Golfplan is leading a renovation of the golf course at Sembawang Country Club in Singapore.
Located in the north of the island, Sembawang started in 1967 as a nine-hole course laid out by British Royal Marines. Ten years later it became an 18-hole layout, which was remodelled in 2013 by New Zealand architect Chris Pitman.
“Over the past 12 years, the golf course has continued to serve members well,” said Jerrom Tan, the club’s marketing executive. “However, over time, it has experienced wear and tear, with those effects more strongly felt in a tropical climate. Often, blind holes are the culprit of dangerous and slow play. From unnecessary waiting to hasty shots, golfers may not always make the right assessment. With these insights, a timely refreshment of our golf course is well deserved, so that it can continue serving the members well into the next decade.”
The scope of work set out by Golfplan includes reversing the routing of holes eleven to seventeen, renovating greens, bunkers and tees, regrassing fairways with Stadium Zoysia and greens with Primo Zoysia from Sports Turf Solutions, as well as irrigation and drainage upgrades.
“The golf course routing changed on seven holes and these now slice into the course rather than out, thus, adding protection to the adjacent properties and roads,” said David Dale, partner at Golfplan.
A key part of the project is lowering the landing area on the fourth hole and removing trees that were on the inside of the dogleg, reducing the blindness for the shorter hitters. “We have also had to pull the green back away from the entry road as this is being expanded by the airbase for improved access,” says Kevin Ramsey, partner at Golfplan.
“We have designed four new greens and preserved three of the original greens from the seven holes that we rerouted. All green surfaces are being softened to add more pinnable areas.”
Bunkers are being redesigned. “All bunkers are being reimagined with repositioning and reshaping to improve access, playability and visual aesthetics,” said Dale. “CapillaryFlow and Loksand are creating better drainage and more stable bunker faces.”
Read more: Golfplan’s hole-by-hole plans.
“Overall, we feel we are improving the playability, safety and strategy of the golf course and when reopened it will feel like a new experience for members,” says Ramsey.
Work began in December 2024 and the club expects to reopen the course in May 2026.
“The course renovation is a once-in-a-decade opportunity for us to reset and reshape the foundation of our golf course for the next generation, preserving its beauty and ecological health for years to come,” said Tan.
“As the club is uniquely located next to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, a vital carbon sink, we have an incredible opportunity to contribute by aligning ourselves with Singapore’s ‘City in Nature’ vision. To that end, the club has taken actionable steps towards this vision, by partnering with Target15 SG, an organisation dedicated to mitigating climate change through reforestation and afforestation efforts.”