Ayer Keroh Country Club Review

Entrance to the club grounds.

INTRODUCTION
Air Keroh Country Club (AKCC), in operation since 1964 is the oldest of 4 operating golf clubs in Melaka.  It was designed by a team led by former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, the late Tun Dr. Ghaffar Baba who was then, Melaka's Chief Minister.  Initially it had two nines named Tunku's and Ghaffar's with the third called Governor's which opened for play in the mid 1990s.

A portrait of the late Tun Dr. Ghaffar Baba,
 displayed in the clubhouse. 

They have a saying in this club, "A ball lost IS indeed a ball lost".  This is due to the fact that AKCC was landscape out of virgin jungle that surrounds Lake Ayer Keroh.  Much of the natural flora was left untouched, bordering fairways and greens.  With flora comes fauna and AKCC has lots of them; from the flying type to climbing, on four paws, slithering and swimming.  Yours truly has seen a family of wild boars crossing a fairway in one of his outings there.  Many fairways have their burrowing marks; but remember, we are the trespassers.

Enter at your own peril - jungle of AKCC.

The clubhouse houses a cafe and bar, swimming pool, pro shop, admin. area, billiards, conference and function rooms besides baths and changing facilities.  Slightly further from the clubhouse is the Golf Centre where golfers drop their bags, register, rent buggies and acquaint their caddies.  At the front left and downhill of the clubhouse is the driving range complex.  It also houses squash courts and gym.  Tennis courts are adjacent to this complex.

 The Clubhouse

Golf Centre 

Driving Range Complex

While some of the facilities are spartan and a bit run down, they do bring out an old charm of the 70s era ..... minus the bell bottoms pants and platform soles.  However, if playing a round of golf is your objective, the club and its staffs will more than comply.  Also, AKCC is the only walking course in Melaka albeit one nine on weekdays and before 8.30 am and after 4.30 pm on weekends; meeting the cardio and budgetary needs of many local golfers.


THE COURSES
As mention, AKCC has three courses called Tunku's (Hole 10 - 18), Ghaffar's (Hole 19 - 27) and Governor's (Hole 1 - 9). The lenght of the courses are 3258 m, 3246 m and 3172 m respectively.


As these course are carved out of a virgin jungle, it would seem that the designers have also incorporated much of the natural terrain into their design.  Courses are hilly with slopes that not only going up and down as one travels on the fairway but also towards left or right.  Lake Air Keroh and its tributaries are also cleverly incorporated to be water hazards as any normal course must have.


One of its prominent feature of the courses are the narrow fairways.  My theory is that the designers wanted to minimise the negative impact on the flora and fauna of the area; if this is true they must be the early pioneers of the 'green' movement in Malaysia.  Trees play a big part in most courses in this region but in AKCC it is a HUGH part.  Besides narrowing and contouring, some were left on fairways to intercept balls of otherwise perfect driven shots.

Hole 3 -View from tee box; tree in fairway.

Hole 5 - View from tee box; tree in fairway.

Hole 2 - View from tee; tree middle of fairway.

Sand traps on fairways and also those protecting greens in my opinion are small in size and sparse in numbers, making little impact on play.  Grasses on fairways are mainly mixtures of cow and bermuda with the earlier being more prominent for Tunku's and Ghaffar's while the Governor's being newer have more of the later.  Grass on greens are tidwarf.


Slope Rating (SR) of the courses are above average.  SR for Tunku's, Ghaffar's and Governor's are 132, 130 and 134 respectively.  Note: golf courses' SR are in between 55 to 155 with 113 being average.  Bigger rating indicates greater difficulty.  However for me, Ghaffar's nine is the most difficult despite the lowest SR among the three courses.  This is probably due to its par 4 holes with the shortest being 370 m while Tunku's shortest is 291 m and 354 for Governor's.  For an average golfer who drives the ball between 180 - 200 m, mastering the '3 wood' would be a prerequisite in order to have a decent score on Ghaffar's nine.


NOTABLE HOLES
The Most Challenging - Hole 6

This hole is the only one with stroke index (SI) of 1 in the whole club.  It is a 531 m, par 5 severe dog left.  The first shot requires a carry of about 180 m  extreme downhill over trees and ravine before reaching the fairway.  Too much left, the ball will get into the 2nd ravine.  Too much right will require a long carry or two shots down hill to clear the said 2nd ravine.  Distance from 2nd ravine to green which is protected by bunkers is approximately 250m uphill.

Hole 6 - View from tee.  First ravine is just after
 trees in middle of picture.

Hole 6 - View from fairway after first ravine,
second ravine in middle of picture.

The Most Scenic - Hole 19

Driving into a valley where the fairway is split into two by a tributary of Lake Air Keroh; the view from the tee box will astound any first time golfer in AKCC.  However this 514 m, par 5, SI 8, 'dog leg left'  hole 19 is challenging with many balls sinking into the tributary.  The picture does not do justice of the actual view.

Hole 19, View from behind tee box.

The Longest Par 3 Ever - Hole 13

At 198 m and SI of 12/11 is the longest and most difficult par 3 I have ever played.  Task is made harder by the need to carry the ball at least 175 m over a cove of Lake Air Keroh.

Hole 13 - View from drop zone.

The Loooongest - Hole 18

Taunted to be the longest in the nation at one time.  It is a 589 m, par 5, SI  2/1.

Hole 18 - View from tee.

Pause and Enjoy Nature - Hole 1

Try to tee off in the early morning.  This relatively easy 354 m, par 4, SI 15 will allow you to enjoy watching swiflets flying low hunting breakfast.  The view is enhance by Lake Air Keroh behind the green.

Hole 1 - View from tee.

Highlighting the above holes do not mean that the other holes in AKCC are any least inferior.  As the courses here are carved out from a virgin jungle and contoured according to the natural terrain each and every holes are unique to itself; challenging golfers in its difficulty and at the same time allowing them enjoy the sight and sounds of surrounding flora and fauna.

RATES

Do call the club for promotion packages.  Their contact are:

Tel: 06-2332000 / 06-2332001

Fax: 06-2332578

GETTING THERE
AKCC is approximately 10 minutes from Ayer Keroh Interchange of the North - South Highway and about 30 minutes from Malacca Town.  For non Malaccans, drive about 3.25 km from Air Keroh Interchange and you will see an open ground with a extra large flag pole (picture below) on your left .  Continue driving about 200 m and turn left into the first junction after the flag pole which will lead you to Jalan Tasik.  You will see Lake Ayer Keroh on your left in 200 m,  continue this road all the way and it will lead you to AKCC.

The extra large flag pole.