FEBRUARY 5, 2001 VOL. 157 NO. 5

Detour
By Brent Hannon

TRAVEL WATCH Masssaged and Masqued in the New Hawaii East and West have collided in Hawaii for centuries, but never have the islands been so welcoming for Asian visitors Web Crawling The website puts Hong Kong on the map, at least a map on the Web Detour The Spanish started building intra-muros, a walled city, in 1571, but they never had any fun with it Travel Watch Archive Browse hundreds of Asian travel tips

The Spanish started building intra-muros, a walled city, in 1571, but they never had any fun with it—they were too busy repelling attacks from Chinese pirates and the British and American armies. But when the Americans took over Manila in 1898, they filled in the walled city's moat and built a golf course. The invading Japanese never played golf there—they weren't into the sport yet—and after World War II the course went to seed. But in 1996, following extensive renovations, Club Intramuros Day and Night Golf Course reopened as possibly the most intriguing set of links in Asia.

To play the Intramuros course is to traverse Philippine history. The moss-encrusted Intramuros wall hugs the left side of the first fairway. To the right is the site of the final walk of Philippine national hero Jose P. Rizal: in 1898, Rizal strode here from Fort Santiago to meet his Spanish executioners. The second hole starts at the Palacio del Gobernador, the third hole lies in the shadow of the magnificent St. Augustine church and an ammunition bunker sits smack in the middle of the fourth fairway. This marks the place where General Douglas MacArthur had his pre-war offices, at 1 Victoria Street, just inside the wall.

It's a golf-ball-swallowing course, but you can buy more from hawkers outside the fence. The Spanish moats were narrow, which means the fairways are restricted. Although the moats have long since been filled in, there are lots of water traps on the course. Many of the stone paths, bulwarks, bastions and ammunition caches are intact, and they dot the fairways, along with an abundance of sand traps. The 4,125-yard, par-66 golf course costs $23 for non-residents during the day and $30 at night. Hiring caddies is required.

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