Know your Royal Ranthambore BT Golf Bangalore venue: Clover Greens GC

A relative light-weight compared to some of the earlier six locales the Royal Ranthambore Business Today Golf 2023-24 season has been played at so far, the Clover Greens Golf Course in Hosur near Bangalore is best classified as a track to have some fun in the sun.

Venue of the seventh and final leg of the 2023-24 season of BT Golf, Clover Greens is an 18-hole par-70, 5,713-yard layout (Blue Tees), 5,139 yards (White Tees) and 4,809 yards (Red/Ladies Tees). One mantra works well at this venue – stay out of the trees and stay out of trouble.

Designed by Phil Ryan of Victoria-based Pacific Coast Design who have extensive experience in the Asia-Pacific area including Australia, India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Iran and Pakistan, Clover Greens has been created keeping the naturally hilly contours of its location to best effect.

As the venue’s website says, “Clover Greens Golfscapes is designed to provide an elevated golfing experience for seasoned professionals as well as young golfers. With its stunning natural environs, half the course navigates a massive rock outcrop, astutely offering up obstacles, opportunities and visual treats in plenty. The panoramic landscape lined with Casuarina trees evokes a sense of an enchanting European countryside. “The result is a course that is challenging yet rewarding for beginners and old-timers alike. We cannot guarantee a great score - that is up to you - but we can guarantee a great experience of golf and a whole lot more!”

Since it opened, Clover Greens has been used as a championship course particularly by the domestic Women’s Professional Golf Tour and has been designed to maximise both the lay of the land as well as the local ecosystem. It is fed by harvested rainwater stored at a central lake around which a few of the holes are laid out and provide the most challenging bits.

Located within easy (vehicle) driving distance from the Sarjapur locality of Bangalore, Clover Greens also offers some pretty views and has one peculiarity enforced by its 160-acre layout. The front nine is a par-37 and is substantially longer including an extended 590-yard par-5 (hole 7), while the par-33 back nine is much shorter and dotted with four par-3s, the longest of which is the 173-yard hole 11 and the shortest measuring 130 yards (hole 17).

The venue also includes a driving range and a residential golf academy, and the clubhouse kitchen produces some truly flavourful food.

The first hole is an easy introduction to the course and while it gets harder the deeper you venture into it, there are few really testing stretches. Plan your shots,, hut straight and you will be guaranteed a satisfying score.

Course snapshot: Par 70, 6,362 yards from Black tees, Blue tees 5,713 yards; Red tees 4,809 yards.

Front 9, Blue tees: Hole 1 375 yards par-4; hole 2 430 yards par-5; hole 3 53- yards par-5; hole 4 169 yards par-3; hole 5 345 yards par-4; hole 6 366 yards par-4; hole 7 590 yards par-5; hole 8 310 yards par-4; hole 9 150 yards par-3. Par 37, 3265 yards.

Back 9: Hole 10 315 yards par-4; hole 11 173 yards par-3; hole 12 545 yards par-5; hole 13 350 yards par-4; hole 14 145 yards par-3; hole 15 285 yards par-4; hole 16 345 yards par-4; hole 17 130 yards par-3; hole 18 160 yards, par-3. Par 33, 2448 yards.