New Kuta Golf

The verdict

Bali golf had always been lush, mountain or garden golf until New Kuta opened in 2007 on the dry southern peninsula. Fream's site was a slab of limestone above the Indian Ocean with thin soil, salt wind and no water to waste, and rather than fight it he produced something closer to Melbourne sandbelt austerity than tropical resort softness: wide fairways framed by sandy waste and native scrub, big rolling greens, deep carved bunkers, and the kind of running, wind cheating golf the rest of the island simply cannot offer.

The clifftop holes are why visitors book, and they deliver: tees and greens set on the lip of the rock with Dreamland and Balangan beaches below, one of the most spectacular settings in Southeast Asian golf. But the quiet achievement is the inland golf, which keeps its interest through angles and ground movement instead of forced carries. For traveling golfers weighing the region's islands, our Bali vs Phuket comparison puts New Kuta head to head with Red Mountain; the short version is that Phuket wins on depth, while nothing in Phuket stands on a cliff like this.

The holes worth the trip

The course builds toward the ocean rather than opening on it. The early holes work through limestone scrub and waste areas where the fairways are wider than they look and the greens, large and boldly contoured, do the defending. The wind is a constant editor here: the dry season trades blow hard across the peninsula most afternoons, and shots flighted under them run forever on the firm turf, which is exactly the game Fream designed for.

Then the routing reaches the cliff. The stretch above Dreamland Beach is the postcard, a green perched on the very edge of the rock with the Indian Ocean filling the view and surfers stacked on the break below. Distance control into these exposed greens is the examination of the day; long is gone in the truest sense, and the smart play is almost always the front edge. Walk to the back of the green afterward; the look straight down to the surf is worth the green fee on its own.

It is not a long course by modern numbers, and in still morning air a good player will attack it. Book the earliest time you can for exactly that reason, then let the wind and the views complicate everyone else's afternoon.

Where to stay nearby

The Bukit Peninsula has become Bali's luxury quarter, and the golf sits in the middle of it. Uluwatu's clifftop resorts and villas are 20 to 30 minutes from the first tee, Jimbaran's beachfront hotels are similar, and both put world class beach clubs, surf and seafood barbecues between rounds. Staying south also avoids the worst of the island's traffic, which can turn a Seminyak or Ubud base into an hour each way.

Golf is rarely the whole reason anyone flies to Bali, and the island's courses make a fine supporting act: New Kuta as the centerpiece round, with the island's mountain and beachfront layouts filling a second and third morning. Our guide to Bali's golf courses ranks them all, our Bali golf holidays page builds the week, and our best courses in Indonesia list sets the national context.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts on the Bukit Peninsula.