If you can't wait for the frigid winter to end and just want to hit the green for a new golf experience, you may want to look south. The golf courses in northern China wont dry out until early April, but in the south, golfers are enjoying the sport already. And it's not just because of the warm weather; it's a whole new world.

Guangzhou: Chung Shan Hot Spring Golf Course (Palmer Course)

Opened for play in 1984, the Palmer course at Chung Shan Hot Spring is China's first modern day course.The Palmer is still considered one of China's best courses for the remarkable difficulty in actually building theplace. No large machinery was used. Instead, thousands of local men and women shifted tons and tons of soil around the site, which took a lot of time and effort. All this hard work paid off, and the result is a very traditional course that feels very much like some of the layouts you'd find in the English Counties.

Course review

Number of holes: 2x18
Total distance: 6,484 yards, Par 71

With the exception of its incredibly long par 4, the Palmer is short by today's standards and the emphasis is on hitting the ball straight rather than being able to whack it 300 yards. It's an excellent mix of holes: dogleg lefts, dogleg rights, straightaway holes, sht par 4s, long par 3s, reachable par 5s all set in the clean air of the Zhuhai countryside.

By far the biggest surprise on the Palmer is the Bentgrass greens. For those who are not familiar with agronomy, Bentgrass is suited to cool and dry conditions, which hardly describes Guangdong. The Bentgrass is a fine blade variety of grass and can be cut extremely short, so the greens on the Palmer can be extremely quick, but also extremely smooth to putt on. Without a doubt, the best time to enjoy these quality greens is during the winter when it's a bit cooler.

Fellow golfers' comment

Caddy Service

I think I've played enough rounds here to say that the kowledge of the caddies here is the best in China. Unlike other courses, most of the caddies are from Guangdong and have been at the club for a long time. I've also heard they get to play the course during off-peak hoursso they're also pretty handy players.

Landscaping and views

The views from the golf course are pleasant, and the landscaping is reasonably good. The lakes are filled with lotus flowers, which is a nice touch.

Rating

Very good course, excellent service, super caddies, plus the history factor combine to make this an easy Eagle. When the Bentgrass greens are in better shape this will be an Ace.

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