anyone played in any golf course Bali before?

Going Bali next week, can anyone advise which course in bali is good (preferably no cow grass) and price is reasonable? thanks !

Played about 3 courses in Bali on my last visit, and i can tell you, none of the courses are cheap. I paid about USD150, USD175 and about USD70 for my 9-hole game.

I played at Nirwana Bali, Bali Golf & Country Club and one more i can't remember the name.

I think the one to play now is the New Kuta Golf course. It's a championship course, but don't expect to pay anything less than USD150 for it. Maybe on a weekday can get cheaper. But once you get there, tip the caddy and have a meal, you'd probably have spent more than SGD200, just for one golf game.

Also try the Bali Handara Kosaido one.. It's on top of a mountain, so very cool. literally.

hahah go holiday must spend mah!! hahah =P

I'm going Bali as well in May. Thinking whether it's really worthed to Play in Bali. Somemore I'll be playing alone there... not sure whether they'll alow one guest only to play there...

checked out the green fees.. its DEFINITELY not cheap.. guess gotta give golf a miss this time in Bali

I have been for 2 golf holidays in bali. Its slightly more than the green fees I paid for blue canyon in phuket. I played at handara(high altitude), 1st time I managed to get on in 2 for a par 5! temperature is about 18, so very nice. I also played at nirwana. sea views from the holes on the front nine will really take your breathe away! Overall, I feel that its truly worth the expense.

+1 on handara kosaido at Bedugul. Nirwana is among the top courses in Asia. However, a course along the beach and estates/villas are just so many in around here, albeit at Nirwana it's Indian Ocean not the Johor strait. You should try mountainous course, like Bali Handara. Where else in SEA can you play at sub-20 degree celcius? Merapi in Jogja is another.

I dunno why but Bali Golf Nusa Dua just fits my eyes better than Nirwana. Wide fairways and all...

Dave, they would pair you with another golfer. If they cant find anyone, you may play alone, especially on weekdays. Do make bookings in advance.

btw, my avatar is showing Bali Golf Nusa Dua course, huge fairways...

Wah... I'd like to play at Bali some day Very nice.

TheFocalPoint wrote:

Played about 3 courses in Bali on my last visit, and i can tell you, none of the courses are cheap. I paid about USD150, USD175 and about USD70 for my 9-hole game.

I played at Nirwana Bali, Bali Golf & Country Club and one more i can't remember the name.

I think the one to play now is the New Kuta Golf course. It's a championship course, but don't expect to pay anything less than USD150 for it. Maybe on a weekday can get cheaper. But once you get there, tip the caddy and have a meal, you'd probably have spent more than SGD200, just for one golf game.

Also try the Bali Handara Kosaido one.. It's on top of a mountain, so very cool. literally.

r we still going bali? i am excited

opus wrote:

TheFocalPoint wrote:

Played about 3 courses in Bali on my last visit, and i can tell you, none of the courses are cheap. I paid about USD150, USD175 and about USD70 for my 9-hole game.

I played at Nirwana Bali, Bali Golf & Country Club and one more i can't remember the name.

I think the one to play now is the New Kuta Golf course. It's a championship course, but don't expect to pay anything less than USD150 for it. Maybe on a weekday can get cheaper. But once you get there, tip the caddy and have a meal, you'd probably have spent more than SGD200, just for one golf game.

Also try the Bali Handara Kosaido one.. It's on top of a mountain, so very cool. literally.

r we still going bali? i am excited

We ?

Are you organizing one GR trip to Bali ?

Hi Pushslice? That's the par 5 leading to almost the seaside? 2nd shot got a very nice view of the ocean.

Like both that course and Nirwana, For Nirwana, I like the par 3 course with the ocean on the left together with the temple.

Opus, as many has mentioned, it is pretty expensive. They have 3 tier fee system. It is very cheap for locals to play there followed by foreigners working in Indonesia and lastly, visiting foreigners. In addition to the green fees, you have to factor in the caddy tips as well.

One word of caution on the new Kuta course. whilst it is new, the trees are not matured yet so it is very hot playing there. Moreover, you can hear all the shouts (and curses) from the other greens and boxes as they are near each other. So it can be very distracting.

I fine the caddies at Bali Golf to be the most experienced about the courses (sorry, I have not tried Handara). Their reading of lines on the greens are generally very good.

Hope that helps and enjoy. (btw, some of my friends are going there next week too).

yes, i think that was the hole. The only negative on nusa dua was the sand was so hard/firm.

Nirwana's signature hole was a beauty, and tough from blue tee. Over the canyon and soaring waves breaking on the black sand beach 50m below, tanah lot temple on your left horizon. Lands uphill, bunker at the front if you're hitting it short (cant see the green if your ball lands there), green sloped back to front.

happy travel!

I've only played the new kuta course but that was back in 2008. Whilst some of the holes have have a pretty nice view of the ocean, I wasn't overly impressed with the course. As blee2007 mentioned, it's a fairly new course so it felt rather bare. Also, the sand in the bunkers was very very firm. I have heard pretty good things about nusa dua and nirwana, so those are two courses that I'll probably try the next time I go to Bali.

no la i not organising GR game to bali la.just the focalpoint and his wife, and me and sg tiger had some plans

Yes its expensive but I do have a contact in Bali and we pay about USD150 for a game with transfers

blee2007 wrote:

Hi Pushslice? That's the par 5 leading to almost the seaside? 2nd shot got a very nice view of the ocean.

Like both that course and Nirwana, For Nirwana, I like the par 3 course with the ocean on the left together with the temple.

Opus, as many has mentioned, it is pretty expensive. They have 3 tier fee system. It is very cheap for locals to play there followed by foreigners working in Indonesia and lastly, visiting foreigners. In addition to the green fees, you have to factor in the caddy tips as well.

One word of caution on the new Kuta course. whilst it is new, the trees are not matured yet so it is very hot playing there. Moreover, you can hear all the shouts (and curses) from the other greens and boxes as they are near each other. So it can be very distracting.

I fine the caddies at Bali Golf to be the most experienced about the courses (sorry, I have not tried Handara). Their reading of lines on the greens are generally very good.

Hope that helps and enjoy. (btw, some of my friends are going there next week too).

Locals means Indonesians ?

I' am one

daveaha wrote:

blee2007 wrote:

Hi Pushslice? That's the par 5 leading to almost the seaside? 2nd shot got a very nice view of the ocean.

Like both that course and Nirwana, For Nirwana, I like the par 3 course with the ocean on the left together with the temple.

Opus, as many has mentioned, it is pretty expensive. They have 3 tier fee system. It is very cheap for locals to play there followed by foreigners working in Indonesia and lastly, visiting foreigners. In addition to the green fees, you have to factor in the caddy tips as well.

One word of caution on the new Kuta course. whilst it is new, the trees are not matured yet so it is very hot playing there. Moreover, you can hear all the shouts (and curses) from the other greens and boxes as they are near each other. So it can be very distracting.

I fine the caddies at Bali Golf to be the most experienced about the courses (sorry, I have not tried Handara). Their reading of lines on the greens are generally very good.

Hope that helps and enjoy. (btw, some of my friends are going there next week too).

Locals means Indonesians ?

I' am one

In that case, as long as you can show some form of identification, that you get to enjoy local rates. Depending on seasons, it can be as low as half the foreigner's price.

yeah played the for course if u played after 3pm... u paid 70 usd for unlimited been 10 time in bali

I've been offerred to play on these three courses :

On behalf of reservation, please allow me to assist you with below enquiries.

In regards of Golf Course, we do have 3 company that you might consider.
- Bali Golf & Country Club - www.baligolfandcountryclub.com
This particular golf course is the closest one from Conrad (+/- 15minutes from Conrad)
and they do providing a free pick-up service for the player.
- New Kuta Golf - www.newkutagolf.com
This Golf course is the latest one which is located in Pecatu area (25mnt from Conrad)
and they also providing a free pick-up service for the player.
- Nirwana Bali Golf - www.nirwanabaligolf.com
This golf course was designed by Greg Norman and has won quite many awards.
It is located in Tanah Lot area and it is reachable within 1.5hrs. However this
golf course is unable to provide a pick-up service due to the distance.

Hope the above options met your requirement.
Should anything else we can be of further assistance to you, kindly to let us know
by email us at concierge@conradbali.com



Seems nirwana is out due to the inconvinience there... hmm... anyone has played on two courses listed above (Bali golf and Kuta golf) ?

blee2007 wrote:

daveaha wrote:

blee2007 wrote:

Hi Pushslice? That's the par 5 leading to almost the seaside? 2nd shot got a very nice view of the ocean.

Like both that course and Nirwana, For Nirwana, I like the par 3 course with the ocean on the left together with the temple.

Opus, as many has mentioned, it is pretty expensive. They have 3 tier fee system. It is very cheap for locals to play there followed by foreigners working in Indonesia and lastly, visiting foreigners. In addition to the green fees, you have to factor in the caddy tips as well.

One word of caution on the new Kuta course. whilst it is new, the trees are not matured yet so it is very hot playing there. Moreover, you can hear all the shouts (and curses) from the other greens and boxes as they are near each other. So it can be very distracting.

I fine the caddies at Bali Golf to be the most experienced about the courses (sorry, I have not tried Handara). Their reading of lines on the greens are generally very good.

Hope that helps and enjoy. (btw, some of my friends are going there next week too).

Locals means Indonesians ?

I' am one

In that case, as long as you can show some form of identification, that you get to enjoy local rates. Depending on seasons, it can be as low as half the foreigner's price.

Thanks Bernard.

Sorry, I deleted your PM by mistake as my mailbox is 100% full. Could you re-extract your pm again from your sent box here ?

Here you go Dave,

Hi Dave,

I think you can still play at Nirwana. Just stay for one night at Meridian which is next door to the course. They may have some promotions for hotel guests but you will have to check. This is still my preferred course to play. After the game, you can arrange for transport back to either Kuta or Nusa Dua. It does not cost much for the transport.

As for the other two courses, I prefer Bali Golf. It is more matured. The caddies knows their work. The course is well maintained and caters to all levels of golfers.

For the new Kuta course, given that it is still not fully developed, it is very bare and can be very hot at times. Also becuase of the bareness, noises carried over to the other holes and it can be very distracting. More so when the tees of one hole and the greens of the other are near each other. Having said that, the view is not too bad too on certain holes. Bear in mind that there are some blind holes as well. So be careful. The clubhouse is nice. So maybe when course is more matured, it might be a bette course to play.

Lastly, if you are going to the new Kuta Course from Nusa Dua, it takes about 1.5hours depending on traffic conditions. So plan for it as well.

Hope the above assists.

agree with Blee2007. Nirwana if you can stay at Le Meridien, if cant then Nusa Dua.

do bring KTP/KITAS and tell your agent that you have it. Harga utk wni 900 ribu ++

If you stay at Le Meridien Nirwana resort and the green fee are much cheaper (forgot how much) if you just walk in and play.

Cheers all.
I'll be staying in Conrad actually, booked already. So probably I'll try the closest two that I can find there. May play twice as I'll be there for 6 days...

Agree that it is cheaper, just not sure it's worth the hassle to stay at Le Meridien Nirwana just for cheaper green fees for a single round. It's so far removed from Kuta and Seminyak which is where all the action is at night. Unless of course you hire a jeep to drive back and forth, even then, it's still a long drive back from Kuta after a night's partying. Prefer my hotel to be in the heart of things so I can just walk out conveniently and find anything I want anytime of the night. Especially my fave nasi padang, yum!

Used to frequent Bali pretty often last time, but stopped before New Kuta was built. Looking forward to playing there one day. Though I haven't played it, my gut feel is that it's the best course in Bali now.

My further views on the courses in Bali (almost a decade ago):

Bali Golf and Country Club is essentially a resort course, meant to be easy to play for the average golfer, which may end up being not much of a challenge for the advanced golfer. I found the course somewhat flat and featureless as well. It's closest to Kuta, located in the Nusa Dua hotel complex. 30 minutes drive from Kuta? (long time ago)

Nirwana Bali Golf was the best new course when I played it. Stunning and challenging Greg Norman design not for the faint hearted and beginner. Nirwana Bali caused a lot of controversy since the land was originally holy ground (next to the holy temple of Tanah Lot) and the Balinese were upset over its use as a golf course. Caddies had smart green uniforms with large padi hats then. Not very good though. Never really knew where my ball landed and never told me that good ole Greg liked to put little streams in front of many of his greens. So many balls ended up in the water fronting the greens. No run ups here, got to carry onto the green or lay up. Heard later from a friend that the condition of the course had gone to the dogs, bad greens and all. That was a few years back, not sure if it's back up to par now. At least an hour's drive from Kuta? (getting old)

Bali Handara is up in the mountains and the oldest course in Bali. Rundown clubhouse and course can be mushy. Most disappointing in terms of condition but can be a challenge to play esp when looking for plugged balls. Not worth the money and the time in my opinion since it's a long slow drive up the mountains behind trucks laden with cargo belching black fumes while laboring up slopes in 1st gear. I was tired out driving up, concentrating on overtaking all these slow vehicles in an underpowered Daihatsu Feroza. Don't even think about overtaking in a Suzuki Katana. Got to overtake 4 to 5 vehicles at one go, and squeeze back in before the truck on the other side creams you. Then you keep repeating the overtaking move until you reach Bali Handara which never is just over the next hill. At least a 2 hour drive? (Getting Alzheimer's)

FYI, the lack of trees is not because the course hasn't matured, New Kuta is a links course, the only links course in Bali I believe. The original links course being St Andrews in Scotland. A links course is characterised by it's proximity to the seaside, lack of trees, lots of shrubs, pot bunkers, and undulating fairways. It's design being based on the courses found in the original birth place of golf. Links course are supposed to be designed that you play low penetrating irons and a lot of running chips onto the greens because of the wind factor, as opposed to American courses where the emphasis is on target golf, where high towering iron shots drop the ball onto the green like a butterfly with sore feet.

Further tip: It is cheaper to rent a vehicle and drive around Bali, so much more to see and I was free to go anywhere anytime. DON'T rent from the hotels or websites, they charge an arm and a leg (up to $45 US). I got my Feroza then for about $25 Sin a day from one of the many rental agencies along Kuta (Friend's recommendation). Shop around for the best prices and vehicles. Make sure they are working well or bring it back to change. DO get insurance that covers vehicle damage (I got into an accident the 2nd time I drove there, motorcycle rammed into my rear). Always check your side and rear view mirror before filtering (motorcycles are like mosquitoes whizzing by you) or opening the door to get out. And finally, get an international driver's licence in case you get stopped at police checkpoints. Can pay them off but a hassle. Can also rent and drive with Singapore licence, but only the international one is recognised by the authorities. So you take a risk in the event of accidents and police checks. I've driven with and without the international licence and been caught out twice without, but got away with it most times. The choice is yours.