There are plenty of nods to golf’s ancestral home in this 27-holer. Burns, revetted bunkers, and even the ‘Elysian Fields’ label, reminiscent of St. Andrews and Prestwick, are found in this corner of East Jakarta.
Designed by Bob Moore, Suvarna Jakarta opened in 2018, replacing a military golf course. Its three nine-hole loops, each par 36, are named Blue, Green, and Red and it’s Blue that offers the most watery danger.
After an approach to a cape green on the par-4 5th, your carry to the 6th – Suvarna’s shortest par-3 at 150 yards – is all water. A lake that flanks most of the dogleg 7th, plus a scattering of six fairway bunkers, make for a taxing tee shot at this 509-yard par 5.
With only the occasional burn to negotiate, you could be forgiven for thinking the Green loop lets you off lightly in comparison, until you stare down its 162-yard final hole to a green surrounded by water…
There’s another island green on the Red loop’s penultimate hole. This par-3 is also well-bunkered, however, and masochists can crank up the suffering by playing it from the so-called ‘devil’s tee’, 242 yards from the green.
The designer’s preference for small pot bunkers over big expanses of sand, and his willingness to place them in the direct line of play, and not just on the margins, is the touch most reminiscent of Scottish golf. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Elysian Fields, a section of the property where three par 5s (the last holes on Red and Blue and the last but one on Green) sit side by side in a delightful array of open terrain, scattered bunkers, meandering burns and numerous lines of approach.
The club has a 43-bay driving range, a pro shop, and a restaurant catering for local and western cuisine.