The pool at The Pearl Golf Course
Musket Cove's Plantation Island Course- Links Style Golf Amongst Coconut Palms During my visit, I had the opportunity to play three of Fiji's 14 golf courses, five of which are 18-hole championship length and nine which are shorter 9-hole courses. The first course I played was the 9hole Plantation Island Course on 600-acre Malolo Lailia Island, 45 minutes by catamaran or 10 minutes by air from Port Denarau on Viti Levu, Fiji's main and largest island. It is a short 9-hole 2800-yard par 32 course with seven Par 4's ranging from 238 yards to 329 yards. Its two Par 3's are 180 yards and 196 yards. Designed and built by Ananda Madhwan, winner of the 1996 Nadi Fiji Open, it is a "Fiji Style" golf course, meaning it is very natural with fairways that are more like light rough, greens that are small and slow, and bunkers that are left unraked. I played with Joe Mar, General Manager of the Musket Cove Resort on the island. He explained that when a cyclone toppled hundreds of coconut palms on the island, rather than replant the trees, the golf course was designed and built. Although the course was dry because the only irrigation comes from the heavens above, and I was there in the dry season, I loved playing it. www.golfvacationsmag.com
Playing on the non-manicured conditions of the course which I have described to friends as "a links course amongst coconut palms", I got an insight into what golf must have been like for Scottish golfers when the game golf was in its infancy in and around St. Andrews. Despite the fact that the Plantation Course didn't have manicured fairways or large smooth undulating greens, it was an extremely fun course to play and challenging to say the least. One of the highlights while playing was watching three course employees play as if they were vying for a US Open title. They bombed their balls long and straight from the tees and chipped and putted with tremendous accuracy. I was told they played every day of the year and all shot in the low 30's for nine holes. Their excitement for the game, played on a "Fiji Style" course with used clubs and balls, was wonderful to see. We should all have the love for the game of golf as displayed by these three friends and golfing competitors. The course is located only minutes from the Musket Cove Resort on the island. Guests at the resort are "chauffeured" via golf cart to and from the resort when they wish to play. Before or after golf there are numerous other things to do at Musket Cove. Azure clear waters and seven miles of white untouched sandy beaches offer opportunities G O L F V A C A T I O N S • J A N U A R Y 2011
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