1. Agrotourism Activities

Bali’s soil is amazing in providing villages a variety of fresh produce. The highlands are where coffee, oranges, strawberries, and more, are grown and delivered to local markets.

The Sila’s Agrotoursim is a recreation and educational park offering guests many activities on their grounds, supported by the company’s facilities. Activities include:

• Outbound
• Camping
• ATV
• Horse riding
• Paintball
• Trekking
• Cycling
• Fishing
• And self picking fruit

Whatever the outdoor activity, Sila’s Agrotourism has it all.

8km from Handara Golf & Resort, 20 min ride by taxi

2. One temple, two temples, three temples, a thousand temples!

Also known worldwide as ‘Island of 1000 temples’, Bali possesses a strong cultural background that many visitors find fascinating. It doesn’t matter which temple you choose to visit in the island, by doing so, it will give you a glimpse of these Hindu sanctuaries sacred to the people of Bali.

Unique temples that surround our resort include:

• Ulun Danu Beratan temple
• Ulun Danu Buyan temple

These two temples are located near each other to look over lakes Beratan and Buyan. These water temples are iconic on postcards because of the picturesque background that comes to life during the Golden Hour.

4km from Handara Golf & Resort, 10 min ride by taxi
3km from Handara Golf & Resort, 9 min ride by taxi

3. Monkey for a day

Swing from tree to tree like our beloved primate at Bali Treetop Adventure Park! Indulge in natural activities where you and your kids can enjoy a fun day out conquering various tightrope courses that ranges from spider nets to adrenaline pumping Tarzan jumps. Other than the fun-filled park, they have a rather sublime garden that features the most exotic flora in Indonesia.

Handara Golf & Resort is strategically located in the center of Bali’s natural treasures. Experience a peaceful holiday getaway at one of the island’s oldest yet still golden golf resorts for time away from the hustle and bustle of the city. For more information about our accommodation, check out this link.

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Distractions – During downtime, the worst thing you can do is allow your mind to wander. These distractions are the best way to get your current shot wrong. It is better to keep your mind focused on your current play by asking questions like, ‘what is the best angle to come in from? How is the lie of this ball going to affect the shot?’ With such questions, you will be able to keep your focus on the shot that you are currently taking and arrest your wandering mind.

Score Obsession – If you are only focused on the scores, you will easily get distracted. The reason is that it creates tension and anxiety. Create a mental routine that will keep you focused on the shot you are currently making. Take a deep breath and then turn your attention to the shot you are about to take. Understand that you only have control over your current shot, so keep your focus there and make a relaxed and confident swing.

Emotional reactions – Everybody makes a poor shot from time to time, but reacting emotionally to it and allowing frustration to set it can make your game even poorer. Your decision making will be affected and your tension levels will rise. The game will cease to be enjoyable to you. With a good reaction to a poor shot, you will be able to keep the proper mindset needed to take the next shot. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

No Course Management – It is important to know your limitations and your strengths whenever you are on the course. Play the game based on your regular patterns and not on ego. This will ensure that you are more relaxed and comfortable when playing, which will lead to a better game. Making great decisions on the course is based on the game you usually play with confidence. Do that and you will see better scores.

Loss of confidence – You need to believe that you can successfully hit a shot. When you get on the course, forget about worst case scenarios and poorly taken shots. Get rid of the fear and doubt and begin visualizing the perfect shot. Ensure that you have positive self-talk and work on the shots that generally trouble you. You will do great!

By avoiding those things when you play golf will help you get good golf experiences. Now, you are ready to enjoy our golf course at Handara Golf and Resort even more.

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• In order to create more bounce and loft, you need to ensure that you have opened the face of the sand wedge. As you open the face, you will be increasing the wedges degree of loft. It is important to note that your regular sand wedge is 56° loft. If you open your wedge 20°, it makes your effective loft 76°. Opening the face means making sure that your bottom edge is pointed 20° to the right side of your target line.
• Ball placement is also critical. You should place it 2 inches in front of your stance right in the middle. You will need to make a shallow divot that starts 2 inches behind where the ball is. Your body alignment should open at the same degree as the opened face. So, if you open the face 20° open your body 20° as well.
• When you make a swing, let it be along your body line. Don’t swing across your ball, or inside or at the flag. Imagine that you were going for a pitch of 35 yards and then swing up and along your body line, turning the chest.
• The swing should not be a full one. Instead, go for a ¾ swing. You want to make sure that your chest turns 69°, your hands swing up and opposite your rear shoulder. It is important to think of your thirty-five-yard pitch shot when making this particular swing.
• Many players tend to fail in the downswing. You should follow the same trajectory swinging down that you are following in the upswing. This should be along the target line, which is your body line and not the flag. This means that you should aim for a 20° swing to the targets left.
• It is important to note how your hips, legs and lower body is positioned at this point. Put your weight on your left as you unwind and also clear your hips. The body line is what the sand divot follows and the divot is kept at 29° on the flags left. You need to maintain the angle of the spine and your posture. The ball will come up on a sand cushion.

With a bunker shot, your club will not contact the ball, but sand and the ball will them be lifted out on a sand wave. Now that you know how to deal with a bunker shot, why don’t you challenge yourself to master all of our holes at Handara Golf & Resort Bali.

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As you approach the tee, you will see the clubhouse and Katmandalu Restaurant in the distance. From the white tees, this hole plays at 499 yards and is the sixth-hardest hole on the course. The overall length of this hole is quite short for a par 5, which is a blessing for us bogey golfers.

Hole 18 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali

You will be wise to note the out of bounds all along the left side of the hole. This is particularly important as you get closer to the green. A fairway bunker at 190 means you should attempt to play reasonably long, but there’s no reason to get overly aggressive. This is especially true if your miss is a big slice or a big hook. The hook could put you OB while the slice could put you into the wasteland on the other side of the cart path- often resulting in a lost ball.

The smart play off the tee is to play a 210-230 yard shot toward the left side of the right-sloping fairway. From there, you will commonly have another 150 or so to lay up before the right-side fairway bunker, leaving you a comfortable approach of 130-140 yards into the center of the green.

When hitting into the green, pay special attention to the pin placement and avoid the greenside bunker that lines the right side. The green is long and plays at least 2 clubs deep. Combine this with an uphill approach, and club selection becomes especially important.

If the pin is in front, aim slightly left and attack the pin. The fairway-sloping green can be very difficult to lag put from deeper into the green. If the pin is set back with a white or blue flag, play the ball a little further left and be sure to give it enough juice to get up the hill.

Whew, all done! Let’s head up to Katmandalu Restarant for a hot coffee or cold beer- whatever your preference.

We hope you have enjoyed the Hackers’ Guide to Handara, our journey through Bali’s most historic and prestigious golf course from the perspective of the average bogey golfer. Perhaps one of these days, after some hard work on the range and practice green, I will be able to bring you the Players’ Guide to Handara.

No trip to Handara Golf and Resort Bali would be complete without sampling some of the excellent activities and facilities. Join us next week as we unwind and relax on-site here at Bali’s best golf course.

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Playing from an elevated tee box makes this hole play shorter than it really is. The white tees play at exactly 400 yards, making it an easy reach for most bogey golfers. Playing smart off the tee is the best way to ensure this stroke-index-12 hole plays as easy as it should.

The fairway slopes noticeably downhill from left to right so it’s best to play any reliable 220-240 yard shot toward the left half of the fairway (remembering that it’s downhill so you will gain another 20-40 yards in roll out). For many bogey golfers, this means a fairway wood or hybrid club.

Hole 17 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali

If you have a tendency to hook the ball, don’t let the bunker on the left side of the fairway distract you. In fact, the OB left of the fairway is the real concern. Playing for the fairway will usually mean the ball settles in the right half of the fairway or perhaps into the right rough.

From there, players should avoid the greenside bunker which is short-right of the green by favoring the left side and going a club longer if in doubt. The green itself slopes left to right so even if the pin is up front, aim a little left to account for a breaking roll out.

Once you are on the putting surface, things are fairly straightforward. The green slopes toward the bunker and back out toward the fairway. Knock your first one close and who knows, you may just come away with a well-earned par.

We hope you have enjoyed this installment of the Hackers’ Guide to Handara here at Handara Golf & Resort Bali. Join us next week as we reach a challenging but rewarding conclusion to our round here in the mountains of Bali.

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With a total distance from the white tees of only 400 yards, there is no need to get aggressive off the tee. Sure, if your driver is firing that day, get it out and play an easy one up the middle of the fairway. Otherwise, play a sensible shot that stays in the fairway and avoids the lateral hazard on the right side of the short stuff. The slope of the fairway will tend to make your ball kick left, so just play for the middle and allow it to happen. There is danger on both sides of the fairway- hazard on the right and OOB over the cart path on the left. Play straight or play short, that’s my motto on this hole.

Hole 16 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali

Provided that you have put your drive in the fairway, your approach to the green is simple, but uphill. Rarely, if ever, do I decide to go for the green in two on this hole. The green itself is extremely sloped back to front and right to left. Take careful note of the pin position and aim to get as close as possible. Putts from the top of the green coming back down to the bottom commonly exit the putting surface and end up in the rough. Plan accordingly and try to stick your approach shot close. If you are on in three, and close to the pin, a bogey is still an excellent outcome on this difficult hole.

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The white tees are set at 499 yards with fairway bunkers to the right side of the fairway at approximately 220-240. Given that the hole is not particularly long and that the danger is right in the landing zone for most recreational high handicappers (like me), picking up the driver is usually where the trouble starts on this hole.

The smart choice for a bogey golfer is to play a long iron or fairway wood out to 200, leaving a pair of 7-irons to still reach the green in three. That’s right, this green is easily reachable in three without making any risky decisions. Just like your tee shot, avoid the temptation to “go for it”on your second shot. Laying up before the creek that runs across the fairway means you are less likely to incur a penalty.

Hole 15 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali

Play for the heart of the green on this one. Leaving it short or right can lead to trouble in the bunkers. Ending up long can put you into rather unfriendly rough. Play to the center and who knows, maybe you two putt for a par!

I hope we are inspiring you to go and play at Handara Golf & Resort Bali. That’s hole 15 and if you have any comments of feedback you can comment below or chat with us on Facebook for Handara Golf & Resort Bali. Don’t miss us next week as we head into the final stretch here at Handara Golf and Resort Bali– hole 16.

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The white tees on hole 12 play at 364 yards, making this a rather short par 4 hole. With a handicap index of 14, hole 12 presents a fairly straightforward challenge to the bogey golfer.

Hole 12 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali

From the tee box, you will see everything you need to know about this hole. With a total length of only 364 yards, you don’t have to play a driver if it isn’t your straightest stick. Any straight shot over 220yds or so will get you in good position for an attack at the pin. If you are an excessively long driver of the ball, you should be careful of the deep creek running across the fairway at approximately 300 yards.

Be careful to note the flag color and pin location because this long green plays 2-3 clubs deep. As you stand on the tee box you will see that you have a clear view of the green which has bunkers on the left and the right. Favoring the rearward portion of the green eliminates the bunkers and gets you in position for an easy bogey, or perhaps a par depending on your lag putting skills.

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The 11th hole at Handara is a quaint par 3 that is 177 yards long if you are on the white tees.

Tee off at Hole 11 at Handara Golf

As you stand on the tee box you will see that you have a clear view of the green which has bunkers on the left and the right. The trees on the side of the fairway can be rather challenging depending on where the pin is positioned.

Hole 11 at Handara Golf

Today we have the pin positioned nicely over the right which certainly helps those who have a bit of draw to their swing. If you like to fade or slice it then this position is somewhat challenging. Ideally, you are going to head straight down the middle with a little fade. If you are a bit short then this fairway can be forgiving as it slopes away from you it is quite often that you get a nice bounce and roll onto the green.

Today I am taking out my 7 iron which will hopefully land me nicely on the green. A bogey on this hole all depends on how that first tee shot goes. Once on the green it is fairly straight forward as this green is relatively flat and not particularly fast. 2 putts on here should see you with a decent par, or in the worst case a 3 putt for bogey.

That’s hole 11 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali. We hope you like the insights into playing this awesome golf course in Bali. As always, give us your feedback on how to play Handara and we will be happy to share them with our readers. Next week it is on to hole 12, stay tuned.

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Hole 10 at Handara Golf and Resort Bali is fairly straightforward. Golfers will tee off downhill to an open fairway. Trees line the left so it is advisable to play your tee shot a bit out to the right. Players with a heavy fade (ahem, slicers!) should be careful to avoid the thick rough on the right which also features enough trees to complicate your attempt at obtaining bogey on this hole.

With the white tees playing at only 366 yards, players in our handicap range are often wise to choose a hybrid or long iron off the tee. If you are confident (and straight!) with a fairway wood, this is also a sensible choice. A shot that puts you out around 180-200 yards will leave you with a very tempting similar second shot to be on in two.

Avoid the ambition and you will avoid the greenside bunkers that guard both the left and right sides of the green. My best choice on this hole after driving the fairway with a 4i is to go gap wedge, gap wedge to be on in three. From there, it is a simple two putt for bogey. On the times I have let my ambition get the better of me and put the ball into one of the bunkers, I often open myself up to a six or seven on the scorecard. Lesson learned, keep those bunkers out of play!

Hole 10 at Handara Golf & Resort Bali

With sensible decision making and reasonably struck shots, bogey golf doesn’t have to be stressful. Join us next week as we head over to hole 11 and continue looking at each hole from a bogey golfer’s perspective. Thank you for reading the Hackers’ Guide to Handara!

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