HISTORY

Glenmarie Golf &Country Club has undergone several major upgrades in recent years to take its place among the premier clubs in the country. In the 70s and 80s, Malaysians veering off the main road when heading towards the then busy Subang Airport would have come across Glenmarie Estate – where neat rows of oil palm trees dominated the area. Prior to oil palm, it was a rubber estate, producing latex which helped Malaysia rule as the leading producer of the commodity in the world for decades. It is refreshing to note that the area continues to be a green lung with the 36-hole Glenmarie Golf & Country Club taking centre stage, surrounded by up- market houses, an industrial estate and a hotel. Scouring through online dictionaries and flipping through thick printed ones did not produce any result to the meaning nor origin of the word Glenmarie. 'Glen', however, has a Scottish origin and means a small, narrow and secluded valley that aptly describes this area in Shah Alam although it is no longer secluded as the nation’s long arm of development spreads through the Klang Valley. 'Marie', the French form for Mary, means beauty and grace that is how some golfers sitting in Glenmarie’s blue-roofed Clubhouse may describe the meandering fairways and contours that shape the golf course.

A PREMIER GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB

Being one of the premier courses in the country, it continues to attract golfers from all over the country and to ensure that players continue to enjoy challenges, the management has continued to improve the Garden and Valley courses since they were first carved out in 1993 under the guidance of the original designer Max Wexler. Offering day and night golfing, the 36-hole championship course saw the Garden course undergo extensive changes in 2004 and recently the Valley course has been upgraded with major changes to holes 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14 and 16 with minor renovations to holes 1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15 and 18. The changes to the course, inspired by Ted Parslow, has made the Valley more competitive and exciting, making it a favourite not only among members but also visitors who have no qualms insisting, when they register, that they want to play on the newly renovated 18 holes. Apart from being challenging, the Valley is also pleasing to the eye with every tee-box redone and every bunker redesigned and water hazards coming more into play in some of the holes. While the Garden with its wider fairways allows players to blast the ball from the tee-box and go for the brave shots from the fairways, the Valley with its narrow fairways and strategically placed hazards calls for careful course management to ensure low scores. While buggies are allowed on the fairways of the Garden, for the time being motorised vehicles are restricted to the buggy paths on the Valley.

The Garden being regarded as the resort course and the Valley as the championship course, Glenmarie provides a right mixture for golfers to choose one or the other depending on who they are swinging with on any particular day. Changes to the course will be a continuous affair and once the young trees mature, the challenges that golfers would face will move up several notches. Golfers who have played on both the courses insist that while the Garden with its concept of flowers and colours brings about the feeling of an extended nursery, the Valley has a temperate feel with a European environment, thanks to the many pine trees that dot the course. Hole 6 on the Valley, which used to be a par 4 that has been converted into an exciting par 3 with a 150-metre water carry, continues to dominate conversations in the Clubhouse. The subject of discussion could range from a fabulous tee-shot that resulted in a ‘birdie’ to losing half a dozen balls in the lake.

A COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF FACILITIES

Aside from golf, Glenmarie offers a range of sports and recreational pursuits including an Olympic size swimming pool, a children's wading pool, tennis, squash, snooker, children's playground and a gymnasium. And for those from out of town or overseas, the Holiday Inn Glenmarie with 250 rooms