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| Entrance to the Club |
Introduction
Port Klang Golf Resort (PKGR) is located in the south west end of Tanjung Harapan, Port Klang; facing the sea on the west and south and bordering factories and godowns on north, north east and east. It is a 18 hole golf course with 12 chalets for rent. The club house facilities are modest at best housing a cafe, administration office and changing rooms.
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| The Club House |
There are tennis courts next to the clubhouse and a swimming pool less than 100 meters away, unfortunately both these facilities are not open for use at this moment. Its driving range is situated in between the fairways of Hole 1 and 9.
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| The Driving Range Complex |
The course was opened for play in 1991 and according to Mr. George Ngoh the Acting General Manager there, it was built by a company call Eastern Green.
The Course
The two nines have equal length of 3,196 m each. The front nine course rating is 72.3 while the back is 70.3. Slope ratings are 126 and 123 respectively, higher than world's average of 113. With the exception of a few, fairways are generally wide.
According to the resort, grass on fairways is Bermuda while greens are turf with Serangoon. However I did notice patches of different grasses on fairways and some greens have patches of sand on them.
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| Patches of sand on some greens. |
Two outstanding features of the course here are that the terrain is flat (the flattest I have played thus far) and that there are many ponds in it which I estimate to be not less than ten in total. These features are probably due to the fact that PKGR was built on what was once a swamp land. Hence the choice of Serangoon for greens is not surprising as this grass thrive in our tropical climate and even survive short period of flooding.
While water hazards are prominent they do not require long carry to get over them (you may have notice that I mentioned ponds and not lakes earlier, what they lack in size they compensate with quantity). Besides ponds, another type of water hazard that exist here are monsoon drains that criss crosses into the course. At 100 - 150 meters, the flat terrain makes water hazards that dissects into fairways not easily visible. I sank one ball into a pond and saw another bounced up high as it hit the angle wall of a monsoon drain due to this factor.
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| Hole 2 - View from fairway to green. Did not realised that the pond 'cove' into the fairway when I took the second shot towards the green. |
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| Monsoon Drain in PGKR |
This may sound clinched; sand hazards are sufficiently included into the fairways and sides of greens. However they are inconsistent in terms of quality from one to another. Some are okay but terribly raked others have pebbles to large stone in them. Some bunkers do not have rakes but the ones that do, have DIY type as the picture below.
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| Rake - pleaselah! |
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| Pebbles and Stone in Bunkers |
The Most Challenging - Hole 11
For me this par 4 hole is the most challenging despite having the second lowest stroke index (SI) of 2 as Hole 8 has SI of 1. The fairway is narrow sandwich by tall trees with wide overhanging branches. Anything less than a perfect drive will cause your ball to be trap by the web of branches.
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| Hole 11 - View from tee |
As mention earlier, one of my shots resulted my ball sinking into a pond and another bouncing off the monsoon drain wall. They happened on these par 4 Hole 2 (SI 7) and 8 (SI 1) respectively due to PGKR's (wait for it .......) flat terrain that hides these hazards from view until it is too late.
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| Hole 2 - View from tee. |
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| Hole 8 - View from tee |
Something Different to Finish - Hole 18
This par 4 SI 10 hole requires a golfer's swing to carry the ball not only over water hazard but also over trees get it into the 'dog left' fairway. To me, this hole offers the best view from tee box to green among the 18 holes here.
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| Hole 18 - View from tee. |
Transportion of Choice
Have you heard or ride on a turfmate? Well below is a picture of the one I rode on this course. I just love it, feels like riding a jet ski on land minus the speed. Be careful of potholes and drain trenches on fairways though, they can more than rattle your clubs when you go over them too fast.
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| Turfmate |
Rates
Weekdays - RM87.80 for 18 and RM50.10 for 9 inclusive of turfmate and insurance.
Weekends and Holidays - RM140.00 for 18 and RM82.50 for 9 inclusive of turfmate and insurance.
However, please do contact the club to confirm rates and promotions.
How to Get There
As the resort is located near the busiest port in Malaysia, there are many routes that link to it. As a picture says a thousand words and I have found a way to link maps to the blog, kindly refer below if you want to have a flight at the resort.
View Larger Map
Conclusion
Conditions of the resort do suggest that it is going through a rough patch. George and his team have manage to get the basic infrastructure going which makes the course playable but for greater golfing experience some improvements are clearly needed. Considering the cost of playing in other more well known courses further inland, at RM87.80 for 18 holes PKGR does offer good value. If you are nearby and game for an easy fuss free round of golf with friends and/or family do try the course and enjoy the turfmate ride. Once there, do finish the day with seafood dinner nearby which I hope to do soon with some of my golfing buddies.
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