Pokhara may be well known for it's awe-inspiring mountain scenery but a great many golfers are now discovering that if you want a real golfing high , The Himalayan Golf Course, Pokhara is the place to head for in Nepal. It뭩 a must for the golfing connoisseur. Considered by many to be one of the 10 most unique golf courses in the world. In the Googles search for - "The most unique golf courses in the world", The Himalayan Golf Course gets 3 hits on the first page.
Adventure golf at its truest, the course뭩 includes some of the most visually dynamic holes known to golf.
Himalayan Golf Course has certainly been very successful in putting Pokhara in the golfer's map. The course was designed and constructed by an Ex British Army Sandhurst commissioned officer Major Ram Gurung MBE , and opened for play in January 1998. The course has been the venue for the Nepal Surya Western (professional) Open for the past twelve years.
Located just seven kms. away from downtown Pokhara, Himalayan Golf Course is one of only two 18 holes courses in Nepal. The course is well laid out championship course at 6,100 yards yardage with a par of 70. The Himalayan Golf Course which is considered to be one of the ten most unique golf courses in the world, lies for the most part inside a sweeping canyon created by the Himalayan snowed waters of the Bijayapur river.
Framed by the towering the Annapurna range, cattle and buffalo roam freely providing most of the grass mowing.
The course wanders through aerial cliff drops of hundreds of feet down to the signature island hole within the either tranquil or raging Bijayapur river, full of exposed boulders washed down over centuries from the towering mountains above.
Play on the 1st and 2nd holes at the HGC Pokhara's inaugural course is fairly straightforward as these par 4's are laid out on relatively level ground on each side of the clubhouse.
Your baptism to the truly unique character of this course comes when you step up to the 3rd tee to be confronted with a flawless panorama which encompasses the magnificent Fishtail and Annapurna mountain range. Below your elevated tee you see and hear the meandering Bijayapur Himalayan river some 300 feet below, sheer canyon walls dotted with eagle's nests, waterfalls which burst into life during the monsoon and a barely perceptible flag. Some 300 yards distant and 90 feet below, this small triangular piece of fabric marks the place where your ball should end up after only four strokes.
There is no other experience that duplicates or even comes close to the thrill of teeing off on the 3rd. However this takes nothing away from the sensation of successfully landing your ball on the 6th green, which is known to be the only natural river island hole in the world and recently nominated by leading golf course architects as one of the most unique hole in the World []. Watching the pros victoriously blasting their second shot to the par five, 6th green in the middle of Bijayapur river, leaves one in fascinated awe.
The course has been featured in many international magazines including the 멒olf World�, movies and travel films. Some of the comments from the club's visitors book are noteworthy:
