Max Wexler

Max Wexler is a golf course architect who has been at work in Southeast Asia since the 1970s. Almost no record survives of his birth or his schooling, and most of his career has to be traced from what the courses themselves have written down. The material on Batam Hills Golf Resort and on Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort both treat him as an Australian architect. Planet Golf, the course-rating site, introduces him as a man who was originally involved in the design and construction of Sentosa Golf Resort in Singapore and who has since done a good deal of work across Asia.

Singapore was the starting point. The Tanjong course at Sentosa Golf Club opened in 1972 to a design by Frank Pennink, and in the 1990s it was rebuilt by Wexler and Chris Pitman; GolfPass dates that work to 1993. Elsewhere in Singapore his name remains on the Garden and Tampines courses at Tanah Merah Country Club and on the nines at National Service Resort & Country Club, the club known for serving the armed forces. Once that base was established, the work spread to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.

In Malaysia his principal work is the 36 holes of Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Shah Alam. According to GolfPass, both the Garden and the Valley courses were designed by Wexler in 1993, and the club opened formally in January 1994; the Valley course was later renovated by Ted Parslow and Geoff Parslow. Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort in Kuala Lumpur is a par 72 opened in 1994, a parkland course of 6,228 metres that threads its way through a residential district. At Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort in Johor, the Plantation course is the one of the three eighteens credited to Wexler. Ponderosa Golf & Country Club and the Royal Brunei Airlines Golf Club in Brunei are among the other courses that remain.

There is work in Indonesia and Thailand as well. In Indonesia, Batam Hills Golf Resort on Batam and the Z nine at Jagorawi Golf & Country Club outside Jakarta; in Thailand, Palm Hills Golf Club and Residence at Cha-am in Phetchaburi province and Dragon Hills Golf & Country Club in Ratchaburi. Among the courses listed on GoGolf, Wexler was involved with five, of which two — Batam Hills Golf Resort and Palm Hills Golf Club and Residence — can be booked through GoGolf. The remaining three appear as information pages only.

Wexler courses you can book on GoGolf

• Batam Hills Golf Resort (Batam, Indonesia) — formerly Paradise Bay. A par 72 opened in 1993, with an undulating front nine through woodland and an open back nine
• Palm Hills Golf Club and Residence (Phetchaburi, Thailand) — built in 1992. Held to be the first course of international standard near Hua Hin, with lakes at either end and a rocky hill as the landmarks of the site

Courses listed for information only

The following three courses are not currently open for booking through GoGolf. They appear on the site as information pages only.

• Glenmarie Golf and Country Club (Shah Alam, Malaysia) — designed the 36 holes of the Garden and Valley courses. The club opened in January 1994
• Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort (Johor, Malaysia) — of the three courses, the Plantation course, laid out on a former oil palm estate, is Wexler’s design
• Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) — opened 1994, a par 72 of 6,228 metres. The 18th plays uphill across a stream

Tee times and rates for a given day can be checked on each course page or in the GoGolf app.

See the other golf course architects here.