NSRCC Greens Committee member, Dr Ja Intarasoot, shares her thoughts and perspectives of playing at the Kranji golf course, where all 18-holes were recently reopened for play in September after a year-long rejuvenation project.

Read on to journey through the experience.

Getting acquainted with the course

The full 18-holes of the NSRCC Kranji Sancturary Golf Course has finally re-opened after a year-long refurbishment project. This upgrading was carried out in two stages – the front 9-holes from October 2022 to February 2023 and the back 9 from March – August 2023. Understandably the closure of half the Course during each of the 6 months had resulted in some levels of inconvenience to our members as each 18-hole game played had to be the same 9-hole twice. We thank our members for their patience.

I was given a short brief on the “new Course” by Mr Lee Kok Keong, the Assistant Manager of NSRCC Course Maintenance. The surface grass layer for the tee areas, fairways and rough is Zoysia Matrella (commonly known as Manila Grass). There are over five types of surface layer grass that are commonly employed for Golf Courses worldwide. Zoysia is chosen for our Course as it is a warm-season grass suited for tropical regions. It is resilient and less reliant on water and these qualities allow it to be firm and can “hold” the ball well. It is also tough enough to withstand heavy traffic (from buggies and feet).

The putting Greens on the other hand are TifEagle Bermuda Grass which has been specially developed for golf greens and are used in many PGA Course Greens worldwide. This type of grass is also very resilient and recovers quickly from injury. It has good colour retention and is fairly disease resistant. The bunker sand has dimensions from 0.1-1mm in diameter and is white. There are many other complexities involved in doing (or in our case re-doing) a golf course as the layers of the Course have to be defined to allow for proper drainage, undulations, weather fluctuations and many other factors. It is a very interesting science but that’s for another day.
So, it was with eager anticipation that I played the full 18-holes for the first time in early September after the long hiatus. Several of my fellow Committee members and I noted the following:

General Course Condition

The Fairways are in immaculate condition! It was certainly a pleasure to play in and they are a distinct improvement from the pre-refurbishment period. The course looks beautifully pristine under the morning sunlight. The feel of the Zoysia grass layer mentioned above is soft and thick and the ball rests nicely, in most cases “sitting up” on the firm grass. The refurbished Holes 1-9 were already opened from March 2023 (when Holes 10-18 were undergoing the facelift) but the condition of these front 9 holes were no less impressive when compared with the condition of the back 9.

Course Layout

The Course Layout is largely similar to what it was before, save for a few changes:

Hole 3 and Hole 4 – a non-golf related observation: Unless I am mistaken, the view of Johor Bahru from these holes seems more clear.
	Hole 5 – There are now tee boxes on both sides of the buggy track and the tee box placement on any day can add another dimension to this short and challenging island Par-3 as the golfer will have to approach the hole very differently in each case. The putting green is also less undulating than before as the centre has been raised. Hence, it is less deep and this improves the playability of the hole, especially for front and back pin positions.
Bunkers – They appear to have more sand and are therefore shallower and less punishing. Playability is increased. Overall, there is a distinct improvement in the bunker conditions.
	Putting Greens – Smooth. Challenging and fairly undulating. The golfer will need to read the line carefully. That being said, the greens will require some time to fully mature. Some players I chatted with commented that the greens are slow. But I understand that the plan is to increase the speed to a uniform 9 or above for all the 18 holes.

Final thoughts

Kranji continues to be a “thinking course” as the wind direction at every hole will affect the player’s decision on the club used, and unless the player is mindful and vigilant, his shots can as easily end up on the putting green or in the bunker.

The halfway snack and rest houses have been refurbished to give them a more cheery appearance. The lavatories have also been renovated and the lavatory doors changed. Very resort-feel indeed!

It is also noted that previous issues raised which contributed to a less than ideal experience have since been rectified. For instance, the feedback with the water features have been addressed after the team removed the filth and algae and improved on the water condition.

We would strongly encourage members to continue to help maintain this course in its pristine condition by helping to repair divots and pitch marks when playing. Marshals will always be at hand to try to encourage members to do so. We can work together with the Marshals and management to realise the full potential of our new Course
Kranji Sanctuary is never short of the sweet sounds of chirping birds and the “Sanctuary” name is well deserved. We warmly welcome you back to the “fully functional” Golf Course once again. We are all very proud of it.

Dr Ja Intarasoot
Member, Greens Committee

Experiencing the Full 18-Holes at Newly Refurbished Kranji Sanctuary Golf Course