This review is in honour of my buddy's brother in law, Keith; who I had the pleasure of having a flight with as part of his birthday celebration not so long ago. May you have many, many more birthdays and be bless with more time on this game. Hope to have a flight with you when I re-visit Perth one day soon. Your shout, okay?
 |
| Entrance to the club grounds |
INTRODUCTION
Orna Golf and Country Resort or Orna Resort as it more popularly known is a 27 holes championship golf course with up-scale residential development within its vicinity. Open for play since 1997 it was designed by Andy Dye, a pedigree third generation world renown golf course developer and architect from the Dye clan of United States. Andy's CV includes 300 golf courses of which 14 are on the list of top 100 golf courses in the world (www.diamondbaygolf.com). Its pronounce undulating fairways and greens with strategically located sand and water hazards, package with wide fairways make the three nines challenging and yet allowing average golfers to thoroughly enjoy themselves.
The clubhouse was visually overwhelming as I drove to drop my golf bag. It has a large foot print with multi level roof which makes it look like many of the oversize local government buildings in this country. Besides basic amenities it houses a Chinese restaurant, a pro shop and a tavern on the ground level. Cafe is on the lower ground while the swimming pool is at the back. Apparently it also houses 15 guest rooms, conference rooms and a banquet hall, hence justifying its size. A stone throw distance from the clubhouse you will find a two tier 44 bay driving range and tennis courts slightly further. Orna Resort also offers 3 or 6 bedroom bungalows for rent. Overall, the facilities here are well maintained.
 |
| The Clubhouse |
 |
| The Swimming Area |
 |
| The Cafe |
THE COURSES
The three nines in Orna Resort are called East (hole 1 - 9), West (hole 10 -18) and North (hole 19 - 27) Courses. Distance from the blue tees are 3066m, 3133m and 2796m respectively. The common feature of these courses are that most fairways are wide with heavy undulation and guarded by uphill like embankment at least on one side. These embankments have assisted many wayward drives from going out of bounds. Sand traps are incorporated generously; some fairway bunkers are long linking to green bunkers. Also included are long bunkers which run along some of the water hazards, can't say if they are considered as waste bunkers as the sand in it are well raked. Water hazards are prominent in the courses however they do not really require long carries over them. Like fairways, many greens are undulating. Grass on fairway is bermuda, generally well kept while greens have tidwarf. I did notice dark brown patches on quite a few of the greens but they are more of a visual distractions than anything else.
The highest slope rating (SR) among them is the West Course with rating of 129, followed by the East Course (125) and North Course (120) which make them slightly above the worldwide average of 113. The rank of difficulty among these three courses seem to be in the right order after playing all three nines in two outings here. My "archilles heel" and I believe most bogey players' are long par fours. The average par four distance for West Course is 364m with longest par four is Hole 18 at 399m and shortest, Hole 10 at 319m. Second longest average par fours is the East Course at 348m followed by North at 311m; hence according to my simple deduction the corresponding SR.
My Favourite of the three courses is without doubt the West Course, this is probably due to the fact that it provides greater diversity among its holes compared to the other two. In here lies Orna's signature hole; Hole 12, a full water carry 157m par 3 island green ala Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass' Hole 17 in Florida while another of its par three Hole 17, features sand hazard that requires a full carry of 135m. My least favourite is the North Course even though it is the easiest of the three. This nine seem totally different from the other two nines in terms of outlook, quality and upkeep by grounds personnel.
Orna Resort is the only club in Melaka that boast of night golfing facility, however it is only available for play on selected Fridays.
 |
| View of Course from Clubhouse |
NOTABLE HOLES
The Most Challenging - Hole 7
While Hole 3 has a stroke index (SI) of 1, to me the most challenging is the 482m, par 5, SI 3 Hole 7. After the driving into a two tier like fairway, the second stroke is a blind shot downhill to lay up for the third stroke. Another route is to hit the second shot over water into the fairway across the lake but you better come prepared to hit with 3 wood.
 |
| Hole 7 - View from tee |
 |
| Hole 7 - View from fairway, lay up nearer to the lakeside or take a risky shot with a long carry over water. |
 |
| Hole 12 - View from tee; inspired by TPC at Sawgrass' Island Green designed by Andy's kin Alice Dye? |
On Dragon's Back - Hole 14
 |
| Hole 14 - View from tee, bunkers and mounts in centre of fairway. |
 |
| Fairway Bunker with Thick Front Lip |
The feature of this hole is the ridge with bunkers in the middle of the fairway. These bunkers come with high mounts in front; targeting the green from here is definitely not recommended. Going left of the ridge will require the second shot to carry over water to green while going to the right increases distance. This hole is 396m, the second longest par 4 with SI of 2; long and difficult.
Sand Hazard Surrounding Green - Hole 17
Accuracy is needed for this 135m par 3 SI 3 hole. A total contrast to hole 12 which requires a carry over water, this hole requires a carry over sand.
Finishing the Game - Hole 9 & 18
These to holes are side by side separated by a lake with a view of the Clubhouse from tee to green. Both are par 4 with the later as mention earlier is the longest par 4 at 399m with SI of 6. Hole 9 is slightly shorter with at 374m with SI of 5.
 |
| Hole 9 - View from tee. |
 |
| Hole 18 - View from tee. |
RATES
GETTING THERE
Orna Resort is approximately 20 minutes from Ayer Keroh Interchange of the North - South Highway and about 40 minutes from Melaka Town. From the interchange drive down towards the city approximately 3.7 km and you will see World Youth Foundation Building on your left before a cross junction. Turn left at the junction and continue driving this road for about 5.0 km and you will see Orna Resort's signboard on your right. Their address and contact as below:
Batu 16, Jalan Gapam,
77200 Bemban, Melaka.
Tel: +6 06 5210333 Fax: +6 06 5210222
email: ogcc@ornaresort.com.my
