The Els Club Teluk Datai hailed as Asia-Pacific's No.1 course

THE Els Club Teluk Datai has received the greatest possible endorsement of its highly-acclaimed redesign after being named the region’s ‘Best Golf Course’ at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Property Awards.

The recently-unveiled Troon-managed venue received the prestigious accolade from Lord Courtown, Chairman of Judging for the Architecture and Interior Design categories, in front of a distinguished assembly of developers, architects, interior designers and real estate officials at the Shangri-la Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It will now go on to represent Asia-Pacific at the 2014 International Property Awards in Dubai later this year.

Designed by South African golfing legend and four-time Major Champion, Ernie Els, the magnificent layout will compete against other regional winners from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, UK and the Americas at the glittering awards ceremony to find the ‘World’s Best Golf Course’.

Ken Kosak, General Manager of The Els Club Teluk Datai, was delighted that the golf course has received such significant recognition only weeks after its official opening in April, which also saw it collect the ‘5-Star Award’ as Malaysia’s top golfing venue.

He said: “Anyone who is familiar with golf in the Asia-Pacific region knows that there is an incredible variety of golf courses of unerring quality here, so to be named the No.1 course in the region is an incredible achievement for The Els Club Teluk Datai.

“Our designer, Ernie Els, has created one of the world’s most captivating golfing challenges, taking advantage of the spectacular tropical landscape here on the island of Langkawi to create something truly unique, which has already received widespread critical and public acclaim.

“This prestigious award is testament to his vision and the expertise of his design team, as well as the unwavering conditioning and quality that can be found across Troon’s wide portfolio of leading golfing venues, and we’re sure this will be the first of many accolades to come in the future.”

The first of two Els Clubs to open in Malaysia, Teluk Datai is without doubt one of the most intriguing golf course re-designs to open in recent times. Owned by the Malaysian Government-established Destination Resorts & Hotels Sdn Bhd (DRH), the course is nestled within an ancient rainforest featuring towering tropical foliage and blessed with unforgettable vistasoverlooking the Andaman Sea.

The much-loved region of Teluk Datai is also home to the award-winning luxury resort, The Datai Langkawi, which is internationally recognised for its unsurpassed service excellence. Together with Els’ new masterpiece they will play an integral role in realising DRH’s vision for the development of luxury golf experiences. In addition, Els was selected by DRH to design The Els Club Desaru Coast, located in the southern region of Johor Bahru, completing The Els Club Malaysia portfolio.

Asia-Pacific has achieved considerable success at the International Property Awards in recent years, emerging as the best performing region at the ‘Oscars’ of the property and real estate industry, with an impressive 18 ‘World’s Best’ Awards in 2013.

Stuart Shield, President of the International Property Awards, is confident of further success for the region at the year-ending ceremony.

He said: “We will all now wait to see if Asia-Pacific can not only retain the title of best performing region of the world in the International Property Awards but also beat its own record for yet another successive year. Each region is highly competitive and with levels of excellence within the property industry rising annually, this makes the competition hugely exciting as it heads towards the final conclusion in December.”

Further information on The Els Club Malaysia is available on the website.