Rejuvenated and ready
Two years of slow but steady changes to the 18-hole Ronald Fream-designed Awana Genting golf course, plus refurbishment to its attached accommodations has created a new and exciting buzz for the property. The work done has wrought some miraculous changes, beginning with the top dressing. Magnificent in its design, the course – which was constructed in 1985 – suffered in the aftermath of heavy downpours. The moisture would take forever to dissipate – with the fairways plugging even the best drives. An almost temperate climate did not help matters either.
Happily, the fix has been instituted with a new thicker layer of top dressing. On top of that, several famously soggy bits have had herringbone drainage lines buried beneath the fairways. That’s not all, the greens have been redone with a special Tiff grass. If you’ve ever ‘putted for dough’ at Awana, it’s likely you’ve lost money. Those days are long in the past with neither a hint of gravel nor sand on the 18 greens that we traversed. The end result is firmer fairways and rolling greens which are now good enough to host championships.
Awana @ Resorts World Genting has always had a major advantage over most other Malaysian courses in that it maintains a nice cool temperature for golfing, being situated 3,100 feet above sea level. The beautiful course is occasionally shrouded with mist – which then blows over to reveal stunning views of Genting Highlands above, a panorama which you can soak up at the seventh green or the eighth tee box. By this point, you may have been already been captivated by the majestic yet intimidating par-three fourth hole which is the course’s signature hole.
In the days gone by, all the fun and games outside of golfing used to happen only on the peak but things have now changed. The hotel now boasts guided nature walks and campsites on the property with indoor activities that cater for the whole family. To top it off, Resorts World Genting is just about done building a new, bigger Genting Premium Outlet (GPO) across the road from Awana.
This development also integrates the new Genting Skyway – an almost magical 2.8km ride over the rainforest to the City of Entertainment with the soon-to-be-launched Twentieth Century Fox theme park and all its attendant attractions.
