Although within only 10 minutes drive of downtown Johor Bahru, Royal Johor Country Club is the epitome of a well presented, undulating, parkland golf course. The club is fortunate to be located next door to the Sultan of Johor's palace; both are abundantly endowed with lush, tropical vegetation and a fabulous array of trees. Over 500 varieties line the golf club's fairways, perhaps a few hundred more can be found in the Sultan's garden. The course is marvellously screened from the outside world by all this foliage, allowing you to concentrate on the golfing job at hand, namely negotiating a challenging and constantly undulating layout, with many significant elevation changes. Whether playing up or downhill, the generally good-width fairways are bordered by a modest first-cut of semi-rough, then somewhat longer and more penal grassy rough takes over, up to and along the tree-line. Although the fairway bunkering is generally not too threatening, it is a different story around the greens. Among many outstanding and challenging holes, the back-nine par-3's are real gems. Both are played downhill; the 13th requires a longish carry over water, the 16th a carry across a jungle-filled ravine to a heavily bunkered, diminutive green. The front-nine also abounds with excellent holes, mostly tree-lined and undulating, with several elevated tees and greens. Water threatens on only a few occasions at Royal Johor, more so on the back-nine. Although the fairways use the indigenous and hardy cowgrass, everything about Royal Johor exudes quality and the opportunity for a great golf outing - certainly a golfing environment fit for a Sultan.