Shanqin Bay

The verdict

Shanqin Bay is the course that proved minimalist design could work in China. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the architects behind Sand Hills and Bandon Trails, were handed a savage stretch of the Hainan coast near Wanning, a site of rock, dune and dense vegetation that many thought could never hold a golf course, and they routed eighteen holes through it with the lightest of touches. The land was once home to a former military site, and the firm left as much of its raw character intact as the game would allow.

What sets it apart from almost everything else in the country is restraint. Where most Chinese resorts are manicured to a shine, Shanqin Bay is firm, sandy and natural, the fairways flowing into native scrub and the greens sitting low to the ground in the Coore and Crenshaw manner. A par 71 of about 6,894 yards with the sea on three sides, it has earned a place inside Golf Magazine's top 100 courses in the world and a reputation as one of the finest courses in Asia. The catch is access, this is among the most exclusive clubs anywhere, and a round is a privilege rather than a purchase.

The holes worth the trip

The drama at Shanqin Bay comes from the terrain. Coore and Crenshaw threaded the routing along clifftops and down through sheltered valleys, so the round swings between exposed holes that play hard against the sea breeze and quieter inland stretches framed by rock and native bush. The fairways are wide in the strategic tradition, but the angles and the firm, sandy turf demand that you choose a side and commit, because the wrong line leaves a brutal approach.

The green complexes are the signature, low profile and full of subtle movement, designed to be run onto in the ground game these architects love. There is little water and almost no artifice; the hazards are the natural fall of the land, the wind off the South China Sea and the scrub that swallows a loose shot. It is a course that rewards imagination and punishes the player who only knows one shot.

The coastal holes are the ones that live in the memory, fairways perched above the surf with the horizon as a backdrop, but the genius of the design is how the inland holes hold their own. For the travelling golfer fortunate enough to gain access, Shanqin Bay is a bucket list round and the clearest evidence that China can build world class golf when the land and the architect are right.

Where to stay nearby

Shanqin Bay sits on the quieter southeast coast of Hainan near Wanning, between the resort city of Sanya to the south and the conference town of Boao to the north. Most visiting golfers base themselves in Sanya, where the island's best international resorts, beaches and dining are concentrated, and make the drive up the coast for a round.

For a fuller Hainan golf trip, Sanya works as a comfortable base from which to combine a once in a lifetime round at Shanqin Bay with the wider resort golf of the island. Given how rarely access opens up, most travellers build the rest of the itinerary first and treat a Shanqin Bay tee time as the rare prize at its centre.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Shanqin Bay.