Olazabal Course, Mission Hills, China

[David_Tepper]

At the risk of committing heresy, I can say I enjoyed watching the WGC-HSBC golf this weekend. Granted, the course is massively over -bunkered and I would have little interest in playing it. But I thought it was a very good venue for the pros. Good shots were rewarded (witness the low scores), but marginal shots were punished. I thought the greens had some nice contours and I liked how the green surrounds were, for the most part, cut low so shots rolling off or missing the greens moved a fair distance from the green surfaces. The fairways appeared to have a fair amount of movement/slope in them as well. 

[Matt Day]

I played there two years ago and enjoyed it as an average 11 handicapper . We played from the second last set of tees and found it a fun course to play after grinding through the tough norman course the day before.

[Kyle Henderson]

I played there two years ago and enjoyed it as an average 11 handicapper . We played from the second last set of tees and found it a fun course to play after grinding through the tough norman course the day before.

Seems like a nice property with good movement. The greens were playing very firm and quick. Your last pic represents the worst kind of over-bunkering. Water may not be the best hazard, but why buffer the entire lake with sand? Hazards are less fearsome when a shot that lands only a yard or two away has no chance of rolling in.

[Matt Day]

Kyle
it has a lot of elevation changes, like most of the five courses we played at Mission Hills the par 3's seemed to be from elevated tees down to the green.

The last picture is the 15th, thats their "signature hole"  The only place they didnt bunker was the middle of the fairway. I went for the green in two and hit just right of the green in the little cove area where the golfer is

[Ronald Montesano]

http://www.golf.com/courses-and-travel/golf-course-architect-brian-curley-china-golf-courses?sct=hp13

[Greg Gilson]

I feel like i'm about to step into the lions' den here....

I own a small golf travel company specialising in sending Aussie golfers overseas. 80% of the business is to the high end destinations in GB & I & the USA. For several years i resisted the urge to even send golfers to Mission Hills - surely it was "Buffet" not "Connoisseur Golf"? However, demand from valued, past clients meant i needed to set up contracts with Mission Hills & start working with them. Feedback from returning club golfer clients was enthusiastic. They loved the courses, the caddies, the (relatively cheap) oppulence. Naturally, i assumed they wouldn't know better.

For one reason or another i got the chance to get over there myself in May this year. At least i was going to have a chance to tell my clients " I've been there. Play this course. Avoid that one. Visit this bar. Etc". My report card to self?

Negatives:
-the bureaucracy is over the top. From memory you have to check in at 3 seperate places to finally get yourself onto a cart
-the logistics can be a challenge. At the original Shenzhen location , the 12 courses (10 non member access) are spread over 3 different locations. Planning the shuttle commute takes some management
-the scale of the whole thing is boderline mind boggling (depending upon where your room was in the "new" Donguann Resort it could take 15 minutes to walk to the Dining Room for breakfast (& back)
-the restaurants were "OK"
-course conditions in May were ,generally, 6 to 7 out of 10

Positives:
-in general, the courses were FAR MORE INTERESTING than i had expected them to be
-given that 4 or 5 courses out of 1 clubhouse (think Pinehurst) must, obviously, use very simiolar topography, we always were kept interested enough during each round. The developers did a decent job of creating some individuality for each course (even if that started to dim with the passage of time)
-a couple of the lesser courses were surprise packets. Personally i liked "Vijay" a lot. It had several short Par 4's and good risk/reward Par 5's. Not sure how that gets sheeted back to Vijay....but it was a fun round
-Olazabal is clearly the "chosen one". Lots more attention to detail & staffing. It really was a grand, large-scale course. In hindsight, there was a lot of sand....but i didn't feel it detract or interfere with the experience. I have really enjoyed watching the great players take it on (and to bits)
- my caddy (Kiki)

In summary, Mission Hills (in general) & Olazabal (in particular) is one of those guilty pleasures. I'm not booking myself in for another visit  but i would not be unhappy to "have to" return again.

[Matt Day]

Greg
we played five courses in five days which was too much golf for me (els, norman, olazabel, faldo and world cup) The world cup course had held a seniors tournament three days before and the greens were pure, some of the other courses weren't much more than 6 out of 10.

The check in process worked okay once we understood how it worked, we didnt see our clubs after the first round and they were magically waiting for us on the cart at a different venue the next day

If I had a chance to do it again I would go for three days at Mission Hills and spend the extra day or days playing more golf at Kai Sai Chau in Hong Kong

[Ron Farris]

Hats off to consulting agronomist Rick Hamilton for this tournament.  He was faced with challenges to say the least.  after all it is in China.

[David_Tepper]

Stan M. -

Thanks very much for the link to the Brian Curley article/interview. Very interesting and informative.

DT

[Kirk Moon]

Love that air quality!