SGCC: The Tough Old Nut

I hate and love playing at Sabah Golf and Country Club (SGCC). For one thing, the course is murderously tough. Good scores are hard to come by. My average scores is between 90 and 96 gross in any average courses, but at SGCC, I would be lucky escaping with 100! I am not talking on behalf of the single handicappers or the pros, for they tend to believe otherwise.

One of the hallmark of SGCC's difficulty is its slippery greens, and very difficult to read. Four putts is extremely common for the higher handicappers. Its fairways are undulating which make good contact a challenge. SGCC is a good course for anger management, because most of the time a player will always have to confront his temper playing at a course like SGCC. But I have to admit SGCC is a thrilling course, and every time I swear not to return and play here, somehow players knows that there isn't any other course like SGCC when comes to the excitement of challenge. Many players says, if you could tamed SGCC, other courses are just a piece of cake!

The most famous or 'infamous' fairway of SGCC is the 14th hole Par 5. In Chinese, 14 means 'the part of death' or 'straight death'! That's the reputation of the 14th hole. Many players called her Sharifah and I don't know why. If you happen to play fairly good all the while, wait till you reach her. Things can get awfully wrong here. Ponds, deep ravine, tall trees, and out of bound (OB) comes into play. Be prepared for triple bogey or more which is very common here.

SGCC is located at Jalan Kolam, Bukit Padang. It is a ten minutes drive from the Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) city center. The course was constructed in 1976.

The middle picture is hole 10. On this green, the surrounding views are magnificent. But it is a funny hole. Regulation in two doesn't necessarily bring joy. If your ball managed to land at the nearest edge of the green, then most probably your ball will roll back to the fairway! The bottom picture is another funny hole. The green is narrow and long, and it is slopping downward away from the 15th fairway. If you land on this green, the chances of your ball skidding out is normal, unless you have a strong backspin.

As it was said before, if you could master playing at SGCC, rest assured you can play anywhere with ease.

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