Beidaying · Xundian · Kunming
Kunming Tianhudao Golf Club
昆明天湖岛高尔夫俱乐部
Two courses above the valleys of Xundian. Tianhu Island brought lakes, woodland and open highland golf together at a club also known to international visitors as Sky Oasis.
The setting
A quieter corner of Kunming’s golfing past.
Tianhu Island lay at Beidaying, in Xundian County, northeast of Kunming. English directories used Sky Oasis Golf Resort and its earlier name, Skyait Golf Club. They refer to the same former resort.
Its name suggested an island, but the setting was a plateau bordered by deep valleys, with the Niulan River on one side. The open views and changing elevations gave the club its character.
The original development promoted a much larger, 108-hole vision. The golfing complex documented in period reports comprised two 18-hole courses, known as Tianhu No. 1 and Tianhu No. 2, or A and B. These formed the core of a resort with accommodation and other leisure facilities.
The architect’s account of B Course describes a routing that worked with the available flatter ground, connecting valleys and ridges while keeping existing vegetation wherever possible. The historic photographs preserve that interplay of maintained turf, rough grass and woodland.
The former 36-hole complex
The first course paired a water-rich front nine with a hillier back nine through pines and folds in the landscape. A contemporary visitor remembered the village of Shibanhe across the water beside the ninth hole, giving the round a distinctly rural setting.
Often described in Chinese golf writing as a highland links, B Course had a more exposed feel, narrower playing corridors and elevated greens. Afternoon wind added to the challenge across its rolling terrain.
*A Course length from historical profiles. Published B Course lengths vary.
Historical B Course photographs
A memorable design detail
A Chinese course review singled out B Course’s par-three eighth for the pattern of sand and grass in front of its green. Seen from the right viewpoint, the arrangement was compared with the Chinese character 吉, associated with good fortune.
The feature gave the layout an immediately recognisable image. Elsewhere, the interest came from changes in level, elevated targets and views across the surrounding countryside.
The club’s changing story
Chinese profiles date the first course to 2008; English directories commonly give 2009 as the resort’s opening year.
Tianhu No. 2 appeared in Chinese coverage of the country’s ten best new golf courses.
A referee’s first-hand blog records a visit to Tianhu for the Titleist Western Junior Golf Tour.
The provincial clean-up register listed the Beidaying site as Yunnan (Xundian) Golf Course, under its rectification category.
No. Kunming Tianhudao Golf Club is part of our Lost Courses of Yunnan archive. This is a historical profile; tee times are unavailable.
Yes. Tianhudao is a romanisation of the Chinese name. Skyait Golf Club and Sky Oasis Golf Resort appear in English descriptions of the same club at Beidaying in Xundian.
That was the announced development plan. Period accounts document two 18-hole courses, plus a separate novelty par-three known as the Eagle Hole. The archive records the two main courses as a 36-hole complex.
At Beidaying in Hekou Town, Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County, within Kunming municipality. This was a rural highland destination northeast of the city.
Explore the courses in our current guide and plan a round in Kunming and beyond.