Bagan Golf Resort - Myanmar

Bagan Golf Resort, opened in 1999, is a few minutes from the ancient city of Bagan, lying along the east bank of the broad Ayeyarwady River on the plain of central Myanmar. The course plays through several of the ruined Buddhist temples, pagodas, and shrines built of brick, sandstone, and stucco that make Bagan a world historic landmark. It is estimated that some 13,000 religious structures were built around Bagan, beginning in 1057 during the rule of King Anawrahta, 42nd ruler of the Bagan dynasty, and continuing until Bagan was overrun by Kublai Khan and the Mongol Horde in 1287. Approximately 2,000 of the structures still remain. Marco Polo visited Bagan in the late 13th century, shortly before it was conquered by the Mongols, and wrote the following description: "The towers are built of fine stone, and one has been covered with gold a finger thick, so that the tower appears to be of solid gold. . . . The king caused these towers to be built as a monument to his magnificence and for the benefit of his soul. They make one of the finest sights in the world."

Pun Hlaing Golf Club - Myanmar

As in India and Sri Lanka, golf was brought to colonial Burma, which is now Myanmar, by British administrators and army officers. Yangon Golf Club in the capital city of Yangon, formerly Rangoon, was founded in 1909 as the first club in Burma. In the past few years there has been a burst of new course activity in the area with the Yemon Island Golf Resort, the 36-hole Yangon City Golf Resort, and the Pun Hlaing Golf Club. Opened in 2000 and designed by Gary Player, Pun Hlaing is generally regarded as the finest course in Myanmar, built as part of a residential community on the 650-acre peninsula between the Hlaing and Pun Hlaing Rivers eight miles from downtown Yangon. The exposed course has long, tapered water hazards and canals with the greens guarded by pod-shaped red sand bunkers.