Alta Vista Golf & Country Club

A hillside round with Cebu spread out below.

Alta Vista Golf & Country Club sits on the hills of Pardo, on the south-western edge of Cebu City, about 500 feet above the nearby beaches. Many holes look down over the city and across the water to Mactan and the smaller islands beyond. SeekCebu, a local guide, calls a round here easier to arrange than one at Cebu Country Club, the city’s older private club, and Cebu golf operators sell Alta Vista as part of their green-fee packages. Expect a short but awkward course where the slopes, not the yardage, decide your score.

Alta Vista Golf & Country Club green fees and tee times.

Alta Vista is a members’ club, and non-members play as guests. Most overseas visitors get on through a Cebu golf operator, which arranges a non-member endorsement and the tee time. Read the inclusions carefully. GolfPH’s Cebu package, for example, covers the endorsement, the reservation, a weekday green fee, a shared cart and insurance, but leaves out the caddie fee; it needs at least four golfers and adds a surcharge at weekends and on holidays, with prices sent by email. Golfasian quotes cart rental separately at about US$50. Groups are capped at five players on weekdays and four at weekends, according to Golfasian. Weekend green fees are well over half as much again as weekday ones, so a midweek round is the better value.

The round, in perspective.

The course opened in 1994 and was laid out by Black Knight Design, Gary Player’s South African firm, on 60 hectares of a 400-hectare residential and leisure estate; the clubhouse followed in 1997. It measures only 6,237 yards at par 72, but Golfasian is blunt that it is not a flat course, and it warns of a lot of water hazards, many of them with views of the bay behind. The clubhouse stands on Pardo Hill, and the course spreads across the hillside around it, so expect few level stances. A short card on hilly ground rewards placement more than power. Think about where to miss before you think about distance.

Know before you go.

Caddie fee

Charged on top of operator packages such as GolfPH’s; amount not published

Cart

Shared cart included in GolfPH’s package; Golfasian lists cart rental at about US$50

Group size

Up to five players on weekdays, four at weekends (Golfasian)

Packages

GolfPH’s Cebu package needs at least four golfers; weekend and holiday surcharge

Make the trip work.

Tee off early. The hillside catches the heat by late morning, and afternoon cloud often builds over the island in the wet months. Pack more balls than usual, since the sloping ground and the water make lost balls likely. If you are fewer than four, ask an operator whether you can join another group, because the GolfPH package is priced for a minimum of four. If you plan two rounds in Cebu, play Alta Vista on a weekday and save the flatter Cebu Country Club for a second day.

Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) is on Mactan Island, so the drive crosses one of the bridges to the mainland and the width of Cebu City before climbing into Pardo. Allow an hour or more, as city traffic is heavy at peak times. Golfasian puts the club about five miles from Cebu City, so from central hotels the drive is far shorter. Ask your operator whether transfers are part of the package.

Where it is.

Somewhere to settle in.

Most visiting golfers base themselves in Cebu City, around Ayala Center or IT Park, for restaurants and short transfers to both city courses. GolfPH pairs its rounds with the four-star Seda Ayala Center in town or the five-star Crimson Resort & Spa on Mactan. Staying on Mactan puts you near the beaches and the airport, but adds the bridge crossing to every golf day.

Make a trip of it.

Cebu Country Club in Banilad, founded in 1928, is the island’s oldest club and was later redesigned by Gary Player, so you can compare two of his Cebu layouts. Liloan Golf Course, north of the city, appears in the same GolfPH package and, unlike Alta Vista, includes the caddie fee there. Away from golf, Magellan’s Cross and the Basilica del Santo Niño sit together in the old downtown, and a day trip by fast ferry to Bohol is an easy add-on.

Find your season.

Cebu’s drier, more comfortable stretch runs from about December to May, with April and May the hottest months. Rain becomes more frequent from June, and typhoons are most likely from about October to December, which can close courses for a day or two after a storm.