Pulai Springs Resort (Melana course)

Pulai Springs Resort (Melana course): GOLF COURSES WERE CLOSED IN 2019 ... probably on a permanent basis. Formerly home to two championship layouts, the higher-rated Pulai course now appears to host foot-golf and disc-golf. The shorter Melena layout seems to have been largely ploughed over. Check with resort (which remains open) for current status before planning a golf visit.

[Original Where2Golf description]: Located not far from Johor's capital city of Johor Bahru, Pulai Springs is home to two championship golf courses. If you think that Pulai Spring's No.2 course will give you an easy-going, resort-style ride, then think again. Although shorter than its more renowned companion (the Pulai course), the quite compact Melana layout is considerably tighter and at times more undulating.

On the front-nine and closing section of the back-nine, you'll find the greatest elevation changes, and throughout the round things are going to feel uniformly tight and testing. The greens are often small, fast and full of challenging slopes and borrows - getting down in two is never guaranteed.

After the relatively water-free but always tight front-nine, it is the closing stretch of four holes on the back-nine where your score might seriously escalate, especially if good course management and accurate shot-making are not diligently applied. The second shot at the downhill par-5 15th will need to find a sliver of fairway only 10 yards wide, with water hazards waiting to left and right. The fairways of the downhill par-5 17th and uphill par-4 18th are both dangerously crossed by water and, in keeping with most of the fairways here, are not particularly wide.

Melana's front-nine will reward you with some of Pulai Spring's most natural and attractive jungle and palm oil plantation scenery, while a new housing development rather than natural vistas are more in evidence on the back-nine. (The Melana course is floodlit for night golf).