Ferris Bueller's Two Days Off: Golfing My Way Through Singapore
One of my favorite travel strategies is what I call the micro-vacation —tacking a day or two onto the end of a business trip before reality, conference rooms, and airport lounges reclaim your calendar. It's amazing what 48 extra hours can do for the soul.
Singapore turned out to be the perfect place to put the strategy into practice. After wrapping up a week of meetings, I stayed an extra two days. Day one was reserved for watching the world's best women compete in the 2024 HSBC Women's World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club's magnificent Tanjong Course. Day two was for teeing it up myself at Orchid Country Club. It was, in many ways, my own version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off—except instead of borrowing a Ferrari, I was borrowing time.
One of Singapore's greatest strengths is how incredibly easy it is to get around. The city's public transportation system is clean, inexpensive, punctual and remarkably intuitive. Armed with nothing more than my hotel key card and Google Maps and a sense of adventure, I reached both golf destinations entirely by bus. There's something deeply satisfying about riding public transit to world-class golf instead of battling rental cars, toll roads and unfamiliar traffic.
Sentosa Golf Club sits just minutes from downtown, yet it feels worlds away. The Tanjong Course is one of Asia's premier championship venues and has undergone an extensive redesign that transformed it into a spectacular modern test while preserving its tropical beauty. Palm trees frame pristine fairways, white bunkers sparkle against emerald turf, and almost every elevated viewpoint offers another postcard-worthy panorama. What struck me most wasn't simply the conditioning—although it was immaculate—but the setting. On one side, Singapore's futuristic skyline rises dramatically into the clouds. On the other, the calm waters of the Singapore Strait stretch toward the Southern Islands, with ships patiently waiting offshore like an orderly parking lot for giant cargo vessels. It's a course that constantly reminds you where you are, blending championship golf with one of the world's most distinctive cityscapes.
For the front nine I followed fellow Canadian Brooke Henderson, who was paired with Sarah Schmelzel and Hyo Joo Kim. Brooke, as always, was generous with smiles and appreciative waves to the gallery. The gallery, however, had a noticeable imbalance. Hyo Joo Kim attracted a tremendous following every time she approached a tee or green, while Brooke's Canadian fan club consisted of... well... me. At one point Brooke looked over and I jokingly told her, "I'm the one-man Brooke brigade today." She smiled, which made me feel I'd contributed as much to the tournament as my cheering possibly could.
Walking alongside the world's best players also serves as a useful reminder of just how extraordinary professional golf really is. Television simply cannot capture how consistently they strike the ball, how creatively they recover from trouble, or how quietly confident they appear over every shot. It is humbling, inspiring and just a little bad for your own golf expectations.
The following morning it was my turn. Rather than another championship venue, I headed north to Orchid Country Club, another straightforward bus ride that reinforced my admiration for Singapore's transit system. The course offered a completely different experience—less grand spectacle, more relaxed club atmosphere—but no less enjoyable. I was paired with three Japanese gentlemen who worked at Toyota's Singapore operations. Before long we were exchanging stories about golf - they were very excited when I talked about Hideki Matsuyama ! -, travel, work and life despite the occasional language barrier. As happens so often in golf, the game filled in whatever words couldn't. Good shots required no translation. Neither did three-putts. They were wonderful company, and by the end of the round we were laughing like old friends.
Those two extra days reminded me why the micro-vacation remains one of my favorite ways to travel. They cost little more than an extra couple of hotel nights but delivered memories that far outlasted the meetings that brought me to Singapore in the first place. One day I walked beside one of Canada's greatest golfers while surrounded by one of the world's most spectacular skylines. The next I played a relaxed round with three new Japanese friends I never would have met otherwise. Not a bad way to spend my own version of Ferris Bueller's Two Days Off. The meetings have long since blurred together, but those two days of buses, birdies (the pros' mostly although I made one!), laughter and tropical golf remain crystal clear.