DLF Golf & Country Club (Gary Player)

India's biggest property developer, Dehli Land and Finance, is the driving force behind DLF City in Gurgaon, a new town that lies to the south of the nation's capital city. Though golfers with an interest in cricket may also have heard of DLF through their promotion of the Indian Twenty20 Premier League.

The DLF Golf & Country Club started out in life in 1999 when an 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed parkland course opened for play. The course was constructed to the highest specification with top of the range irrigation and drainage systems installed. In addition to the planting of almost 15,000 trees, 195 floodlight pylons were installed to allow all 18 fairways to be illuminated at night – now that's what we call maximising your golfing resources.

DLF played host to the 2008 Johnnie Walker Classic, this was only the second European Tour event staged in India – Delhi Golf Club hosted the first event. The European Tour returned to India for the inaugural 2010 Avantha Masters, won by Australia’s Andrew Dodt. In 2011, Calcutta-born SSP Chowrasia claimed the Avantha Masters title.

In 2014, new land became available, so DLF commissioned Gary Player to build a brand new course. Player Design built nine new holes on the newly acquired land and then incorporated and refashioned nine of the existing Arnold Palmer-designed holes into a totally new configuration, which opened for play in October 2015.

The facility now has 27 holes at its disposal, the 18-hole Gary Player course and a 9-hole Arnold Palmer course, which still retains its floodlighting for those seeking a night time golfing experience.

The new Gary Player course is a tough test, too penal according to some commentators. The layout is routed in thrilling fashion around two large lakes (there’s even a par three with an island green), where dramatic landforms, including bold rock formations of a former quarry, create an unforgettable closing finale.

Player’s Lake & Quarry nines are certainly bold and brassy but the average handicap golfer will need to bring a sense of humour and an arsenal of golf balls. We suggest leaving the 7,654-yard tips for the pros, otherwise even good humour won’t be sufficient.

In 2015 DLF hosted the inaugural Hero Indian Open, the tournament has remained at the club ever since.