Manila Golf and Country Club

Few golf clubs in Southeast Asia carry the institutional weight of Manila Golf and Country Club. Founded in 1901 by British expatriates, it stands among the oldest golf clubs in Asia, predating most of the continent's golfing infrastructure by decades. The club relocated to its current home in what is now the Makati Central Business District — one of the most land-pressured urban environments in the region — giving it the rare distinction of occupying some of the most expensive real estate in the Philippines. That address shapes everything about the experience: this is city golf, compact and strategic rather than sprawling and scenic.

The course has hosted numerous Philippine Open championships and has long functioned as the spiritual center of Philippine competitive golf. Its membership reads like a directory of Manila's business and diplomatic elite, and the clubhouse culture reflects more than a century of accumulated tradition.

Playing here is less about dramatic elevation or natural spectacle and more about precision, local knowledge, and navigating a layout that rewards placement off the tee over raw power — the essential vocabulary of classic colonial-era golf design.