Clearwater Bay

Established in 1982, the course at Clearwater Bay occupies a fantastic cliff top setting on a craggy peninsula that juts out into the South China Sea. Some of the more spectacular seaside holes have drawn comparison with those at Nefyn & District in Wales, Old Head in Ireland and even Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand.

A round on the Ocean nine begins with four stunning holes – described as “the most thrilling opening stretch in Chinese golf” – and the pick of these openers is the par four 3rd, demanding a 180-yard tee shot carry over the ocean. The Highland nine is routed over hillier terrain, featuring another couple of do-or-die carries across ravines at the par four 13th and the par five 18th.

The original layout was not without its flaws so to celebrate the club’s silver anniversary the design team at Thomson-Perrett was called in to remodel the layout – reversing the nines and replacing green side bunkers in the process – and it’s now a much more interesting course to play.

In the summer of 2021, it was announced that Harley Kruse had been appointed to oversee a major bunker renovation at the club, incorporating Capillary Bunker and Ecobunker technologies to provide adequate levels of performance in a tropical climate which can see twenty inches of rain fall in a single day during the monsoon season. The project also involved shifting some bunkers for strategic reasons and removing others that were no longer needed.