The Agile Golf & Country Club is a 36 hole facility in Zhongshan, China, midway between Guangzhou and Macau. Both its A and B courses were built at the same time, with the A occupying hillier terrain and somewhat restricted by the client’s obvious desire for lakes and ornate flower gardens.

Designed by J. Michael Poellot, the A Course is best recommended for those who enjoy driving golf carts up and down steep hills. The back nine has a couple of green-to-tee doozies, but the front nine is full of long uphill drives to get to holes that then play back sharply downhill. Many of the downhill turning points are already dated, and struggle to contain or challenge the stronger modern golfer. Few have any real strategic value, beyond the challenge of hitting shots straight downhill and needing to judge where they will end up.

The par five closing holes are the signatures, but proof positive of what's wrong with the overall concept here. The 9^th plunges down along a split fairway with a creek and palms through the middle and the shorter left route that is almost impossible for the average amateur to hit but an easier option for longer players. The 18^th drops even more steeply, but turns and narrows to anorexic dimensions beyond a badly dated central driving bunker.

There are some good holes through the latter stages of the front nine and also early on the back, but this is not a course that the experienced traveler will have much interest in playing.