The Els Club Desaru Coast (Valley Course)

Overview: The Els Club Desaru Coast’s Valley Course follows the valleys and streams of Johor’s Desaru Coast, with an 18-hole, par-72 resort scorecard. Vijay Singh designed it in collaboration with Ernie Els, and the course is deliberately different from the neighbouring Ocean Course’s 27-hole coastal character. The designer’s current fact file gives a length of 7,854 yards. Sharp undulations, small greens, sweeping slopes and significant elevation changes make approach play the central challenge, while the tropical setting supplies wide views and a strong sense of place.

History: The Valley Course opened in September 2016 as the second golf course at Desaru Coast and the third course under The Els Club Malaysia umbrella, according to the contemporaneous destination record. It sits alongside the Ocean Course, which is a separate 27-hole facility designed by Ernie Els across three nines. That distinction is important when describing the resort: the Valley is a single 18-hole routing with its own design team, scorecard and character, rather than one of the Ocean combinations.

Did You Know? The Valley Course is a collaboration between two major champions, with Vijay Singh leading the design and Ernie Els involved through his design company. Its 2023 MENA Tour events gave the course a tournament test soon after opening. The resort’s current description also highlights small greens and sharp undulations, a combination that makes precision on approach the defining feature of the layout.