The construction of the military base at Changi commenced in 1926 and was occupied by the British Army and Commonwealth forces up to the surrender in WWII. When peace was declared in 1945 the British Army went back into the Changi site and stayed there until 1946 when the administration and running of the base was handed over to the Royal Air Force.
The RAF Changi personnel decided to create a golf section and they laid out a few holes on the sports field without any bunkers. It was not until 1949 that the golf course was ready for play.
Changi is a reminder of Singapore’s historical connection with WWII, as the course winds through an area filled with mementos of the British presence like the soldier’s barracks, officer’s quarters, gun-emplacements and air-raid bunkers. When the RAF left Singapore in 1971, the club was privatized and civilian members were taken in to form the pioneer group of Changi Golf Club. Since then the golf course and the clubhouse have been regularly upgraded.
Wandering over undulating terrain, Changi is a tight and challenging 9-hole course. There were three distinctive features in Changi in the early formative years:
- The 8th fairway was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the narrowest fairway in the world, but has since been widened.
- The 6th hole was without a fairway and golfers have to ‘borrow’ the 5th fairway to play their second shot up the hill slope to reach the green.
- There were snakes everywhere, especially the cobras.
The clubhouse facilities include a Chinese restaurant, golfers’ lounge, golfers’ terrace, function room, card room and karaoke room. The clubhouse overlooks the Changi beach which offers a panoramic view of the sea and Pulau Ubin. Changi is one of the few remaining places in modern Singapore that still retains an idyllic environment.