Awana Genting Highlands Golf

The verdict

Awana Genting Highlands is the cool weather course Malaysia did not otherwise have. Designed by Ronald Fream and opened in 1986, it climbs the mountain on the way to Resorts World Genting, and the elevation, about 3,100 feet, does the work no lowland course can: it strips out the heat. Where most rounds in the country are played in sticky tropical air, here the temperature usually holds between 16 and 24 degrees, the mist drifts through the pines, and a full eighteen never becomes an endurance test.

The golf earns the trip on its own terms. Fream draped the holes over steep, folded terrain, so the round is all elevation change, blind crests and shots played from tee boxes that hang over the valley. It is not long by modern numbers, but the slopes, the mountain wind and the occasional cloud rolling across the fairway make it a thinking player's course. As the golf wing of a vast hotel and theme park complex, it is also one of the easiest premium rounds in the region to fold into a family or buddies trip.

The holes worth the trip

This is mountain golf, so the routing rises and falls with the ridge rather than fighting it. Stand on the early holes and the towers of Resorts World Genting come into view across the valley, a reminder of how high you are and how far below the lowland heat sits. The third is the postcard, a hole that frames the resort on the skyline and sets the tone for a round played among the clouds.

The course bares its teeth in the middle. The twelfth is the talking point, a double dogleg with a pinched landing area that punishes the greedy line off the tee and asks for two committed, well placed shots to find the green in regulation. The thirteenth then turns sharply uphill, climbing from tee to green so that every club feels a touch longer than the yardage on the card, the kind of hole where local knowledge and a caddie's read are worth real strokes.

Throughout, the cool air and the slopes change the math. Downhill shots carry and run on the firm mountain turf, uphill ones come up short, and the breeze funneling through the valleys is rarely the same twice. Score well at Awana and you have read the mountain, not just hit the ball, which is exactly why it stays in the memory long after the warmer rounds blur together.

Where to stay nearby

The obvious base is the mountain itself. Resorts World Genting stacks several hotels around the theme parks, casino and dining at the summit, so you can stay, play and ride the cable car without leaving the cool air. A night or two on top turns Awana from a day trip into the centerpiece of a highland break.

Many golfers instead keep their base in Kuala Lumpur, an hour down the road, and drive up for the round before the afternoon mist sets in. A city base lets you pair Awana with the great Klang Valley courses for a varied Malaysia golf trip that mixes mountain cool with lowland championship layouts.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Awana Genting Highlands.