Opened officially in September 2018, the Legacy course at Malaysia’s Forest City Golf Resort in Johor Bahru, was designed by the American Nicklaus Design company. Senior designer Jack Nicklaus made one site visit to Forest City in 2017, with his son Jack Nicklaus Jr and associate Sean Quinn primarily responsible for the routing and design of each hole.

Set immediately beside the Pulai River a couple of kilometres from the Singapore border, the first course at Forest City is notable for its scruby wastelands, lush Paspalum turf surfaces and the view out toward the river from holes like the 4^th and 15^th. The entire site was a former mangrove swamp, and to build the course approximately USD $2.5 million was spent bringing dredged ocean sand to raise playing surfaces and provide adequate drainage in the frequent heavy rains.

Aside from the river and vast sandy wastelands across each of the nines, the most memorable feature of the course is a large preserved forested hill, which acts as a backdrop to both the 9^th and 18^th holes. Elsewhere the movement is subtle, the bunkering dramatic and the putting surfaces typically small and built with punishing shelves and tiers. The planting of Coconut palm trees throughout the roughs and within the waste areas also leaves a strong visual impression.

Among the feature holes are the brutally long river-side 4^th, the roomy par five 8^th and tempting short par fours at the 6^th and 11^th. The par threes are also nice, and particularly tricky when the pins are tucked in tight corners.

The entire Forest City development is said to have a USD $100 million pricetag, and beyond golf will involve numerous high-rise buildings across several reclaimed islands. There will eventually be three golf courses here, the next two apparently designed by a Director of the Chinese development group behind the project.