Palm Springs Golf & Beach Resort

Palm Springs Golf & Beach Resort: Although golf on the island of Batam doesn't always bask in the popularity of neighbouring Bintan, the 27-hole layout at Palm Springs enjoys a good reputation and a wonderful ocean-side location. Originally carved out of a mangrove swamp, it is often regarded as the best course on Batam.

The three nine-hole loops include the Island-nine, which heads inland, and is bordered by dense tropical vegetation. At the short par-4 3rd the layout's largest bunker awaits. The Resort-nine also takes you away from the sea. Here you play a pleasant anti-clockwise loop of holes in a verdant woodland environment. Like the Island-nine, water is in play on less than half the holes.

The toughest and oldest nine is the Palm. As you'll discover at the double-doglegging par-5 opening hole, water is very much in play through most of this loop. Your reward for navigating all that water is to look out onto a large expanse of it (the Singapore Strait) when you play the beachside and severely dog-legging par-4 6th, and short par-3 7th. The Palm is more compact than its sibling nines, while providing a more scenic and challenging test.