Glenmarie (Valley)

Golfers at the Glenmarie Golf & Country Club have had the choice of two 18-hole golf courses (the Valley and the Garden layouts) since both were unveiled in the early 1990s – and because both courses are floodlit, play doesn’t have to grind to a halt when the sun goes down. The Valley’s the tighter of the two tracks so careful course management is needed in order to score well here.

Notable holes on the course include the 223-yard 8th (with a fast and tricky green benched into a small hill on the other side of a water hazard), the 553-yard 14th (where a creek slashes across the fairway en route to an island green) and the 445-yard 17th (rated the toughest on the card, it plays to a green flanked by water on the left).

Ted Parslow upgraded the layout during 2008 and 2009.

Describing what was done during the renovation, Ted told us: “Seven holes were dealt with for routing sequence, par or location. All greensites were completely reconstructed, as were all other bunkers. Play strategy was a major consideration in bunker location and greens surface shaping with improved aesthetics a major consideration. Lakes were desilted, the irrigation system and drainage reticulation upgraded and, where relevant, fairways were reshaped and re-grassed.”

In 2014 Glenmarie Golf & Country Club hosted the inaugural EurAsia Cup (formerly called the Royal Trophy), a team event between Europe and Asia played in a similar format to the Ryder Cup. Europe and Asia tied the tournament in 2014. After a one-year hiatus, the EurAsia Cup returned to Glenmarie in 2016 and Europe won emphatically, 18½–5½.