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Overview
Sri Lanka surprisingly has three of the finest 18-hole
courses in Asia. In fact the association with golf is
more than a
century old and the Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship,
which was instituted in the year 1891, follows the British
Amateur as the oldest national championship in the world.
The three courses are situated in Colombo, Digana and
Nuwara Eliya - Colombo at sea level, Digana at 600 m and
Nuwara Eliya at an elevation of 2.070 m have distinctly
different
terrain and climate conditions. This contributes to the
enjoyment and challenge as you could be playing golf in
three
different countries.
Affordable green and caddy fees make the Sri Lanka Golf
Courses a superb value for money destination. Foreign
guest
visitors are welcome at these golf clubs. Some golf courses
have a splendid undulating terrain over which the holes
are routed. Some golf courses have a scenic backdrop of
hills and lakes, which excite the senses. However the
Victoria Golf
Course near Kandy is blessed with both attributes.
The oldest golf courses in Sri Lanka are found in "Little
England" around Nuwara Eliya in the hill country
interior. Golf was introduced by the British as their
colonial legacy to Ceylon.
One of the most exhilarating and difficult holes at Victoria
is the 473 yds. Par 4, Seventh. The drive from an elevated
tee calls for distance, accuracy and nerves of steel,
if the player is to have a chance of reaching the green
in two. Stately
trees and avenues of coconuts lend the course an immediate
air of maturity. Impressive natural outcrops of rock are
a distinctive feature. Measuring 6879 yds at its full
Championship length, Victoria’s Par 73 layout has four
Par 5 holes of
which three are over 500 yds long. There are four excellent
Par 3 holes ranging from the very short, but tricky, 5th
of
124 yds to the testing 210 yds 13th hole, a great Par
3 by any standard.
Although the golf tour is planned primarily for golfing,
a city tour of Colombo and a visit to Kandy and its sights
is included
in the program. Kandy in particular is one of Sri Lanka's
main highlights and should not be missed. |
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| The Courses |
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| COLOMBO |
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Royal Colombo Golf
Club
Address: Model Farm Road, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka
Holes: 18
Meters: 5770
Telephone: 94-1 691 401
This club's history goes back to 1879. It features
many water hazards starting with the first hole.
At the 6th hole, golfers meet the Kelani
Valley train, which passes across the fairway. This
course is 5,770 m long
(par 71). A flat course with broad fairways, which
looks simple to beginners but there are many water
hazards and well-guarded bunkers, which quickly
change the opinion. The Royal Colombo Golf Club
is easily accessible,
being a 20-minute drive from all first-class hotels
in the city. |
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| KANDY |
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Victoria International
Golf and Country Resort
Holes: 18
Yardage: 6877
Par: 73
Opened in January 1999. Designed by Donald Steel
& Company. Set in
Sri Lanka's central mountains right on the shores
of the Victoria Reservoir.
Victoria Golf Club, Digana - This course is 6,190
m long (par 73) a championship golf course designed
by Donald Steel and inaugurated
early in 1999. The fairways are rather narrow in
a hilly countryside.
Stately trees and avenues of coconuts lend the course
an immediate air of maturity. Impressive natural
outcrops of rocks are a distinctive feature and
indeed a hazard of the course. The Victoria Golf
Club is situated 25 km
east of Kandy and 150 km from Colombo. |
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| NUWARA ELIYA |
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The Nuwara Eliya Golf
Club
Address: Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
Holes: 18
Telephone: 522 835
At the base of Mount Pidurutalagala in the heart
of tea country, at 1890' above sea level, it features
fir-lined fairways, bunkers and scenic surroundings.
The 9th is an island green surrounded by bunkers.
Water (rivers) comes into play on 6 holes. This
course, which is reputed to be
one of Asia's finest, is 5,520 m (par 71). The fairways
are long and narrow and bordered by fir trees and
thick bushes. It demands skilful "position
play" and the hilly terrain makes it essential
that players cope with up-hill and downhill lies.
The Golf Club is a 10-minute walk from the Grand
Hotel and
190 kms from Colombo.
Golf is played on all courses throughout the year. |
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| Golf Package* |
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Tour Program
Day 1 Colombo
On Arrival transfer to Hilton or similar hotel in Colombo.
Afternoon city-tour. Colombo is the commercial capital
of Sri Lanka with a population of 1.1 million. The Fort,
in the
very center of the city, is where most of the colonial
remnants mainly from the British era are to be found.
Nearby Pettah
is Colombo's busiest and most traditional bazaar, a mosaic
of human activities and architectural memories. Cinnamon
Gardens is the most prestigious residential area.
Overnight at your hotel.
Day 2 Colombo
Transfer to The Royal Colombo Golf Club for a morning
and/or afternoon session of golf. After the game transfer
back
to your hotel.
Day 3 Colombo - Kandy
After an early breakfast you leave Colombo and the coast
and drive along a busy highway into the interior of the
island,
past paddy fields, palm-groves and coconut plantations.
In Pinnewela, you visit the elephant-orphanage, where
about
seventy elephants are well looked after, mostly young
animals that have been found through-out the country sick
and abandoned by their herd and brought to Pinnewela.
If you are lucky, you can watch the feeding or the daily
bath in the
river of the jumbos. After this visit the road begins
to ascend gradually. You stop for a short visit at a rubber
factory,
where you will learn in detail, how the milky sap called
latex is treated to become raw rubber. After this stop
you will
enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the central highland
with its hills and mountains. At noon you reach the old
royal city
of Kandy, situated at 500 m, beautifully nestled between
green hills. At its very center lies a small artificial
lake and the
palace of the last Singhalese king, which has become a
temple and the holiest shrine in Sri Lanka, where the
Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha is highly venerated. You will
pay a visit to this temple in the later afternoon. Check-in
at the Earl's Regency Hotel.
After lunch you will visit the world-famous Botanical
Garden Peradeniya. The park dates back to 1371 under the
reign of
King Vikrama Bahu III when he held court here. The English
put the cornerstone of the present garden in 1821. During
the Second World War the garden served as the headquarters
of Earl Mountbatten, the supreme commander of the allied
forces in Southeast Asia who later became the last Viceroy
of India. You will find, in the garden, a very large variety
of
orchids, spice trees, palms, bushes, as well as tropical
plants and flowers of all types. In the evening you will
pay a visit
to the temple of the holy tooth. After the temple visit,
you have the opportunity to attend a dance performance,
where
you will see the famous Kandyan dances, as well as up-country
and devil dances. Overnight at your hotel.
Day 4 Kandy – Victoria Golf Club, Digana - Kandy
After breakfast your driver will bring you the to Victoria
Golf Club, Digana, situated about 25 kms east of Kandy
for one
or two rounds of golf. Return to Kandy after golfing.
Day 5 Kandy – Nuwara Eliya
After breakfast, you leave to Nuwara Eliya. From Peradenya
the road starts to ascend steadily and in the late morning,
shortly before reaching Nuwara Eliya, you will have climbed
1,500 m. You are now in the tea-country; wherever you
look,
you will see tea plantations, the rich full green of thousands
and thousands of tea bushes. And out of the green in regular
intervals the white-colored tea factories will enchant
your eyes. Occasionally you can see a few rice fields
and near the villages, vegetable plantations or gardens.
The small resort town of Nuwara Eliya, situated at 2,070
m above sea level, lies on a little lake and is surrounded
by mountains covered over and over by tea bushes. At the
town boundaries there are a lot of vegetable plantations
and
flower fields, but also along the roads of Nuwara Eliya
and in most of its gardens flowers are blooming. Check-in
at the
Tea Factory Hotel, Nuwara Eliya.
In the afternoon transfer to the Nuwara Golf Club for
a round of golf. Day 6 Nuwara Eliya
Transfers to the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club for Golf and after
the game, back again to the hotel.
Day 7 Nuwara
Eliya - Colombo
After breakfast in the hotel, you leave Nuwara Eliya and
a short while later you will reach the Ramboda pass at
2,200 m,
the highest elevation of your tour. From the descending
road you see again the rich full green of the tea estates
with the white-coloured tea factories. You will stop at
one of these tea factories where you will learn how the
green tea leaves
become the well-known Ceylon teas. While descending into
the lowlands, you will come across the paddy fields and
vegetable plots, which border the settlements. Later you
will see again paddy fields and coconut plantations. You
will
stop at one of the spice gardens there you can see a lot
of trees, bushes and plants cropping spices. You will
reach
Colombo in the evening. Check-in at the Hilton Hotel Colombo.
Day 8 Colombo
After breakfast transfer to The Royal Colombo Golf Club
for golf and after the game back to the hotel again. Overnight
at the hotel.
Day 9 Colombo
Transfer to the Airport for your return journey or to
a beach resort to kick back and relax for a few days.
The prices include accommodation on bed and breakfast
in Colombo at the Hilton
Hotel Colombo, in Kandy, at the Earl's Regency
Hotel in deluxe room and in Nuwara Eliya at the Tea
Factory Hotel, transport in air-conditioned car with English
speaking driver/guide from Colombo and again back
to Colombo, inclusive of entrance fees for the excursions
and visits mentioned in the program. Green fees and
caddie fees etc. are not included. |
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| Green fees in Colombo, Digana
and Nuwara Eliya per person per day: |
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| On a working
day |
US$
30.00 |
| On weekends and holidays |
US$ 40.00 |
| Caddie fee per round
per day |
US$ 4.00 |
| Rental per person per
day for golf bag with clubs |
US$ 7.00 |
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Course Reviews
Course Name: Reem's Creek Golf Course
Location: Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
Comments from Howard Kane, Atlantis, Florida, USA
The course is 6,100 feet above sea level. Very tight fairways
and dense rough. Sand is very coarse. Not especially long,
the Nuwara Eliya course offers a true test of shot making
in beautiful and unique surroundings.
Comments from Alasdair McCrone, Thornliebank, Tobermory,
Isle of Mull, Scotland
On a beautiful December day, I escaped the tropical heat
of the coast to play paradise golf in the mountains. Charming
attention from the staff, decent green fees, etc, talented
caddies, perfect tea, a lovely elderly Sinhalese gentleman
waiter called George Michael, a gorgeous cricket pavilion
of a clubhouse with cheap rooms available and food like
steak and
kidney pudding, apple tart and custard, etc. A memorable
experience.
Sri Lanka is simply beautiful.
Comments from Stuart Paterson, United Kingdom
Played here in January. The course was really too wet
- e.g. Hitting a good drive down the middle of the fairway
may
well result in a lost ball. A very pleasant course none
the less. You must have a caddy, but it is a bit disconcerting
when
they keep calling you master!
October/99
Comments from David Moore, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
A tight, challenging course playing at its best in the
dry season. When I played on Jan 1, 2000 it was still
a little wet.
The fairways are good but the greens need a lot of overnight
rain to hold a ball. The rough is deadly and the trees
eat wayward shots. The Clubhouse and staff are Olde World
and superb. One adverse comment is accommodation. Billed
as the best, the Grand Hotel is probably the worst in
the area. Try the Hill Club or St Andrews Hotel.
January/00 |
| Golf Package (for
beginners) |
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1 week (7 nights)
Stay at the Hotel Trans Asia, Colombo,
in double or single room inclusive of buffet breakfast
and 6 golf lessons with the professional and 6-day practicing
at the driving range of the Royal Colombo Golf Club.
Included in the price are 8 transfers from the hotel to
the golf course and back again, 6 golf lessons and 6 times
unlimited practicing (from 07.00 till 18.00 hrs, except
Mondays), as well as one trial round of golf on a working
day accompanied
by an experienced golfer inclusive of green fee and caddie
fee on the golf course of the Royal Colombo Golf Club. |
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For 2 persons in double room
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US$
975.00 |
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For 1 person in single room
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US$
750.00 |
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For half board per person for 7 days at the Hotel
Trans Asia |
US$ 70.00
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For full board per person for 7 days at the Hotel
Trans Asia |
US$ 120.00 |
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For rental of golf bag with clubs per person
per day |
US$ 10.00 |
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* Prices
may vary. Please recheck before booking.
Package could be organized, depending on certain conditions. |
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