Iloilo Golf & Country Club

Overview: Iloilo Golf & Country Club, widely known as Santa Barbara Golf Course, occupies a 35-hectare site in San Sebastian, Santa Barbara, on Panay. It is an 18-hole private course set among plain and gently rolling ground, with the character of an established regional club rather than a purpose-built modern resort. Published scorecards agree on the full 18-hole identity but disagree on whether the current card is par 70 or par 72, so the profile leaves those numerical fields open until an official current card is available.

History: Iloilo’s golf story reaches back to the early twentieth century. Sources place the course’s origins around 1907 and describe an original nine-hole, par-36 layout that was later expanded as local participation grew. The club became a major venue in Philippine golf and hosted the Philippine Open from 1935, when Santa Barbara took over the event from Manila Golf and Country Club. The Philippine Golf Tour describes it as the oldest golf course in the Philippines and one of the oldest in Southeast Asia.

Did You Know? The course is often called Santa Barbara even though its formal club name is Iloilo Golf & Country Club. That older name reflects the municipality where the course stands, not Iloilo City itself. Its place in Philippine Open history also gives the layout a competitive significance beyond its regional setting, linking a quiet Panay town with some of the country’s earliest championship golf.