Bandung Fairways & Volcano Views - 4 Nights of Elevated Golf

Set amidst a dramatically beautiful hilly terrain and surrounded by mountains in nearly every direction, the Jatinangor Golf & Resort (former Bandung Giri Gahana) is a real treat. Michael Coates & Associates designed on a site that lies some 900 meters above sea level and opened for play in 1989.

Like most of the newer courses in Indonesia that were designed by internationally acclaimed designers, the Jatinangor Golf & Resort layout is of immaculate quality with plenty of fabulous holes. Located at such high altitude, obviously, the site offers a pleasant climate and cool and fresh air especially in the morning and late afternoon. Also, being at altitude ensures suitability for the Bent grassed fairways and greens.

Jatinangor Golf & Resort comprises two nine-hole loops, measuring 7176 yards from the championship tees. The Giri Course is the front 9, and the Gahana Course is the back nine.  Set within the rolling landscape, the Giri Course winds its way through the mature trees. In general, the fairways are generous, flanked with large native trees, skillfully positioned fairway bunkers, allowing golfers to be aggressive from the tee. Generally, dry and flat fairways offer an extreme amount of roll making both par-5’s reachable in two.

The Gahana Course has plenty of elevation and undulation which makes for an interesting contrast. Correct club selection and distance measuring are key to scoring here. Green reading better be best left to the caddies who assist in determining the correct putting lines.

Facilities at Jatinangor Golf & Resort are adequate but could be better maintained. Locker rooms are clean and spacious. The clubhouse restaurant serves up tasty Indonesian food at reasonable prices. The well-trained caddies are handing out good playing advice and helping with club selection and green reading. The resort hotel that sits on a hill in the distance is impressive. However, being built over 30 years ago, the golf resort past its day for international visitors and mostly for locals wanting to get away from Bandung itself.

Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett designed Mountain View Golf Club, located in a prestigious residential complex 30 minutes from the Bandung airport or 20 minutes from the city center.

Parahyangan Golf Bandung designed by Bob Moore - lead designer of USA-based JMP Golf Design Group sets up in a dramatic valley-to-mountain landscape. The Bandung golf course located beyond Kota Baru town and is a component of Kota Baru Parayhangan, a carefully planned, mixed-use development spreading over an area of 1,250 hectares.

Parahyangan navigates through two distinctly different types of terrain and around some offshoot bays of the Saguling Lake. Seven bridges spanning from 20 – 70 meters in length to cross the bays, with holes framed in local farm crops.

Incomparable visual drama is one of the great strengths of this 18-hole championship layout. The course flows along the deeply incised ravines and lake edges and climbs onto the flanks of surrounding mountains offering commanding views of the valley floor. The course also features a highly-strategic layout featuring multiple lines of play on virtually every hole.

The front nine sets out from the valley into an awe-inspiring landscape that is dominated by steep hills and mountains, and that is home to ravines and thousands of years old deep gorges. Many holes offer stunning views, and particularly from the tee box of the downhill par-5 fifth.

The steep hills and mountains are home predominantly to local farmers who make a living from agriculture and vegetable farming. Seamlessly their workspaces integrate with golf situated in this part of the site.

The back nine routing is to an open plain that borders Lake Saguling. The main activity on the lake’s shores is vegetable farming and growing of rice. Parahyangan adds golf to the activity list.

Lake Saguling’s many tributaries and waterways have created a patchwork of typical landforms with shoreline-features that include plateaus, bays, gorges and streams, and small valleys. And it is here, that Bob Moore cleverly created a series of golf holes (twelve to sixteen) - that connect and integrate these unusual landforms and shoreline features, making room for golf holes, unique to Indonesia.

The 9,000 square meters spacious clubhouse has every modern facility that a golfer expects. From the plush locker rooms, clean changing areas, well-stocked pro shop, and to top-notch practice areas, the Parahyangan facilities are all first class. Caddies are well groomed and a welcome smiling addition to any round.

Whether it’s the front- or the back nine, every hole at Parahyangan offers a different vista that surely completes for attention with golf. Local advice is to take it one golf shot at a time. Parahyangan leaves an indelible impression with first-time visitors and seasoned golfers alike.