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Siem Reap Booyoung Country Club is Japanese-designed and Korean-owned, which is usually a recipe for a 'no expense spared' affair. However, after a long closure due to Covid, the course has reopened in a less-than-ideal state. Patchy fairways and poorly maintained bunkers are much in evidence, although the greens remain excellent. It's a shame as it's a beautiful course that, mainly thanks to an endless number of lakes and streams, presents a pretty tough challenge despite the inviting width of most of the fairways.
After a fairly sedate start, with a par-5 that is reachable in two if you can avoid the fairway bunkers and a hazard-less short par-4, you might be feeling pretty pleased with yourself. Don't get too excited though, as every hole from here on in features water.
Getting over water to the awkward two-tier greens at two similar par-3s (the 3rd and the 7th) requires nerves of steel; only the confident or optimistic should have a go at cutting the corner of the water at the par-4 4th, where the left side of the split fairway gives you a better angle of attack to a green well-guarded by sand. The 5th is rated stroke index 1, and curves around the edge of a lake with massive fairway bunkers waiting to catch out those who aren't accurate enough.
The back-nine starts fairly gently, with birdie opportunities out there for those who can hit straight, but don't get lulled into a false sense of security as the course bites back in the form of the long par-5 12th, where your approach must avoid water and numerous bunkers to find safe haven on a green that sits at the end of the dog-leg.
Yet another water carry is required at the particularly pretty par-3 16th, whose green features a wrap-around bunker that is as attractive as it is hard to get out of. After the exhaustingly long par-5 17th (at 604 yards, one of the longest in the country), there's a tough challenge waiting at the last, a long par-4 which will require two pretty much perfect shots, the second over water, to even get anywhere near a birdie.
The imposing clubhouse dominates a landscape strewn with paddy fields, but it doesn't feel like somewhere to hang around after a round. The locker rooms are pretty nice, although in true Korean style there are no doors on the shower cubicles. The Korean food at the the onsite restaurant does come highly recommended.
Overall, until there is some major improvement in the maintenance of the course, it's hard to recommend a round here when the other courses in Siem Reap are so good. But if you temper your expectations, you can still enjoy a round here as the layout itself is excellent.
+66 (0) 88 867 2867
+66 (0) 88 867 2867
