Golf in Sri Lanka

Golf in Sri Lanka - if anyone would only ask

Very few people - that’s to say, none really - ask us to plan out a golfing holiday in Sri Lanka. This is a great shame because we love planning out trips around SL and we’re equally fond (or Max is) of playing golf. So, unsolicited and in the slim hope that someone might spot this post, be suitably inspired and give us a bell, here’s how we’d plot out a dream golfing journey around Sri Lanka.

Firstly, I should say that picking out the cream of Sri Lanka’s golfing tracks is not a tough task. There are four proper courses here. One is great, one is incredibly rich in history, a third is new and lush but needs to bed in a little, the last is probably skip-able. So, how to do it.

First up to Kandy, Digana in fact, and Victoria Golf & Country Club. VGCC probably offers the most picturesque golfing experience in Sri Lanka. A course carved out of jungle on the shores of the Victoria Lake with views to The Knuckles Mountains. Some holes (the tee of the 6th probably is most iconic) are breathtakingly beautiful - some are just breathtaking. (Pictured above is the 11th - one of those worryingly straight par 5s.)

We’d suggest a comfortable 3-night stay here. The club itself offers modern chalet-style rooms which are fine. For a group of golfers somewhere like Bougainvillea Retreat - walking distance to the clubhouse is a great spot; beautiful pool, jacuzzi, steam room - perfect post-round decompression.

From Digana up higher into Hill Country and to Nuwara Eliya. The club here was founded in 1889 making it one of Asia’s very oldest and its redolent of that old world - corridors lined with black and white photos of long-socked players matched up for annual fixtures. The bar probably hasn’t changed in a hundred years and nor the kitchen menu, though we never complain of the cottage pie.

The golf is tough and varied. Tight, tree-lined fairways in the lower sections give way to wilder approaches on the second nine as you climb up and out of the town. The highlight is a set of three holes from (I think) the 12th. Known as ‘Little Switzerland’ you could indeed almost be at Crans-sure-Sierre (with a few monkeys) and any escape from the very tough par 4-3-4 combo at level is a significant win.

The course is not in as immaculate nick as Victoria but has added charm for its foibles - this is atmospheric and nostalgic golfing and certainly great fun.

The club has a number of bedrooms which we rather like - luxurious by no means but cosy and convenient. Alternatively make a base at one of the nearby tea planter bungalows. Goatfell (by Teardrop) is about a half hour’s drive from the club.

From Nuwara Eliya the options open up a little. You could put the clubs away for a while and head to one of the National Parks for game drives or make a slightly longer journey to the South Coast and relax fully at the beach.

The last of Sri Lanka’s courses outside Colombo is the relatively new links on the coast at Hambantota’s Shangri-La. The course sits between ocean and lagoon and rolls between coconut plantation and sandy dunes. It’s altogether more groomed than Victoria and Nuwara Eliya and has that modern resort-golf feel. It’s beautiful nonetheless and with drinks on one of the terraces overlooking the ocean provides a fitting finale to the golfing tour.

Our personal preference would be to stay at little down the coast nearer Tangalle and make a day-trip up to Hambantota for a day’s golf. For a small group somewhere like The Last House on Mawella Beach would be an ideal spot.