenzhen's BaoAn International Airport is a mere 40-minute drive to the golf club.

Apart from being a five star resort it offers an all-year-round playing golf green condition, 228 luxurious rooms, 50 tennis courts with three different types of surfaces. This fantastic resort attracts visitors from around the world. With an area of 20 square kilometers, it would take two days to complete one circle of this huge complex. Free shuttle buses are offered by Mission Hills connecting Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Kowloon. It is available every 30 minutes when on schedule.

An Update on Mission Hills: As you read, the number of golf courses in this giant complex of golf courses is now 12, having further increased the total number of holes for the only club on earth with the most golf courses to a boggling 216. For anyone's indulgence, why not?

According to Executive Director Tenniel Chu in a recent interview with STARGOLF of The Star Daily of Malaysia, not only does operation "..doing better than expected" and therefore presumably amply allows for expansion, the number '12' also rhymes with the Chinese Zodiac which has 12 animals representing it. There seems something running parallel here if you have read about the fervent search by a new and much more self-confident China to recover the 12 bronze animal heads of the famous Yuan Ming Yuan plundered by foreigners towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. Well, it may not be exactly the same feat in completing twelve golf courses to match the same number of auspicious animal representations but it sure augurs well, not least with help from "..the golf world's best-known architect" Pete Dye and China's prodigal son of golf, Zhang Lian Wei, who will have the last course named after him in honour of his contribution to golf in China. Well, one should have no doubt there's not a mission in Mission Hills that's a mission impossible! - Feb. 2008

Mission Hills - Nicklaus 'World Cup' Course of Shenzhen - 'Jack Nicklaus skillfully incorporated the surrounding natural beauty to provide a true golfing challenge for players of all levels'. This is just about the simplest description of a top class golf course that the writer has come across so far. And yet, as if to complement the simplicity, this 18-hole Par-72 7,323-yard course with Sea Paspallum-covered fairways and Tiff Eagle'd greens boasts of the following curriculum vitae few could match:

• The first in China to be accredited by the PGA Tour.
• 2003 - Staged the Dynasty Cup
• 2001 - Staged the first Chinese Golf Foundation Charity Tournament
• 2001 - Staged the Tiger Woods China Challenge
• 1999 - Staged the 5th. Omega Asian Tour Championship
• 1998 - Staged the Johnnie Walker Super Tour
• 1995 - Staged the 41st. World Cup of Golf

Well, seeing is believing; but not until you've actually played on this very 'simple' course that you would then be able to appreciate it. A two-tiered green sitting in front of the clubhouse with a mass of sparkling white sand bunkers guarding its front and ready to receive any second landing shot coming down the slope of the fairway. This is the Par-4 459-yard Signature Hole#18 (pic) where the position of the pin often determines the degree of difficulty.

Mission Hills - Norman Course of Shenzhen - 10 years after the first ever tee-off in Mission Hills, Greg Norman added the 10th. course to this huge complex of golf. This 18-hole Par-72 7,214-yard course has been, in a brush stroke, described as 'reflecting the perfect combination of golf course style and nature'. Whatever that means and whichever type of visitors it was meant to entice in the promo material, it sure seems short of descriptive than what the technicals would ruthlessly reveal. At a slope rating of over 140 against the top of the scale of 155 (The US average of a difficult course is only 113; slope rating is the measured degree of difficulty for mid- to high-handicappers - alas, it surely includes the writer!), it's no wonder '..here, mercy is a commodity in short supply for the errant..', laments a golf course critic. I guess that speaks all for what could be expected playing this course.

In fact you could get a feel of the course by just having a glance at an empty scorecard. Both Par-4s of Hole#12 and Hole#17 are over 480 yards and the Par-5 Hole#14 is 644 yards long. And that's not all; some tee shots demand a carry over of about 260 yards! Any room for error? Don't bother finding out, it certainly won't be there in the gnarly fescue (Festuca plant commonly used as rough in golf courses of the US and Canada) lining the fairways. Noticed the stylised picture of a large crater-bunkering on the glossy hand-outs? It wasn't there only to beautify, it actually exists somewhere on the course and, it has company of its kind there as well!

Perhaps Signature Hole#4 is something to cheer about. It is comfortably short at 147-yard and there are no bunkers here to guard the green! But the accompanying photo of the hole will quickly and surely make you save the cheers. This Par-3 has the tee box at 4 o'clock in the pic. The silky green is fast; landing anywhere from 12 to 3 o'clock right of it will end in thick bush of a certain no retrieve and anywhere beyond the front edge is equally suicidal as the lake awaits patiently down below.

Mission Hills - Vijay Course of Shenzhen - Vijay Singh incorporates much of what makes Pebble Beach special and the result is a spectacular golf course that ranks well at the top in many aspects in Asia at least. The main feature is the strikingly visual sand bunker stretching a long 45 meters with the sand running right down and meeting the water (For another golf course with a similar type of sand-and-water bunker, visit Dam Vac Golf & Country Club of Hanoi in Vietnam).

The Signature Hole is the Par-4 432-yard Hole#2 where the water edge follows on the left and leans to the right side near to the end of a normal tee-shot leaving either water or fairway on the far right for a dry landing. The choice is obvious. Play safe and land the tee-shot there will earn a poor angle and longer distance for the second landing shot. Brave the water edge will ensure a good angled-shot to the green even if the pot bunker just in front of the green is ever so threatening.

Mission Hills - Faldo Course of Shenzhen - A gem in Nick Faldo's treasure pouch of golf courses he designs, the Faldo Course reputedly has 'every hole highly strategic and yet suitably playable'. The course, openned in 1999 to critical acclaim, has been widely received as a product of using his outstanding shot-making skills as a basis for the design. The Par-3 163-yard Hole#16 is the Signature Hole with the elevated tee overlooking an island green. Many view it as one of Asia's best Par-3.

Mission Hills - Leadbetter Course of Shenzhen - Apart from the meticulously manicured landscape and aesthetic ground covers, the Leadbetter Course demands accurate approach shots to large but undulating greens. Additionally large sand bunkers litter the fairways and protect the greens as well while elevated tee boxes are strategically placed to raise the degree of difficulty. But otherwise, the course is eminently playable by golfers of all levels. The catch is or the ulterior good intention in the design of Mr. Leadbetter (The mother of all golf teachers?) one suspects is, at the end of the day, all the clubs in the bag will have to have been used. So, before you head to this course to scalp your buddies for Hole#19, learn the correct swing technique first. (But where can I find a good school?)!

Signature Hole is the Par-3 183-yard Hole#16 which tees-off over a ravine to an island green sandwiched between creeks from the ravine. Apart from being a testing ground, this scenic hole also offers great photo opportunity (view pic).

Mission Hills - Olazabal Course of Shenzhen - The course is a majestic vista of the original flora and fauna, and streams of clear water crossing paths with the paspallum-covered fairways giving rise to a spectacular backdrop for a championship course. Finger-shaped sand pits with deep bowl-bottoms and thick grassy vertical lips characterise the course.

Following the reservoir and curving right on the Par-5 580-yard Signature Hole#15, a plethora of Olazabal's 'bowl-bottoms' greet an unsuspecting visitor. Strategically, a conservative play, meaning accurate placements and landing with the 3rd., will yield good scores here; otherwise attack only, meaning attempting the green in two taking full advantage of the steep slope on the right to bounce the ball back to the fairway, if you are willing to risk paying the price!

Mission Hills - Ozaki Course of Shenzhen - The main feature of the Ozaki Course is the unique and unconventional direction of flow of the fairways on a terrain of mountain valleys. Jumbo Ozaki took full advantage of the veins of the mountain range by housing the holes in the many valleys found here giving each hole a natural protection in the form of wooded hillslopes of native flora. Nowhere on the course illustrates the contour better than at the end of Hole#12 where a 280-yard long tunnel connects to the tee box of Hole#13. Pitching and chipping skills on sloping ground are crucial to a good play on this course. Anything forgiving on this course? Par-5 Hole#18 has the clubhouse snugly fitting in in-between two mountain peaks behind in the distance; makes a good reference point (think of Hole#19) for the tee-off. Only Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Course in Lijiang has a reference point in its snow-capped peak to assist in your tee-off this way this big!

The Par-4 395-yard Signature Hole, aptly numbered 13, has a deep valley lined with bunkers awaiting the tee-shot. For those lucky enough there's some space to the right but with poor angle for the second landing. Big hitters could always try to carry over and save the day.

(For those keen on the Mission Hills brand, click to visit Mission Hills Golf Club of Kanchanaburi, Thailand or Mission Hills Phuket Golf Resort & Spa, Thailand)

Xili Golf and Country Club of Shenzhen - Only 25 minutes' drive from Huang Gang Immigration Exit Point/the Chinese border with the New Territories of Hong Kong SAR, Xili Golf and Country Club which is in fact just a hop across the Houhai Bay from the SAR, suitably serves the bustling commercial capital of China South, the Pearl River Delta area at its heart. Designed by Nelson, Wright and Haworth, this 36-hole course is made up of four nines, namely Course A (3,317 yards), Course B (3,356 yards), Course C (3,269 yards) and Course D (3,296 yards). The peculiar nature of the course layout serves the busy clientele well with these 9s which require less time to 'complete a game' and yet promising an equally exciting ending. Water hazards appear one of the main features while picturesque surrounding tend to distract.

Shenzhen Golf Club of Shenzhen - Not too many golf clubs in China with a lower profile have 'a bit of history'. This one has. This golf course was originally designed by Isao Aoki in 1985. Rapid changes that have been taking place in China for the last 30 years have irreversibly transformed the Pearl River Delta region into a mega-commercial hub serving the hinterland. Shenzhen Golf Club took an inevitable step forward to cope with the influx. In 2000, Nelson & Haworth re-designed the course following which the club commenced Ryder Cup-style competition between top Chinese players with outsiders. With its three Par-36 9-hole courses of Course A - 3,532 yards, Course B - 3,637 yards and Course C - 3,542 yards, this course staged in 2005 the Volvo China Open which Paul Casey of Britain won.

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