After looking far and wide, I was forced to come up with the conclusion that reviews on Indian golf courses are rare except on featured golf sites, by low handicappers. That just does not make sense when you consider that a majority of the golfers are 25+ handicappers(and the operative word is the+). [Funny, how with invalidated handicaps, we tend to take our best score and add a+ to it.]
But hey, returning to the point, I thought I would do up a review of my home course, the NOIDA Golf Course. So this a standard par 72 18 ho-le course and is maintained by the NOIDA authority. I have tried to give as many details as possible. If you need more, let me know.
Fees and Entry The entry fees as of June 2010 is Rs. 560 for weekends, and Rs.340 for weekdays. Student memberships are available for students, not too sure about rates or contacts. I heard the going rate for a regular membership in the secondary market was 8L+.
The course is closed on Monday.
On weekends, the best time to reach would be very early, before 6, and your best chance would be at the 10th .(You need to be a three ball to start). On weekdays, the course is usually vacant post 10 AM(summer) Note: Are you brave enough?.Mad dogs and Englishmen by Noel Coward comes to mind.
Attire Collared T-Shirts are a must.
Caddies Caddies are dime a dozen and they will flock to your cards. Some of the better ones are Shyamol, Gaurav, Munna, and Rakesh Sharma. They expect 150 bucks for a 18, if your in a bigger car, 175 and if you look happy with the way the round has got 200. So stiff upper lip, old man!
Parking Parking is free but suggest that you find out a parking spot on the side of the NGC wall rather than opposite it.i have had the misfortune of a cracked windscreen. Boy there are some serious slicers out there.
Bars and Refreshment They have torn down the old bar, which despite being dingy was cool and had a lot of nice memories(got married here, i.e. NOIDA golf course and not the bar.but remember coming over there for a couple of quick ones before the ceremony started.oh c’mon it was November and cold). The new one is nice and airy and the only problem here is that they keep running out of Kingfisher and try to serve Tuborg, and Carlsberg. VM, for your attention!
They have refreshements at the starters’ hut on the 1st, then again at the 5th. On the back 9, they have one hut which can be accessed from 4-5 different ho-les, so you should be OK.
Course (Did not have a scorecard while writing this review, so the yardage may be off by 15-20 yards for the ho-les marked with . The recommendations are all for high handicappers, ye low handicappers, figure it out yourself!)
First[Par 5 - 505yrds]A straight par 5 .Stick to the right side to avoid the dulations, and you will be able to use a fairway wood on your second. You should be OK on this, so long as you don’t slice or hook drastically.Big green with bunkers on both sides.
Second[Par 4- 340yrds] Don’t be fooled by appearances. This one could be tricky if you get your T-shot wrong, it’s a narrow fairway with a high tree right in the middle. Recommend use of rescue for high handicappers and aim for the tree, you will miss the tree:p.and have a good approach shot available. The green is up and down, so might not be a bad idea to forget about the regulation and use a 9 instead of a 7, and then work the magic with pitching. O c’mon, a bogey is a good score.
Third[Par 3 - 180 yards] Depending on the pin position, this could be anything between a 3 to 5 iron shot. If the pin is right back, and your not comfortable with a 3iron, use a rescue or layup with the 5 iron. There are some tall trees and you do not want a 20-yard flop shot awating you. Only Leftie loves doing that.
Fourth[Par4 - 385yards] Straight par 4, beware of the OB. A little bit of slice and that is 2 shots and 50 bucks [who plays with new balls anyway]. In fact keep one of those horrible dunlop or top flite balls for teeing off. Note that it is best to aim to the right of the bunker(left of the fairway) as the right side has dulations and could give you an awkward lie. If you have a good first shot, be aggressive and go for the pin, the bunkers are not that deep.