Penang Golf Club — Attraction in George Town

Honest opinion of our round. Two foreigners playing 18 holes.

After calling and being given a price over the phone it became apparent pretty quickly that it would be much more than this. The woman at the front desk made us feel very unwelcome straight away, telling us to tuck our shirts in and that we couldn't wear the shorts we had on even though these were fine for any other golf course I've played at. We were also asked if we were actually golfers! So much for being a social player wanting a one off round. Off we were escorted to the shop and made to pay a premium for golf shorts. On return the same lady said we could then change into them even though we already had so the change and cost of the shorts seemed entirely unnecessary. We were then charged more than quoted for the round them marched back to the shop again to rent clubs which we had been told were included in the price. None of this information is on the website. We then go back to the office to then be told we need to buy balls so were meant to go back to the shop again. Luckily the caddies sold us a bag of second hand balls but this set us back another 50 ringitt. By this time we were pretty much out of money.

The course itself is lovely and well kept. The greens though are very sandy and make judging a putt difficult. Having a caddie is standard and although he was a lovely guy he did everything for us including lining up every putt. This took some of the fun, challenge and the social aspect away as it felt a bit like we rushed through the round under his supervision. We had fun but feel we paid way too much for what we got out of it. If you're a tourist looking for a one off, social round with friends and you don't have any equipment I'd recommend thinking twice about it if you don't want to spent a...

Just had reunion dinner with my family here and we were all disappointed to say the least. Here’s our comments about each dish which honestly were mostly horrible.

1st dish Yee Sang - typical store bought Yee Sang which had lots of crispy crackers. Nothing much to comment about as I didn’t expect much.

2nd dish Seafood Soup - Acceptable but not warm enough. Lukewarm at best.

3rd dish Stir Fried Prawns - Simple presentation but taste wise acceptable. Probably the only dish I find good of the night.

4th dish Crispy Chicken with Orange Sauce - Probably should be renamed Soggy Chicken with Tasteless Orange Colored Sauce. Cold and soggy, chicken was not even fresh.

5th dish Slice Abalone with Mushroom and Broccoli - The dish was served without abalone slice. Only after a few dishes later the abalone slices were served separately on another plate. Likely due to many complaints from patrons.

6th dish Steamed Threadfin - The worst dish of the night. I’ve never seen such a pathetic looking fish (see picture). Served cold, not fresh and with strong fishy smell. Probably the worst restaurant fish dish I’ve tasted in a long time.

7th dish Fried Rice - Rice was a little soggy and tasteless.

Last dish Longan Dessert - Literally longan water with ice cubes. Nothing to be crazy about.

On top of that, the music was too loud throughout the night. I’m not against some music for entertainment but at some point it just started to sound like drunk relatives singing karaoke at weddings. Annoying and noisy.

Poor value for money. Please improve as I believe Penang Golf Club...

Easily one of the sketchiest, shadiest golf courses I’ve ever been to. Arranged to play with my wonderful concierge at Amari Spice Hotel only to arrive and have the staff know absolutely nothing about my booking. They then proceeded to charge us for 18 holes and after we paid, said, oops, looks like we need you to wear a collard shirt, which they then direct you to a different shop to sell you an overpriced shirt, once you try it on and are still deciding, they take the tag off and say, oops, looks like it can’t be returned now, locking you into golf. Then they require a cash only deposit for your golf clubs which will supposedly be returned, at this point you’re doubting that will happen. The driving range wouldn’t take cash but magically they do at the rental club shop. The goal with this place is to constantly shuttle you from office to office while tacking on additional bullshit fees and trap you into playing, even after we wanted to back out and didn’t play, the wouldn’t give us a refund and said just play anyway. At which point they tack on not one, but two mandatory caddies who demand tips from you instead of working to earn them along with a mandatory caddie fee. To be fair the course is fun and challenging but at that point you’re so pissed off and stressed out from a 1 hour roundabout scam check in with 8 additional fees added on that you can’t even relax and play. DO NOT PLAY...