Michael Wolveridge claims to have devised, or at least co-conceived, world golf course rankings and in the earlier years of the GOLF Magazine list managed to get Bali Handara into the World's Top 100. One year it was listed at number 80 in the world. The fact the course is utterly unremarkable and would probably struggle to break into Australia's Top 100 highlights both the fallibility of ranking lists and the influence some flamboyant golf personalities can have on popular opinion.

Bali Handara lies around a kilometre above sea level in the Bali hills close to a number of impressive Volcanic craters. The undulating ground here is interesting enough, but the shaping and construction is poor while the design is fairly pedestrian with every twist or turn totally predictable and lacking in imagination. The slowly rising or dipping holes are as boring as the wide open then dogleg up or down ones. Perhaps the only genuine spark comes at the hard-90 degree turning 3rd, which has a fairway littered with trees and an odd alternate route option for those unable to reach the par four green in two. It's not a good hole, but at least it is mildly interesting.

Our preferred hotel and activity partners in Bali are Grand Mirage Resort & Thalasso Bali, Club Bali Mirage, Samabe Bali Resort & Villas and Devdan Show at Bali Nusa Dua Theatre