Beside the tea grove
Par 5 · Secondary scorecard
Period descriptions place a tea grove near the third, making the cultivated landscape part of the golfing experience. No photograph is confidently matched to this hole.
Dadugang · Jinghong · Xishuangbanna
Wild Elephant
Golf Club
西双版纳野象高尔夫球会
Closed · Historical course profile
A mountain course in Xishuangbanna’s tea-growing highlands, where fairways met forest, cultivated slopes and a resort designed around the tropical landscape.
- Former course
- 18 holesPar 72 · Mountain layout
- Opening
- 2010February, in historical listings
- Advertised length
- 7,039 yardsHistorical directory figure
- Setting
- DadugangTea gardens and forested hills
The setting
Golf among
the tea gardens.
A different side of Yunnan’s golfing past.
Wild Elephant Golf Club stood in Dadugang Township, within Jinghong, north of Xishuangbanna’s urban centre. Period descriptions place its 18 holes amid forested slopes, tea gardens and coffee cultivation.
Historical promotion described a clubhouse incorporating regional design, guest villas, a practice range and a large tea-growing estate. The course was presented as a tropical rainforest golf destination, a distinctive contrast with the highland courses around Kunming.
The name belongs to the former golf club. It should not be confused with the separate Wild Elephant Valley scenic attraction (野象谷).
A course shaped by its landscape.
Historical photographs · Yaso Trip
Playing character
Water and elevation
between the trees.
Accounts of the former course describe changes in height, woodland edges, water and bunkers. Tea-growing slopes gave the mountain routing its particular Xishuangbanna setting.
Scott Miller is named as designer in one historical directory; other listings omit the architect. The published 7,039-yard length also differs from the longest tee total in an online scorecard, so both are identified by source rather than treated as a single verified set of figures.
Four holes in the surviving record.
Historical descriptions and a secondary scorecard
A short shot by water
Par 3 · Secondary scorecard
The twelfth was described beside water, with bunkering around the front and sides of the green. An accurate tee shot mattered more than its short length.
Forest and tea slopes
Par 5 · Secondary scorecard
Accounts describe an elevated tee, forest to the right and rising ground planted with tea to the left.
A risk near the green
Par 4 · Secondary scorecard
A 2015 account places tea-covered slopes to the right and water short and left of the green, making the approach a demanding choice.
The other historical gallery photographs on this page have no verified hole numbers.
A surviving online scorecard.
18 holes · Par 72
FlyAway lists five tee totals from 4,966 to 6,429 metres and the pars below. This is a secondary online record, not an authenticated original club scorecard. Its black-tee total is approximately 7,030 yards, close to but different from the historical 7,039-yard advertised length.
View hole-by-hole pars
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
What happened to the course?
The closure record remains incomplete
The Yunnan Golf directory now marks Wild Elephant Golf Club as closed. A 2017 national golf-course rectification list separately names a Dadugang Tea Plantation Golf Course, but the available record does not establish that this entry caused Wild Elephant’s closure.
The government list records the Dadugang Tea Garden course as rectified, not abolished. It does not identify the date or cause of Wild Elephant's later closure. The date of its last round and subsequent use of the land remain unverified. This page preserves the former course as part of Yunnan’s golf history; tee times are unavailable.
About Wild Elephant Golf Club
Is Wild Elephant Golf Club still open?
No. A specialist Yunnan golf directory labels the Dadugang course closed. The exact date has not been confirmed.
Where was the course?
In Dadugang Township, Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. The golf club was separate from the Wild Elephant Valley scenic attraction.
How long was the course?
Historical listings advertised 7,039 yards. A secondary online scorecard gives a longest tee total of 6,429 metres; the original club card has not been authenticated.
Sources and further reading
- Yunnan Golf — archived Wild Elephant profile (Chinese) ↗
- Bookingtee — historical course specifications (Chinese) ↗
- CCTV — 2011 visitor account of holes 3, 12 and 15 (Chinese) ↗
- Sohu Sports — 2015 course and tea estate account (Chinese) ↗
- FlyAway — secondary 18-hole scorecard ↗
- Yaso Trip — historical course gallery ↗
- 2017 national rectification list (Chinese) ↗
Historical photographs are credited to Yaso Trip. The archival descriptions and online scorecard may preserve different stages of the course; unresolved details are identified in the text.
There is more Yunnan golf to discover.
Explore the current course guide or continue through the lost course archive.