Carey Island Golf Club is not your typical golf experience.

Located about an hour outside Kuala Lumpur, this unusual little golf course combines a fascinating history, a wonderfully quirky clubhouse, plenty of wildlife, and a front nine that gave us one of our biggest surprises in Malaysia.

But before you can play Carey Island, you first have to find it.

And that is where things get interesting!

So, to make it easier for you, we’ll add the directions here: first, drive to the ends of the earth, then turn right, and check in with the company security guard. And, while Google Maps tells you that you have arrived, you will need another 11-kilometer drive through a huge plantation to get to the course!

You’re welcome!!

Carey Island Golf Club at a Glance

Location	Carey Island, Selangor, Malaysia
Course	Carey Island Golf Club
Holes / Par	18 / 72
Longest Tees	6,689 yards
Visitor Access	Yes – open to the public
Golf Carts	Available
Caddies	Available
Course Type	Parkland
Clubhouse	Historic 1920s colonial clubhouse
Practice Facilities	Driving range
Address	Sime Darby Plantation Academy, 42960 Pulau Carey, Selangor, Malaysia
Phone	+60 19 930 5860
Website	No official website found

Our take: A wonderfully quirky golf experience with a fascinating history, an incredible old colonial clubhouse, plenty of character and more wildlife than we expected to encounter on a golf course!

Why We Wanted to Play Carey Island

In the few years that led up to our world golf travel adventures, I spent more than my fair share of time daydreaming about golf courses. Most of the greats were already known and were already on our list.

But if you know us, we love courses that are a little more out of the ordinary.

During a Google search for Asia’s most unique golf courses, we came across a very interesting article written by golf course architect Paul Jansen, titled “The Seven Wonders of Southern Asia.”

The seven wonders of Southern Asia?!!

We couldn’t think of anything more, well, us!

So, shortly after we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, we contacted Mr. Jansen to let him know that we were about to embrace our first of his seven.

And that first “wonder” was Carey Island Golf Club.

Arriving at Carey Island

After stopping so our Grab driver could ask for directions, we finally arrived. Stepping out of the car, we were approached by two staff members who honestly seemed very surprised to see us!

Or anyone, for that matter!

Golfers. At a golf course. Requesting to play golf—imagine the odds!

And then there was the clubhouse.

Built back in the 1920s, the stately white colonial clubhouse is completely open, with lofty ceilings and huge black iron ceiling fans keeping the rooms breezy in the Malaysian heat. It is supposedly one of the oldest golf clubhouses in Malaysia still in use today, and it certainly feels like stepping back in time.

We took our time exploring the magnificent building, including the upstairs billiards room and the open walkway overlooking the course. We could easily imagine this being THE place to enjoy a Gin and Tonic back in the Club’s heyday.

Downstairs, a beautiful black wooden bar-like counter and old teak-style furniture fit perfectly with the building’s character. We even imagined the room with a piano back in the day, Casablanca style.

Other than the missing piano, probably not much has changed there since opening day!

Checking in

Seemingly curious as to why we were there, we approached the counter and inquired if we could play.

We had phoned a few days in advance to make sure the course was open to public play, and fortunately, it was. The staff mentioned that there is rarely any play during the week, although there is some local and employee play on weekends.

As we signed our names and entered our handicaps into the dated register book, we weren’t surprised to see that we were the only names on the entire page.

And the price?

When we played, 18 holes cost us just RM43—about €9 and US$10 at the time. Remarkably, that RM43 weekday green fee is still listed today, while weekend and public-holiday play is RM63. Buggy hire is currently RM60, subject to availability. 

Carey Island measures 6,689 yards from the Black tees and is a par 72. But it’s not the numbers that will make Carey Island linger long in your memory.

It’s the character!

Playing Carey Island Golf Club

Registered and eager to play golf, we headed to the first tee.

There are three sets of tees, Black, Blue, and Red, indicated on the scorecard. However, there was only one tee marker on the ground- Blue, so Blue it was!

The opening hole is a 165-yard par 3 from the Blue tees, with a pond directly in front of you and a road just beyond it. Miss left and you’re out of bounds. Not exactly the gentle welcome we were expecting!

The second hole was a short par 4, with a light post sitting directly across the road about 80 yards from the tee. Then, on the third, telephone wires crossed in front of the tee box, meaning a little creativity was required.

And I think it was there, on the third hole, that I absolutely fell in love with the golf course.

There was something truly familiar about the layout. Something familiar about the distances.

Yes, it seemed as though I had played here before.

That was it.

This was the course that I grew up on—Riverwood Golf Course!

Just 13,069 kilometers, or 8,121 miles, from “home,” but worlds away.

The similarities were uncanny. The tee boxes were raised by about a foot, just like at Riverwood, and even some of the greens felt familiar. Tiny, oddly shaped bunkers protected tiny greens, and the overall character of the holes brought back memories of the course where I learned to play.

Of course, not everything was the same.

Instead of the willows and temperate trees of Riverwood, Carey Island had palm-lined fairways and tropical vegetation.

And wildlife!

Monkeys wandered around the tee boxes and even ran across the seventh green. There were ostriches, guinea fowl, peacocks, goats and deer, along with a Brahminy Kite soaring overhead.

Playing Carey Island was like taking a walk through a zoo!

Other than the owner’s small Poodle that roamed the clubhouse when I was very young, Riverwood had nothing like this!

Making The Turn

After loving every detail of the front nine, we were ready to make the turn.

Only there wasn’t exactly a traditional golf-course way to do it.

To find the back nine, we walked along the road bordering the first hole, took a shortcut in front of the eighth green, and followed the signs—or, more accurately, the animals!

Turn right at the ostriches.

Left at the peacocks.

Right at the deer.

There were turkeys and goats along the way too.

At this point, we were beginning to wonder if we were still playing golf or simply taking a wildlife tour of Carey Island! 😂

Eventually, we reached the buggy barn near the tenth tee. There was nobody around, and the collection of buggies looked more like a buggy graveyard than a fleet ready to take golfers around the course.

And that probably should have been our first warning about the back nine…

Finishing Our Round

Unfortunately, the back nine was a very different experience. Perhaps the only thing interesting about the back nine was actually finding it!

Gone were the interesting holes full of character that we had enjoyed on the front nine. In their place were more monotonous, forgettable holes that seemed to have little resemblance to what we had just played.

With the heat, the confusing layout, and the condition of the back nine, we eventually skipped a few holes.

But Carey Island still had one final surprise waiting for us.

The 18th features a small stone bridge that looks remarkably like a miniature version of the famous Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews. Even the distance of the hole reminded us of the 18th on the Old Course.

So, naturally, we had to play it the same way we played the Old Course years before.

I hit a 3-wood and followed it with a full wedge, leaving myself with a putt for birdie.

But unlike my putt so many years before, this time I made it—our only birdie of the day!

It was a pretty memorable way to finish a very unusual round of golf.

Why We’ll Always Remember Carey Island

Carey Island is certainly not the most polished golf course we’ve ever played. The back nine was disappointing, the layout was confusing, and the course was showing its age.

But none of that is what we remember.

We remember the incredible 1920s clubhouse, the monkeys, ostriches, peacocks and deer, and the completely unexpected feeling of familiarity I had standing on the third tee.

Here we were, 13,069 kilometers from home, playing a quirky little golf course that somehow reminded me of the course where I grew up.

Unusual, yet strangely familiar.

That’s what made Carey Island so memorable for us.

It was an absolute highlight of our golfing journey through Malaysia—and exactly the kind of unexpected experience we love to find when we’re puttering around the world.

And isn’t that what travel is all about?

How to Get to Carey Island Golf Club

Carey Island Golf Club is less than an hour and a half from Kuala Lumpur, but getting there is definitely part of the adventure. There’s little in the way of public transportation, so we’d recommend driving or taking a Grab.

That’s what we did.

Our Grab driver had to stop along the way to ask for directions, and even after Google Maps told us we had arrived, we still had another 11-kilometer drive through the plantation before reaching the golf course.

And getting back was even more interesting!

After our round, we ordered another Grab to take us to Kuala Lumpur. But with the workday ending and KL traffic getting heavier, driver after driver declined our pickup.

So, in classic Puttering around the World fashion, we ended up hitching a ride with an employee of the golf club—in the back of his pickup truck!

It was hilarious!

So yes, we’d still recommend Grab. Just keep in mind that Carey Island might not be every Grab driver’s first choice for a pickup.

Our tip: If you’re relying on Grab, have a plan for getting back before you tee off. Or, if all else fails, perhaps make friends with a golf-club employee. 😉

Where to Stay

OK, we may send you to the ends of the earth to play golf, but we’re not going to make you stay there! 😂

There really isn’t any reason to stay near Carey Island Golf Club. We’d recommend making Carey Island a day trip from Kuala Lumpur and choosing your accommodation in the city.

Our Choice: Bukit Bintang

We love staying in Bukit Bintang. It’s right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle, with restaurants, cafés, shopping and plenty of nightlife all within easy reach.

And when it’s time to go golfing, just order a Grab and off you go.

Our Golf Splurge

If you feel like treating yourselves, the Golden Triangle is also home to some fantastic luxury hotels.

This is where we’d splurge: enjoy a little five-star luxury in the city, then head off to the ends of the earth for your round of golf!

Honestly, we think that’s the better way around.

Find Your Perfect Place to Stay

Not sure where to stay? Have a look at our interactive hotel map below. Just zoom in on Kuala Lumpur, check out the options around Bukit Bintang and the Golden Triangle, and find your perfect home base for your Carey Island adventure.

For more of our favorite neighborhoods, food, and attractions, check out our guide to The Best of Travel and Golf in Kuala Lumpur.

And if you’d rather see KL than read about it, check out our Kuala Lumpur Travel Vlog 🇲🇾 Food, Cafés & Hidden Gems on YouTube!

Ready to Explore More Golf?

Carey Island Golf Club was just one course on our worldwide golf journey. If you’d like to see where else we’ve played, explored, and discovered along the way, there’s plenty more to explore.

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