Trump International Golf Club Lido in Indonesia has opened its new Ernie Els Design course.
The club, owned by resort developer MNC Land, is located at MNC Lido City, a new destination two hours south of Jakarta that has been approved by the government as a tourism special economic zone.
“It’s such a beautiful piece of land with incredible views, so naturally we wanted to work with that and create a golf course that goes with the flow,” said Greg Letsche, design associate at Ernie Els Design. “For bunkers, sometimes the topography whispers gently to you and, as a designer, you listen. The greens are interesting because the elevation changes and the wider landscape creates something of an optical illusion. Some of the greens look like they go one way, or may appear relatively flat, but they play very differently, so they’re deceptive.”
Els and Letsche have worked on the project with superintendent Mick Pascoe, general manager Steven Thielke and MNC’s head manager Dustin Jennings. Construction was led by Jennings, with shaping and finishing by Peter Waddell and assistance given from Ariana Pandit and the local community.
Atlas Turf International has provided Zorro Zoysia turfgrass for the tees, fairways and rough. TifEagle bermuda was chosen for greens, while broadleaf carpet grass was chosen as the external rough to boundary perimeters.
“Being located 65 kilometres south of Jakarta, close to the city of Bogor, and at six degrees below the equator, there are only two seasons here, dry and very wet with an average of almost four meters of rainfall per year,” said Pascoe. “The course has been built to USGA specifications on all tees and greens. The rest of the course is constructed with local soil that is quite rich in nutrients and is surprisingly free draining.
“Drainage, as you can imagine, would be vital in such areas with extreme rainfall, which at times can dump at least 120 millimetres in as little as 45 minutes. Six of the front nine holes have been designed and shaped to carry drainage water back to the irrigation holding pond, which holds around 28,000 cubic metres.”
“This place is spectacular,” said Els. “This is going to be a ‘go-to destination’ for golfers in this part of the world.”