179 - Shangri-La Hambantota

Location: Hambantota, Sri Lanka

Rating: 8.1

Amazing experience, incredibly warm but very cool course to play! For most travelling Sri Lanka, Hambantota wouldn’t be a place you’d venture to without much offering for tourists but there are a couple of beautiful resorts situated here and in particular the Shangri-La. It really is stunning and they have a wonderful golf course to go along with it.

18 holes of mostly coconut tree lined fairways, it is quite a challenge in the humid conditions down there. I teed off around 7:30am and would’ve suggested starting even earlier if possible. By hole 12 I was drenched in sweat and opted to go have breakfast for a quick break and some time to cool down. The course was very quiet, I played in the off season and not many people played, coupled by the fact that golf isn’t particularly accessible for most Sri Lankans means pace of play here is pretty quick, humidity dependent.

There are a bunch of awesome holes, all lined with coconut trees but what was even more surreal were the peacocks roaming some of the greens and 2 giant iguanas that came waddling past us as I putted on one of the greens. Apparently a crocodile comes out onto the front 9 around hole 8 in the afternoon but we did not see it nor any cobras as was alluded to in another review.

Caddies are compulsory here and I’d recommend a buggy with the heat. Would’ve loved the pro shop to stock a few more items, it was fairly sparse in there but there’s a lovely little bar overlooking the 18th green and happy hour later in the afternoon meant we spent much time there. Worth noting the rental clubs in the pro shop did look good so no worries there. I was sad enough to travel Sri Lanka with my own set of clubs.

Unfortunately the driving range is no longer there so practice facilities are limited to the chipping/putting green but the course was in pretty good condition all things considered. Nice lush fairways and pretty honest, true running greens.

Highly recommend if you’re a golf fan and in Sri Lanka, the experience is certainly worth it!