Penang Golf Club

Penang Island near the airport

Located near the airport on once a 130-acre hilly rugged and rocky jungle, the Penang Golf Club (former Bukit Jambul Country Club) has established itself as one of Malaysia's top golf clubs right from the opening in 1984.  Thereafter, course upgrades and renovations have enabled Penang Golf Club to keep its leadership position among Penang golf courses. In fact, Penang Golf Club was the venue for the 31st Malaysian Open in 1992 which was won by Vijay Singh. That same year the Penang golf club was rated at the 6th best in Malaysia and since then many other events and professional golfers have graced the Penang Golf Club fairways.

Penang Golf Club provides a stunning panoramic view of the island, with the impressive Penang Bridge and mainland Malaysia in the distance.  Villas, apartment blocks and the huge Equatorial Hotel provide most of the backdrop to this very tight and often dramatically undulating, parkland golf course. Although surrounded by the sights and sounds of the city, there are also enough jungle clad hills around to remind you that Penang Island is lush and tropical, much favored by holiday-makers and beach-goers.

The 18 hole 5,763 meter, par-72 golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and is fairly compact. Around the often smallish greens, Trent Jones has chosen to "hide" many of the bunkers, giving them grassy faces that blend into the fairways and semi-rough.

The Penang Golf Club layout favors accuracy instead of distance off the tee. The sharply doglegging, dramatically downhill opening par-4, provides a clear signal of the tightness of things to come, while also highlighting the excellent presentation and maintenance standards you'll find here. By the time you reach the super-tight par-4 4th, you'll either have the measure of the course, or it will have the measure of you.

Providing you are happy to be challenged and tested on a relatively technical layout where accurate shot-making is paramount, then this course will quickly grow on you, and reward you with many attractively designed holes and interesting views. The long par-3 8th provides one of several testing tee shots. The sharply descending par-4 10th signature hole is perhaps the most dramatic plunge you and your ball will have to make, as the tee is perched 100 feet above the fairway on the valley floor.

Penang Golf Club may feel a bit tight and constraining at times, but its undulating terrain and unusual mix of jungle and city views make this a thoroughly enjoyable and very attractive course.  Close by hotels, restaurants, and shops make this also one of the most convenient Penang golf courses for the Malaysia golf visitor.