Keppel Club

239 Sime Road,

Singapore 289685

  • Office

    +65 6375 5567/8
  • Pro shop

    +65 6375 5569

About the course

  • The Course:

    18 holes. Tree-lined & open parkland. Undulating terrain - several slopes to climb.

  • Surroundings:

    Jungle and lakeside (MacRitchie Reservoir).

  • Designer:

    18-hole course (now closed) at original Bukit Chermin location designed by Chris Pitman (1977), later reworked by Ronald Fream. Course at "new" Sime Rd location: original designer unknown; revamped by South African course designer Phil Jacobs (2022).

Back
tees
Club
tees
Front
tees
Metres
5941
5584
4749
Par
72
72
72
SSS or slope
71.3
69.5
70.5

Location

Latitude:

1.340941

Longitude:

103.812316

How to get there:

10 km NW of Singapore centre (Raffles Hotel area).

Keppel Club

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.

Est. 1904

Keppel Club: coincident with the expiry of its lease in 2022, the golf course at Keppel Club's original Bukit Chermin Road location was shut down for housing development. The club moved to its new home, the Sime course at the Singapore Island Country Club. Although SICC is a private club, and its other three courses (Bukit, Island and New) are not accessible to the public, Keppel Club's new "Sime" course is available for outside visitor play.

Here at the SICC's Bukit location alongside the MacRitchie Reservoir, Keppel Club's "new" Sime layout strikes out to the southeast for the front-nine loop. The holes on the back-nine loop weave their way in and out of those on SICC's "tournament" Bukit course.

Keppel's former location: our write-up for Keppel Club's original course (now closed) included the following: "Located on the doorstep of downtown Singapore, Keppel does a marvellous job of fusing the external city environment with a wonderfully natural, challenging and well-designed golf course. City and jungle sounds are heard in equal measure. The golfing challenge at Keppel comes from the course's tightness and its often pronounced elevation changes.

The opening hole at Keppel Club beautifully encapsulates the test ahead. Played from an elevated tee, this shortish par-4 is characterised by the quality of its design and appearance: the fairway is tight, the bunkering top-class, and a large, stylish apartment block provides the backdrop to the green.

The most natural stretch of the course features the tight par-5 9th, with the Berlayer creek skirting the entire right side of the hole. This tidal creek and natural mango swamp, flows out into Keppel Harbour, just a few metres beyond the clubhouse.

With a few blind drives and approach shots to make, occasionally a traffic light system is employed to ensure you are not hitting into the group in front."

List of courses: Singapore

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance. Handicap required.

Green fees

International visitor fee, 18-holes: weekdays S$155; weekends S$270. Golf cart included. Singaporean player: S$98/S$160.

Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2024].

Other information

Walking permitted at certain times.

Practice facilities

Excellent

Did you know?

Keppel Club is one of Singapore's oldest golf and country clubs, previously located at Bukit Chermin Road (1.267584, 103.807727). Following the closure of the original course for housing development, the club moved to take up residence on Singapore Island Country Club's Sime course. This course is now open to outside visitor play.

It is likely that Keppel Club's original golf course started as a 3-hole layout in a nutmeg plantation, probably created around 1900 (before its official founding in 1904). It became a nine-hole course around 1908, extended to 18 in 1977.

The club takes its name from Sir Henry Keppel, a British naval officer, who made a name for himself in the suppression of piracy in the Straights of Singapore while commander of HMS Dido. He later became an Admiral of the Fleet.

One of the Club's many claims to fame, at its original location, was the existence of a unique golf-bag mono-rail system. Before the days of buggies, when caddies were also scarce, Keppel introduced the mono-cart system to transport your clubs alongside each hole from "station-to-station". It was considered an effective way to lighten the burden of carrying one's own clubs around the quite hilly layout. The system was in operation from 1996 until 2004.

Where2Stay

  • Furama Riverfront Hotel4-star

    405 Havelock Road, Singapore 169633

    +65 6333 8898

    Visit website

    Located within walking distance to entertainment centres like Clarke Quay and vibrant Chinatown and minutes away from business districts, Furama RiverFront is an elegant 4-star hotel offering over 500 modern rooms and suites with kitchenettes.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      No

    • Golf within 10 km:

      Marina Bay; Sentosa; Singapore Island CC; Keppel Club.

    • Golf within 30 km:

      All other golf clubs in Singapore.

  • The Sentosa Resort (a Beaufort Hotel)5-star

    2 Bukit Manis Road, Sentosa, Singapore 099891

    +65 6275 0331

    Visit website

    This wonderful 5-star luxury hotel is located next door to Sentosa Golf Club, although the two entities are not under common ownership. Sentosa Resort is a member of Beaufort Hotels and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      Sentosa GC (Serapong and Tanjong courses)

    • Golf within 10 km:

      Keppel; Marina Bay.

    • Golf within 30 km:

      All other golf clubs in Singapore.

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