The Orchard’s Palmer Course is one of the great golf courses in the country. Opened for play in 1994, it played host to the world’s best golfers when it hosted the Johnny Walker Classic the very next year; a tribute to the quality of the golf course.
My affinity for the Palmer course goes back to when I first picked up the game. A childhood friend, Teddyboy Tagle, used to host me at the Orchard when I first picked up the game about the time that the course opened for play. We also played Sta. Elena and Manila Golf Club and I remember being challenged by the Palmer the most. It was just, as the Brits say, a PROPER golf course.
Today the Palmer has strengthened its position as one of the best tracks in the land. Though not the longest course in the country, it is long enough and its virtues move well beyond length. It is always, always in tremendous condition. The Palmer offers golfers of all abilities tremendous variety. No holes look or even play the same. Careful thought and preparation are a must on every shot.
Palmer was a big hitter and loved his five pars. As such, these holes offer the best chance to score. Bite off more than you can chew and the penalties could be severe. Play them correctly and you’ll have plenty of chances to score. Eighteen is the exception. Long and guarded by a plethora of bunkers, water hazards and out-of-bounds, it’s a great finishing hole that rewards great ball striking.
The tifeagle greens roll as well as any you’d care to name. They are fast and have quite a bit of break in them. To score well here, you have to play position golf and this puts a premium on ball striking. The bunkers have sand with larger grains than most that you’ll encounter. You need to make a committed swing at the ball for any success. It’s not a big deal. Just something of which you need to be aware.
The par fours are a diverse bunch. The Palmer is home to one of my favorite holes in all of Philippine Golf. Number thirteen is a postcard perfect par 4 that meanders around a water feature that runs right up to the greenside bunker. The green is sloped from left to right but doesn’t appear so from the fairway. It’s not long but it is demanding. It is perfection.
If long holes are your thing, then you’ll be most pleased with four, nine and seventeen. Four is just a beast; at 470-yards from the tips, it’s a par 5 for most of the members. The green is large enough to accommodate an approach with a fairway wood but has quite a bit of slope in it which still puts a premium on accuracy.
At 413-yards, nine might not read like a long hole on the card but any doubts will be dispelled by the length of your shot into the green. Nine plays directly into the prevailing wind. It doesn’t look it but the green is slightly elevated so club up for your approach. The green borders on being evil; it’s one of the toughest greens to read on the course. I’ve been playing here almost since it opened and still haven’t figured it out.
Seventeen is even shorter at just 405-yards from the gold tees but it plays every bit as long as its siblings. The drive must be carefully placed as close to the hazard that bisects the fairway as you dare for best effect. The fairway is generous but playing to the safe side lengthens the approach significantly. The green plays uphill and into the wind so bogey is a good score for most golfers.
The best news is that the other golf course at The Orchard, the Player Course is every bit as good and offers a very different challenge to the golfer; a different style of course with different grass on the greens. The variety on offer here sets The Orchard apart from its peers.
Beyond the golf, this is one of the best managed golf courses in the country. The Orchard is run by a professional staff with the full support of the board of directors. The club is in the black and most of the proceeds are retained by the club and used to improve the facilities and services. I am constantly taken aback by the speed and scope of many of the improvements. The condition of both courses is above reproach. Best yet, the club keeps raising the bar; challenging itself and improving at every opportunity.
Although a private club, The Orchard is doing its share to make golf more accessible. The club has ramped up its junior program offering juniors what amounts to associate membership for just a thousand Pesos. This allows them to hone their games without burdening their parents unduly. Knowing that most of the members are between 40-60 years old, The Orchard’s board drafted a new resolution allowing grandfathers to designate their grandchildren as dependents.
The club has long made the environment its mission. Their efforts have been recognized first in 2014 by the Zero Carbon Resorts Project, a European NGO, for their work towards reducing the carbon footprint of the Philippines’ tourism sector then by the Asia Pacific Golf Group which selected The Orchard as the recipient of the 2015 Asia Pacific Custodian of the Environment Award. This award is presented annually to a deserving club in recognition of their effort to maintain a balanced and sustainable environment on a golf course.
I admire The Orchard so much that I recently acquired membership at the club. It was an incredible value. It boggles the mind that the value of membership in a golf club such as this could go for as little as it did but I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. The market seems to have caught on though. The last I checked, the price of the share has appreciated significantly. This should be a portent of things to come. I’m betting that as the massive development at Vermosa just next door by Ayala Land Inc. gathers steam, the price of both land and membership at The Orchard should appreciate to more appropriate levels.
But I didn’t join the club to make money; I did to play golf. Whatever the price was is irrelevant. The fact that it was such a bargain was a bonus. I can’t describe the feeling of walking into the club I’ve admired for so long as a member. I almost had to pinch myself. It’s something that I’ll cherish for a very long time.
Image credits: Mike Besa