Laiza Golf Club is a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

and club in

Laiza Laiza ( my, လိုင်ဇာ ''Laingza'') is a remote mountainous town in the Kachin State, Myanmar. It lies on the border with China, the other side is . Laiza is the capital of the Kachin Independence Organisation since 2005. History L ...

in Kachin State. Laiza golf club

History

General

Sumlut Gun Maw Sumlut Gun Maw is an officer of the Kachin Independence Army who is currently serving as the vice chief-of-staff with the rank of brigadier general since 2009. Early life and education Gunmaw was born on February 5, 1963, in Dukahtaung, Myitkyin ...

of the

Kachin Independence Army The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: ''ShangLawt Hpyen''; my, ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), a pol ...

founded the club in 2004 after playing golf at a reconciliation conference in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. The site is by the river which forms the frontier with China. There was formerly a village there but this was destroyed by flooding in 1991. The course was designed by a professional golfer from

Myitkyina Myitkyina (, ; (Eng; ''mitchinar'') Jinghpaw: ''Myitkyina'', ) is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina is on the west bank of t ...

, Nay Min. Six holes were constructed, starting in 2006, and there are plans to add three holes. This golf course is open to the public for use even during war time. The course consists of 6 holes. The golfers are mostly army officers or officials of the

Kachin Independence Organisation The Kachin Independence Organisation ( my, ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးအဖွဲ့ချုပ်; abbreviated KIO) is a Kachin political organisation in Myanmar (Burma), established on 5 February 1961. It has an armed win ...

but the course is open to the public and a round costs Ks.1,000/- – about 1 US$. The Laiza golf club is argued to be the cheapest golf club in the world.

Holes and features

The longest hole is 645-yard par 5. Hole 1 is a 358-yard par 4 and hole 4 is a 392-yard par 4. Hole 5 has a memorial to the 1991 flood victims. The course has 15 sand traps and other hazards including the adjacent banana plantation and river. There are 8 staff and a clubhouse with refreshments. The caddying is typically performed by girls displaced by incursions of the

Burmese army The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...

Events

There are four tournaments each year which are typically held on holidays. Other tournaments have been held monthly but these may be disrupted by the level of military conflict.

References

Golf clubs and courses in Myanmar Kachin State {{golfcourse-stub