Lanhai International Country Club is part of a private 36-hole golf and resort complex located at Chongming on an island in the middle of the mighty Yangtze River, just northeast of Shanghai. Originally designed by Nicklaus Design, the 18-hole Yangtze Dunes course was overhauled by the Australian design team of Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking, and Mead and reopened in 2018.

The new design team felt the features of the course's original routing didn't do the terrain justice. Many of the greens and tees felt perched on high points and not nestled into the dunes and so they created eighteen entirely new green sites that, in combination with bigger, more dramatic feature elements, give golfers the chance to play their way through the dunes, not across the top.

It was the site's almost ideal sandy base that encouraged the designers to create a true links track with their new layout, and certainly, the course is dramatic - standing out from nearly every golf course that currently exists in Asia. While length is certainly rewarded here, Yangtze Dunes encourages players to use their imagination to find the best way around, avoiding the worst of the hazards and leaving the best angles.

Unusually for China, 8 kilometers of cart paths were removed during the recent redevelopment and the par 72 course is now walking only. Fortunately, the club's elegant Tuscan-style clubhouse provides an excellent spot to recuperate after a round in either the bar or restaurant and there are further amenities available at the resort.

Image(s) published courtesy of Planet Golf.com, The Fried Egg.com, Golf Punk.com, ostrovok.ru