Discovery Bay GC- Diamond Nine, hole 1
Discovery Bay Golf Club was originally designed as an eighteen hole course by Robert Trent Jones Junior.
Those two loops of nine holes were known as Diamond & Ruby
In 1992 RTJ Jnr added another nine holes which was named the Jade course.
Players now play 18 holes on any given day with the three nines on rotation.
Although a members club, play is open to non members on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
The course is carved out of a heavily treed, mountainous site with some wonderful seaviews.
Motorised carts are a popular mode of travel on the course as it's not an easy walk.
We played the Diamond and Jade loops
The course was very wet and it was mid morning before the heavy fog cleared.
Pull buggies were off limits due to the wet conditions- all play was by motorised carts, which were only allowed on the cart paths.
The land is for the most part significantly hilly and not an easy walk in the wet conditions- balls carried and stopped- there was very little run, and some balls just plugged, both on fairway and greens
So the course played long!
I therefore moved forward to the yellow tees.
Notable holes include:
Diamond Course
- Hole 1, a turning climbing par 4. The opening tee shot needs to take on some of the vegetation right to allow the approach to have any chance of getting home ( see pic top of page)
- Hole 4, an interesting par five with a tee shot through a chute of trees with success then opening up the approach with water in play left and well bunkered green. With the fog descending the tee shot was a leap of faith..
Discovery Bay GC- Diamond Nine, hole 4 approach
Discovery Bay GC- Diamond nine, hole 4 green
- Hole 7, a picturesque par 4 with wonderful views of the bay (see video near top of page)
- Hole 8, a shortish par 3 over rough and water to a nicely bunkered green
Discovery Bay GC- Diamond nine, hole 8
Jade Course
- Hole 3, a mid length par with a pretty green projecting out in the water right
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 3
- Hole 4, a par 4 with water carry off the tee, and a green tucked into the hillside
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 4 tee
Discovery Bay GC-Jade Nine, hole 4 approach
- Hole 5, a long and confusing par 4. The tee shot must carry a jungle chasm angling away to the right. The approach is significantly uphill and a number of bunkers protect the raised green. I understand the strategy is that by taking on the longer carry to the right side of the chasm, it opens up a look at the green better- but on the day we played with no run it was a crazy blind second past trees and over large bunkers.
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 5 tee
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 5 approach
- Hole 6 was another lovely par 3 with the green tucked into a natural site and demanding a shot over the rough to a raised green
- Hole 7 is a nice par 5 with the green surrounded by water- the approach needs to be accurate!
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 6
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 7
- Hole 8 is a picturesque mid length par 3 with a tee shot over the jungle to a green surrounded by a sea of vegetation
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 8
- Hole 9 is a long downhill dogleg par 4 finishing hole. A good tee shot could catch the slopes at the corner and leave a mid length approach to a heavily protected green. You have to keep your nerves with water, rocks and bunkers all threatening..
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 9 tee
Discovery Bay GC- Jade Nine, hole 9 approach
When we played Discovery Bay the course was soaked and we found it a bit of a slog.
It played very long without any run and we quickly settled into preferred lies for the entire round.
It was a slower round than normal- more shots, less distance and walks to and from the cart path each shot..
But I come away with no doubts about the quality of the club or the course.
Discovery Bay has a delightful site for golf, with sweeping views.
The holes are varied and well designed.
The clubhouse and other facilities are first class.
I can only imagine how good it is with the course dried out and with a little bit of run.
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