Gokarna - It's 1PM. Do you know where your golfers are? If you're in the Valley, chances are they are just trooping off the greens in the dense, lush forests of the 470-acre Gokarna Game Sanctuary, discussing double and triple bogeys. It is hard to imagine that a mere 10 km, or 15 minutes, from the airport, lies one of Nepal's sporting treasures. Designed by the renowned Gleneagles Golf Development, the Gokarna Golf Course is spectacularly well-appointed and every part of the course and the club house is designed to be in perfect harmony with these pristine and calm surroundings.

"It's a really relaxing course," says avid golfer Pushpa Chand. "There are hardly any distractions, you just concentrate on hitting your next ball." Chand who plays golf more for exercise than for competition enjoys walking the only 18-hole, par-72 course in the country. On the 8.5 km course, a round of golf could take the entire morning. The start and end points of the game can be viewed from the Club House, situated on a neat plateau that overlooks the course. The restaurant serves Thai, continental, and Nepali cuisine, and has a well-equipped pro shop and magazine kiosk.

Often, Chand's balls disappear into the thick undergrowth that circles the course but it doesn't mar her pleasure in the game. Sprawled over 140 acres of land within the royal hunting grounds, the course boasts the only Bent Grass Greens in South Asia (imported from the US and grown in a nursery on the grounds), making it one of the highlights of the professional tour circuits in the region. Among the competitions in the Gokarana Golf Course have been the Famous Grouse Trophy and the Surya Masters, and now the course is preparing to host the annual New Year's Cup on 12 January.

It isn't only Kathmandu golfers in raptures, but even wealthy Japanese and European golf tourists. The David Kidd-designed course has placed Nepal on the golfing map of the world. "We get Japanese businessmen, Europeans, and many expats," explains retired Vice Admiral SK Chand who manages the course. The green is perfectly kept and the excess water that is drained out forms canals surrounding the course and fills up the artificial lakes that add to the serene atmosphere and challenge the golfer's stroke.

"It's cool here even in the summer, and sometimes you can spot deer and monkeys," says Deepak Acharya, 26, one of Nepal's few golf professionals. The course offers a driving range and pitching and putting greens, and for the newbie, golf lessons are available through professionals like Acharya. "The standard of golf in Nepal has really come up but we still have a long way to go, because there aren't enough tournaments," says the pro. "Golf isn't just about hitting the ball. There are mental challenges involved, and focused energy is required," says Acharya, who, when he's not on Gokarna's greens teaching beginners the A-Z of teeing off, travels the professional circuit.

A tourism venture of Prem Sachdev, a Singapore businessman, former captain of the Singapore Gold Club House and single-digit handicap player, the Gokarna Golf Course is preparing for the launch in a couple of weeks of 16 luxurious vacation club rooms, serviced through the adjacent Hunter's Lodger and Golf Club House. Nearby, on a large plateau at the end of a winding, climbing road through the forest, the 62-room Malla-style Le Meridian Hotel Complex is being constructed. The first phase of the forest resort and spa, that is slotted for completion next winter, hopes to attract golfers and their spouses with a health club, pool, business centre, and speciality restaurant, and break into the high-end golf tourism market.

Membership to the Gokarna Golf Club is pretty steep, at Rs 420,000 for a couple and their children under 21 for 25 years, though there is a special rate for senior citizens above 60-Rs 250,000 for 25 years. Annual membership is $1500. But, says Chand, this is not too high a price. "The course boasts facilities and an atmosphere the likes of which you won't get anywhere else in Kathmandu," he says. Chand is eager to promote golf tourism and seems undeterred by the current slump in arrivals. After all, last December 35 millionaires gathered to play golf in Gokarna for a day. Chand and his team are betting that sort of thing can be done on a more regular basis.

Green Fee
Weekdays $40, weekends $50
For Hire
Clubs $10, shoes $5
Caddy Fee $3
www.gokarna.com