GOLF TRAVELThe Empire Brunei:
From Greens to Greenery
BY DAVI D B OW D E N

18th hole at The Empire Brunei

From a regional perspective,
golf in Brunei is very muchan unknown quantity andsomething of a hidden
tropical gem. Perhaps thesame could be said about the wholecountry, all 5,765 sq km of it on theisland of Borneo, tucked in between
two parts of northern Sarawak.
The Empire Brunei is a grand andexpansive retreat facing the South
China Sea that includes an 18-hole Jack
Nicklaus-designed championship golfcourse and a lavish hotel quite unlike
anything else in Southeast Asia.
Designed by Nicklaus in 1997, thecourse is renowned for its playing

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surface and 86 challenging bunkers
strategically located around the course.
Broad fairways are forgiving, andaccess to all holes is via well-formed
concrete paths.
The par three, seventh hole at 215m
off the black tee is rated by many as
the best hole to play. From the elevatedtee, golfers have to drive across therough, downhill with crosswinds thatroutinely come into play. Anothersignature hole is the 502m, par five,15th that runs parallel to the coastline.
Golfers are required to negotiate thegigantic ‘sandy waste’ bunker and toskilfully negotiate the rough and forest
lining the fairway. Here, too, wind

comes into play, with the approachshot past a bunker and onto theelevated green.
Stan Everitt, Director of Golf andLeisure, says that the course is very
popular with visiting Korean, Chinese,
and Japanese golfers who find that thecourse offers great value and can beplayed year round. He adds that evenduring the comparatively rainy monthsof January and December, the rainmostly falls in the evening.
With the proximity of the sea andtropical rainforest, golfers can also
expect to see some wildlife such as
kingfishers (and other birds), monkeys,
and lizards while they play.

Aerial view of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin MosqueTee-off times are from 6.30am (thesun rises earlier in Borneo than it doesin Peninsular Malaysia), and the lasttee-off is 4pm for a 7pm close of thecourse (the sun sets around 6.30pm).
Times are subject to availability andadvance bookings. Non-hotel guests
can also play on the course, but at aslightly higher rate. Unsurprisingly,guests staying at The Empire Brunei
hotel enjoy golf rates that are morefavourable. In the evening, floodlights
enable night golf under coolerconditions.
The hotel’s Country Club,
meanwhile, offers a range of sporting
facilities, including 10-pin bowling(eight lanes), badminton, squash,
cycling, kayaking, stand-up paddle
boarding, an indoor lap pool, andtennis. There is a fitness centre(featuring a mixed gym, as well as one
for women only), along with a lap pooland several other swimming options
around the hotel.
Spa services on the first floor of theCountry Club are available from 10am
until 9pm (male masseurs for males
and female masseurs for females).
The spa menu includes facials, footand hand treatments, massages,wraps, and various packages. “Golfers
are pampered here, although at thepresent moment we do not offer caddy
services but that could change in thefuture,” Stan explained. He added thatnew carts provide GPS functions invarious languages.
Club management also oversees theoperations of the other two courses inthe country, namely Royal Brunei Golfand Country Club and Royal Brunei
Airlines Golf Club. Golf tourism isBoating at Ulu Temburong

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GOLF TRAVEL

something that is just being realised
here, with Brunei presenting theopportunity to play all three courses
in a country on a single visit. Brunei’s
location also means that golfers canalso play courses in neighbouring
Sarawak and Sabah, with destinations
such as Miri and Kota Kinabalu in thevicinity.

GOING GREEN

Ulu Ulu National Park Resort

5th green at The Empire Brunei

54 T H E C I R C U L A R • A P R 2 0 2 0Brunei’s rather diminutive landmass
comprises two coastal areas separated
by a stretch of land belonging toSarawak. The landscape ranges
from coastal plains to hilly lowlandwith much of it covered in lowland
tropical rainforest. More than 70%of Brunei is forest, and 60% of this isvirgin rainforest, having never been
disturbed. Brunei really is the green
lung of Borneo, and for adventurers
seeking a truly wild rainforest
encounter, Brunei is the place.
The crowning glory in Brunei’s
eco-arsenal is the 50,000-hectare Ulu
Temburong National Park. Visiting andWaterfall

TRAVEL FILE
Getting There
Royal Brunei Airlines(flyroyalbrunei.com) flies direct toBandar Seri Begawan twice a day,with an early afternoon flight anda late evening flight. This is a fullservice airline with welcoming
onboard service.

Canopy walk at Ulu Temburong National Park

staying in the park is exhilarating for
those with an adventurous spirit, while
travelling there is easily one of Asia’sgreat river journeys.
Currently, a boat is required toreach the greener parts of Brunei fromthe capital, but a new, soon-to-open,
30-km long bridge will change all this– for better or for worse. In addition toboating into the park along a pristine
river, visitors have the opportunity tovisit an Iban longhouse, with somelocated just outside the township ofBangar, 40km southeast of Bandar Seri
Begawan. Regular boat services operatefrom the city centre to Bangar. Thejourney takes under an hour with thefirst departure at 6.45am and the last at
5.15pm. While the bridge will save time,
my suggestion is to travel to Bangar andon into the park on a boat and with anexperienced travel operator such as
Hasa Incentives.
The only way to enter the park is via
small sampans that negotiate several
rapids on the journey upriver. One ofthe park highlights is to walk to theelevated canopy walk. For visitors
who don’t have time to visit the park,a journey along Brunei River, close to
the famous Kampong Ayer, is a great
way to see crocodiles and proboscis
monkeys while admiring the thickmangrove forests.

Where to Stay
There is very little in the region
that compares with the 522room hotel, The Empire Brunei(theempirebrunei.com), seemingly
built with no expense spared.
Gilded fixtures, chandeliers, andimported marble are noticeable
highlights of the grand lobby.
The opulence flows through torooms with classic inspiration
and all modern conveniences. Itfronts the South China Sea and issurrounded in parts by tropicalrainforest just 15 minutes fromthe airport. There are sevendining and beverage outlets,
including local, Japanese, Chinese,and Mediterranean. Visitors
to Ulu Temburong can stay inthe resort there (uluuluresort.
com) or Sumbiling Eco Village(borneoguide.com).
Contacts
The Empire Brunei, Jerudong
BG3122, Negara Brunei
Darussalam, T: +673 241-8888,
theempirebrunei.com. Hasa
Incentives (borneoguide.com)
can arrange tours along Borneo
River and to Ulu Temburong
with accommodation provided
at Sumbiling Eco Village. For
general tourism information onBrunei, contact Brunei Tourism(bruneitourism.com).

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