Golfing in 'Paradise' Bali and Lombok are two of Indonesia’s prime holiday resort islands separated by the Lombok Strait, with Bali the better known and more developed of the two. Both are known as “hot” destinations for pleasure seekers, surfers, beach bums and sun worshippers from all over the planet. Surprisingly, though, neither is well-known generally as a golfing paradise. This is odd, given that three of Bali’s four 18-hole championship golf courses have all won international awards for their golfing excellence, whilst Lombok’s two courses are also of a high standard. More than 20 years ago, prestigious US publication Golf Magazine chose Bali Handara Kosaido Country Club as one of the world’s 50 best golf courses and, as recently as 1998, it was voted the world’s most beautiful golf course by the authoritative British magazine, Golf World. Given … the very recent arrival of a superb fourth golf course, the New Kuta Golf Club, it can’t be long before Bali becomes a major destination for international golf tourists, and rightly so. The island is spectacularly beautiful, and its golf courses are some of the best I’ve played anywhere in the world.