While I’m no Aussie I did visit Bali in 2005. You will have an incredible time. The island is beautiful. The people are very nice and the food is good and interesting. Ubud is a cool little town with lots of energy. Spend some quality time there. Also, make sure you do a rice patty walk while on the island as the natural environment is gorgeous. (We did a cool one in Ubud but I’m sure there are others.)
OK on to the golf. I only played one round during my trip and it was at The Bali Golf and Country Club. We stayed in Nusa Dua so it was close to our hotel and I had a good connection there. I think Robin Nelson designed it. The service was great. The pro even came out to chat during the round. It was a tale of two nines for me. I started on the back nine. It was built in the bottom land so all the features had to be created. While it was in decedent shape (the greens had a lot of grain) the back nine lacked interest visual and strategic. It was typical resort golf. Nothing wrong with it. Hey, your playing golf right!?
The front nine was much better as it utilized the natural topo to provide interest and drama. I remember variety in the topo and shots required. (uphill, downhill and side hill tee shots and approaches) On a few holes they mimicked the rice patty terraces found all over the island and did a fairly good job doing so. Sometimes moves like that will strike me as odd but not in this case. I also remember a few greens on this side having some strong movement in them too. Coupled with the grain I got fooled once or twice. You get a few long views out to the water on this nine as well. If the entire course was built on topo like the front nine I think the overall golf course and experience would have been better.
Nonetheless I think it is worth seeing since the golf offerings on the island are so limited.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Greg Norman Nirwana course. If I were to return I would play there at least once and maybe twice as all the locals said it was the best course on the island. (I’m not sure if more have been built since 2005) Besides, Tanah Lot, which is right next to it, is a very special place. Apparently you can see the temple from the course. Make sure you visit the temple during low tide so you can walk out to it. The sunset is spectacular too.
Enjoy your trip and let us know what you find.