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Tiger Beach is located slap bang on the coast midway between the cities of Qingdao and Yantai. You can fly direct from HK to both cities, but Qingdao has more flights; twice daily with Dragonair and China Eastern (3 hours). The drive from the airport will take approximately 1hr 15mins.

Remarkably the course was designed by the club's owner, Taiwanese entrepreneur Beta Soong, whose love of links golf seemingly knows no bounds. Mr Soong also owns the highly rated Silport Golf Club in Shanghai.

In preparing to design Tiger Beach, Mr Soong visited, played and photographed a great many of the classic Scottish and Irish links courses and the results are really quite spectacular. Although traditionalists will argue that this isn't a true links course - although it is located next to the sea and is dead flat, the 'sand dunes' that give the course a decidedly rugged look have actually been manufactured by bulldozers and are not natural - it really does play like one thanks to its authentic design implementation and the wind that hammers in off the Yellow Sea.

Even the setting feels like the Scottish coast. Thanks to its red roofs the small town of Feng Cheng (left) which borders the course on one side is known locally as 'Little Aberdeen', and if it wasn't for a massive mobile phone tower in the middle of it I'd agree with them too.

Like all links courses, the playability of Tiger Beach rather depends on how strong the wind is blowing. If conditions are still - which is extremely rare - then it becomes really quite manageable for higher handicappers. When the wind blows, however - which is most of the time - then Tiger Beach becomes Tiger Beast. Put it this way, I played with the pro here - the very talented Andar Liu who boasts a couple of top-ten finishes on the Omega China Tour in 2006 - and he shot 80. I thought it was howling a gale but Mr Liu just said it was a bit breezy. Whatever, it was tough as nails. It wasn't just because of the bunkers, though. The fairway traps are actually very shallow (about knee height, although they look really deep from the tee) and the greenside bunkers, while much deeper, aren't too difficult to escape from. The difficulty here lies with the thick fescue that flanks the fairways and, of course, the wind which can affect shots considerably - more than any course I've ever played in China. It takes some getting used to hitting a 5-iron 110 yards on one hole and then 200 yards on the next. Yardages really go out of the window at Tiger Beach.

Tiger Beach's ode to Scottish golf is an exact replica of the Swilcan Bridge (the famed bridge at St. Andrews) which crosses a narrow burn on the par-5 fifth. My first impression was that it was really tacky and in bad taste, but I have to admit it rather grew on me and, after posing to have my photo taken on it I have to say I now think it's rather nifty. I'm not planning on visiting St. Andrews anytime soon, afterall.

To prove that it's not just us who likes this place (anyone thinking this is 'Disneyland' links golf is definitely wrong), Carnoustie Golf Links, the club which will host the 2007 Open Championship, and Tiger Beach have agreed on a sister agreement - the first time in the Scottish club's history that it has been 'twinned' with another.

Impressive stuff.

Simple, but perfect for an 18-hole member's golf course. The locker rooms are clean and tidy and feature a reviving hot bath, while the food in the club's restaurant is very tasty indeed. The menu is pretty wide ranging too - Chinese, Korean and Western faves. We're particularly glad to report that the club keeps a well-stocked bar and that the locally brewed Tsingtao (the brewery is only an hour away) is much better than the stuff they supply HK with.

Large rooms are available to book for those who want to stay a few days. They're clean and cosy in the cold winter months.

Course Maintenance

Generally very good. The Bentgrass greens were in very good shape and rolled well, while the fairways also looked good although, and many will disagree, they were too green. Traditional links courses are seldom lush and green like other well-maintained courses and we'd like to see Tiger Beach water their fairways less to give it that real links feel; when the landing areas are bone dry the ball will bounce all over the place and we'd like to see that here. The course is in the best condition in the Spring. This is also the time when the rough is at its highest (and most fearsome).

Another quirky feature of Tiger Beach are the goats that are allowed to roam around the course in the late afternoons. These animals - which appear on the club's barbeque menu in the Spring and Summer months - do a pretty good job in eating the rough, which, we presume, must mean the club eschews harmful fertilizers and insecticides.

Excellent. Spoke pretty decent English, read greens well and was quick to suggest clubs (accurately). While it is possible to hire a golf cart the club doesn't insist on it which means plus points for them! You don't go all the way to play a links course and then drive for goodness sakes and the club seems to agree with that.

Totally unique and very well done, Tiger Beach is one of the few courses in China that you HAVE to play before you die; it's just so different than what we're used to playing in Asia. We're not comparing it with the really great links courses of the British Isles, but it's definitely up there. Highly memorable.

What we particularly like is the club's no-nonsense approach to etiquette. If you want to become a member then you have to play a trial round with the club's management. If you are rude, loud and obnoxious and have no idea how to conduct yourself properly on the golf course, then you're not going to be accepted. Furthermore, a fourball will get around Tiger Beach in absolutely no longer than 4 hours. Bravo! Albatross 12/06