Just across the Palk Strait from India, the emerald isle of Sri Lanka awaits discovery. While geographically close to India, Sri Lanka bears little resemblance to its neighbour. The main cultural influence is Buddhism which was brought to the island by Mahinda, the son of the great Indian king Asoka, in the 3rd century BC. The archaeological sites at Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Dambulla and Polonnaruwa record a golden age of Buddhism covering 15 centuries. Today the most sacred site is the well known Temple of the Tooth at the former capital of Kandy where the Buddha tooth relic currently resides. The colorful Esala Perehera Festival takes place here each summer. More recent influences have been from European powers, notably the Portuguese, Dutch and British who left their mark in Galle. Independence was granted in 1948. Today Sri Lanka offers palm fringed beaches and cool green hills dotted with plantations of tea and spices. The national parks which make up 10 per cent of the island are home to many species of resident and migratory birds and smaller mammals as well as herds of elephant and solitary leopards.
The country has a rich golfing history. From colonial times up until independence after World War II it had many golf courses. Sri Lanka has three 18 hole championship courses. Scenery is a real draw for golfing in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. At these two courses golfers effectively play through untouched jungle and bush. The flying ball is constantly framed against a lush green canopy and your round is played to the accompaniment of shrill animal calls and sweet bird song. In comparison to many Asian courses the fairways in Sri Lanka remain refreshingly empty. For the busy traveler who prefers to avoid car transfers, Sri Lanka has an excellent helicopter charter service which means golfers can be picked up and dropped off at the next golfing destination within an hour or less.
Golfing Tour Itinerary
Day 1 (Airport – Kotugoda)
Arrival into Colombo International Airport on Singapore Airlines flight SQ468 which lands at 23:55, and upon arrival you will be met by our representative and transferred by road to nearby Kotugoda (20 minutes drive). Stay at The Wallawwa, a beautifully restored manor house nestled amongst acres of beautifully manicured garden, now the home of one of the most enticing boutique hotels on the Island.
Overnight: The Wallawwa, Garden Suite (Room Only)
Day 2: (Kotugoda – Colombo)
After breakfast on the veranda and a relaxed morning at The Wallawwa, your chauffeur guide will meet you and transfer you by road into the city of Colombo (approx 1 hour) where you will stay for two nights in the Regency Wing at the Galle Face Hotel. The hotel is gloriously positioned near the ocean in the heart of Colombo.
After lunch we will arrange for you to tee off at the Royal Colombo Golf Course – the second oldest golf course in Asia. Founded over 130 years ago the club got its Royal Charter in 1928. It was originally a colonial gentlemen and soldiers’ haunt and provides a perfect introduction for visitors shaking off jet lag and getting to grips with golf in the Sri Lankan sunshine. The layout of the course is generally flat but there are enough hazards to make it interesting. Water, large bunkers, trains, the odd goat and some interesting out-of-bounds provide stern challenges for most golfers! At the 6th hole, golfers may meet the Kelani valley train which passes across the fairway. There is also a very attractive club house with a restaurant and bar and a well equipped pro shop. The par 71 course is spread over 96 acres.
Late this afternoon enjoy a sundowner from the Checkerboard Bar and perhaps catch one of Sri Lanka’s famous sunsets. The hotel has three restaurants including the Verandah Restaurant which serves Colombo’s finest high teas, and the Sea Spray Restaurant where you can savor freshly caught fish and seafood while dining under the stars. As well there’s the 1864 Restaurant which offers a fine dining gourmet experience, fusion cuisine and an elegant and sophisticated setting.
Overnight: Galle Face Hotel- Oceanic Balcony Suite (Breakfast)
Green Fees: Weekdays: Rs5,775/- per person, weekends and public holidays Rs7,875/- per person. Caddy Fees: Rs575/-
Day 3: (Colombo)
This morning head to the Royal Colombo Golf Course for another round of golf. Following your game, return to the hotel to freshen up and you will then be taken to Barefoot Café for lunch. Barefoot also houses a small informal art gallery, as well as a delightful shop full of colourful textiles, clothing, replica antiques and has a good collection of coffee table books and homewear items. Colombo has plenty of shopping opportunities, from jewelry, homeware, textiles, antiques and spices. Let us know what you might be interested in and we can arrange an appropriate shopping itinerary.
This evening we can book a table at The Gallery Café for you at 7pm, and you chauffeur guide will collect you from Galle Face to take you here. The Gallery Café is a beautiful creation of renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, which now houses a small private art collection as well as serving delicious food (and deserts to die for) in a lovely courtyard setting.
Optional Excursion: Enjoy a morning in the food markets with the Home Cooking Queen Mohara Dole and then join her in the kitchen as she prepares and shares a typical Sri Lankan lunch (advance booking only – Supplement provided).
Optional Excursion: Explore Colombo on a private guided Walking Tour tailored to your specific interests, whether you have a passion for photography, uncovering the rich colonial heritage, perusing markets or exploring temples (Supplement provided).
Overnight: Galle Face Regency, Oceanic Balcony Suite (Breakfast)
Day 4 (Colombo-Victoria)
After a relaxed breakfast we will set off for Victoria (approx 4hrs) and check in to Clingendael, a boutique hotel built in the Dutch colonial style, with materials dating back to the 18th century. Tastefully furnished, Clingendael has just five large suites with spacious wrap-around verandahs, beautifully manicured gardens and an infinity pool looking out over the mountains. It directly overlooks Victoria Golf Course which is an 18 hole championship golf course, with the stunning Knuckles mountain range as the backdrop.
Overnight: Clingendael, Red Room (Breakfast)
Day 5 (Victoria)
After breakfast head down to the club house at the Victoria Golf Course for a morning tee off. Opened in January 1999, the Victoria International Golf and Country Resort was the first 18 hole golf course in a hundred years to open in Sri Lanka. Situated in the hill country, this course offers a beautiful setting among misty mountains. Victoria is new but the landscape is old and outstanding. The course is set over 500 acres of undulating terrain overlooking the Victoria reservoir. The front nine holes are the hilliest section of the course. The narrow 3rd is particularly challenging if you are apt to hook or slice! The 6th is probably the signature hole for Victoria. It commands spectacular views across much of the golf course and reservoir with a tee located over 100 feet above the fairway. The 6th is also recognized as the toughest par 4 in Sri Lanka. The back nine holes are among the most picturesque fairways at Victoria. These thread their way through jack tree forests and pepper vines. The rolling undulations of the 12th reflect the British background of the designer and this par 5 is a pleasure to play. The par 3, 13th challenges the golfer to once again hit straight as a mound and a huge Mara tree to the right, and a very steep slope will provide challenges to golfers of all abilities. For the less experienced player there are world class golfing lessons at the British PGA Academy.
Return to the Araliya Restaurant at the club house for lunch.
In the afternoon you can either tee off again or make the most of many other leisure facilities at the resort. Take advantage of the world-class stables on site where beginners to advanced riders are well looked after. There is also a tennis court or you may like to book a spa treatment in the Ayurveda Wellness Centre where a whole host of relaxing treatments is available.
Overnight: Clingendael, Red Room (Breakfast)
Green Fees: Weekdays Rs4500/- per person, weekends and public holidays Rs6000/- per person Caddy Fees: Rs600/-
Day 6 (Kandy)
After breakfast you are booked for another round of golf, after which you return to Clingendael where you can relax by the pool.
This afternoon travel into Kandy (approx 40 minutes). Set around a picturesque man-made lake and surrounded by hills, Kandy offers a quaint jumble of old shops and gemstone specialists. A showcase of the rich cultural heritage of Sri Lanka, Kandy was the last stronghold of the Sinhalese kings during the Portuguese, Dutch and British rule. The beautiful city with its hills and valleys, rivers, lakes and cascading waterfalls has its good share of hallowed and living shrines sacred to Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims. However, the main cultural attraction is the Temple of the Tooth which houses the most important Buddhist relic, a sacred tooth of the Buddha.
The evening puja (religious ceremony) starts at 7pm and this is a most vibrant ceremony with the hallways lit up and the sound of drums and chanting resonating as hundreds of pilgrims make their way to give offerings at the shrine of the Buddha’s Tooth.
Optional Excursion: Visit the expansive botanical gardens at Peradeniya, the largest in Sri Lanka. Giant fig trees, medicinal plants, orchid collections and more, all collected since the 19th century (supplement provided).
Return to Clingendael for a late dinner.
Overnight: Clingendael, Red Room (Breakfast)
Day 7 (Kandy- Nuwara Eliya)
Early check out this morning and you will be transferred 50 minutes by road to Peradeniya where you board the 1st Class Observation train to Hatton (subject to availability). The train departs at 08:40am and will arrive into Nanu Oya by 1pm where your chauffeur guide will be waiting for you. The train journey takes you through beautiful countryside as the scenery changes from tropical palms to a landscape of carpeted green tea fields.
Continue the short distance on to Nuwara Eliya. At 1889 meters above sea level, Nuwara Eliya (meaning ‘city of light’) was a favourite hill station of the British. To remind themselves of home they designed this place in the style of a British village. Indeed the locals know it as ‘Little England’
A short walk from the centre of the town is Craigbank, a boutique villa which has been designed along the lines of a colonial planter’s bungalow. This property with just five bedrooms is a lavish blend of colonial and modern architecture. It is ideally located for accessing all the activities available in town including the Nuwara Eliya Golf Course. The rest of your day is at leisure.
Overnight: Craigbank, Master Suite (Breakfast)
Day 8 (Nuwara Eliya)
After breakfast we drive to the golf course in Nuwara Eliya which once again is a wonderful playground offering beautiful natural surroundings. Nuwara Eliya has a completely different climate structure and vegetation to Colombo and Victoria and, because of the elevation, it is also considerably cooler. The golf course is part of the city and indeed its paths and roads crisscross the course. It was laid out by the Gordon Highlanders stationed in Nuwara Eliya in 1889. Its length and its narrow fairways make it extremely challenging and provide ample reward to those who can drive straight.
Providing a delightful environmental green belt to the town, the course is basically divided into three parts. The “Brocas Meads Holes” are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 16th, 17th, 18th and the 15th hole which lies over the road on the side of the club house. 
The “River Holes” from the 4th to the 11th feature a stream that has to be crossed no less than 10 times. “Little Switzerland” is comprised of the testing hilly holes on the 12th, 13th and 14th. Coming as they do at a critical stage in a round, this trio can make or break a card. The old club house makes a wonderful 19th hole and there is a well equipped pro shop. The par 71 course is over 5500 meters long.
After the morning round we will arrange lunch at the Hill Club which is a real slice of history and has stood still in this living museum piece.
Overnight: Craigbank, Master Suite (Breakfast)
Green Fees: Weekdays Rs4000/- per person, weekends and public holidays Rs5000/- per person Caddy Fees: Rs560/-
Day 9 (Nuwara Eliya)
Today visit a tea estate and working tea factory. These tea factories are a common feature in the tea country and most date back to British colonial times – the conversion of green tea leaves into black tea is a complex process, involving a very precise art – the leaves are withered, rolled and fermented before being blasted by hot air. 
The tea is then graded depending on the size of the final leaf – from the dust which goes towards making low grade tea to the expensive FOP, Flowering Orange Pekoe, which are the most prized leaves and contain the flower bud of the plant too. There will be a chance to experience a tea tasting at the end of the tour.
Continue to Hakgala Botanical Gardens which lie beneath the towering Hakgala Rock, and have amazing views overlooking the hills. The gardens were first established in 1861
to grow cinocha a source of the anti-malarial drug, quinine. These days they are well known for their roses which bloom between April and August.
Overnight: Craigbank Master Suite (Breakfast)
Day 10 (Nuwara Eliya – Wadduwa)
This morning after breakfast you will be driven (around 5 hours) to the coast and the small resort of Wadduwa, an hour south of Colombo. 
Here you will stay four nights at Reef Villa, an exotic luxury hideaway with tropical gardens, shimmering ocean vistas and golden sands along a tranquil beach. The seven elegant suites are all air-conditioned, of extremely generous proportions and feature original antique four-poster Indian campaign beds to give a feeling of relaxed grandeur. All suites have spacious shaded verandas for private dining and antique Indian swings which overlook the verdant gardens.
After an exhausting day rest on a palm shaded hammock, take a lazy stroll along the beach or cool down in the infinity edge pool and jacuzzi set under gentle swaying palms.
Subject to your requirements we can arrange a pre-booked spa menu for the four nights that you are here. Treatments at the in-house Refresh Spa include Deep Tissues Massages, Summer Bliss Massages, Hot Stone Therapies, Detoxifying Clay Wraps and Turmeric Honey Wraps as well as manicures, pedicures and facials of varying kinds. (There is only one therapist so it is well advised to book treatments in advance to avoid disappointment.)
Overnight: Reef Villa, Ocean Suite (Breakfast)
Days 11 – 12 (Wadduwa)
Days at leisure.
Overnight: Reef Villa, Ocean Suite (Breakfast)
Day 13: (Wadduwa – Airport)
A late check out will be organised for you today, so that you’ll have the use of your suite until it is time to depart for the airport. The transfer from Reef Villa to the airport is approximately 2 hours so you will have plenty of time for a final dinner before checking out of the hotel by 21:00 to ensure you are at the airport in plenty of time to check in for your flight.
Day 14: (Airport – Australia)
Depart on Singapore Airlines flight SQ-469 which takes off at 01:10am.
