Taunggyi Golf Courses: Book Tee Times & Play in Myanmar's Shan Highlands in 2026/2027

Important note on travel: Myanmar has been under military rule since the February 2021 coup. Shan State has also been affected by ongoing ethnic armed conflict involving multiple armed groups. Check current travel advisories for both Myanmar and Shan State specifically before planning any visit.

Taunggyi is the capital of Shan State, Myanmar’s largest state by area, situated at roughly 1,400 meters above sea level in the Shan Plateau. The elevation gives the city a cooler climate than Yangon or Mandalay, and the surrounding plateau landscape of pine-covered hills, tea gardens, and minority village communities is distinct from any other part of Myanmar. Three courses are listed in the GolfLux Taunggyi database, and the one that merits specific attention is Aye Thar Yar Golf Resort at 7,380 yards, an 18-hole layout situated at approximately 3,000 feet above sea level near the city. That yardage at highland elevation makes it the longest course in the Shan State listing and the most complete playing option in the region.

The destination framing for Taunggyi sits between the more accessible Myanmar stops and the more restricted ones. Inle Lake, one of Myanmar’s most visited destinations and a freshwater lake with stilt-house fishing villages in the southern Shan highlands, is accessible from Taunggyi and gives the region a non-golf identity that draws international visitors independently of the golf. For golfers building a Myanmar circuit that includes the highlands, Taunggyi provides proper courses alongside one of the country’s most recognized natural attractions.

Best golf courses in Taunggyi

Three courses serve the Taunggyi area. Two are 18-hole layouts worth including in a visiting program.

1. Aye Thar Yar Golf Resort

Aye Thar Yar Golf Resort is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 7,380 yards, situated at approximately 3,000 feet above sea level near Taunggyi in Shan State according to the club. At 7,380 yards it is the longest course in the Shan highlands listing, and the altitude means the ball carries further than at sea level, which changes how the length plays in practice. No slope data is publicly listed. The elevated setting and the surrounding Shan plateau landscape give the round a mountain character unavailable from the flat lowland courses in Yangon and Mandalay.

It suits experienced golfers who want the most complete highland round available in Shan State, and any visitor for whom the 3,000-foot altitude golf experience is a specific draw.

2. Kalaw Golf Club

Kalaw Golf Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout with no publicly listed yardage, located in Kalaw town in northern Shan State according to the club. Kalaw sits at an even higher elevation than Taunggyi at roughly 1,300 meters, and the town has a distinct character built around colonial-era British hill station architecture, pine forest trails, and the trekking routes that connect Kalaw to Inle Lake through minority villages over two or three days. The golf course uses the hillside terrain of the Shan hills.

It suits golfers who want the most highland-character round in the region, and those combining a Kalaw golf morning with the town’s trekking and colonial heritage.

3. Golden Triangle Golf Course

Golden Triangle Golf Course is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 6,554 yards, located in Keng Tung in eastern Shan State according to the club. Keng Tung is a historic Shan royal town near the borders of Laos, Thailand, and China in the area historically associated with the opium-producing Golden Triangle region. The 6,554-yard layout is accessible for a range of handicap levels and the Keng Tung location gives the course the most geographically remote position of any course in the Myanmar GolfLux database.

Which course is better?

Aye Thar Yar Golf Resort is the first choice by yardage and highland elevation for golfers based in Taunggyi. Kalaw Golf Club is the most distinctive hill station character option for golfers making the Kalaw stop on the way to or from Inle Lake. Golden Triangle suits the most adventurous travelers who reach Keng Tung specifically. Most Shan highlands programs pair Aye Thar Yar and Kalaw as the two primary rounds.

Best time to play golf in Taunggyi

Taunggyi’s highland elevation gives it a cooler climate than lowland Myanmar year-round, which is one of its practical advantages as a golf destination. November through February is the coolest and driest period, with morning temperatures around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius requiring a light layer for early tee times. March through May is warm and dry, the most comfortable daytime playing window. June through October brings the monsoon with afternoon rain. The highland courses are at their most lush in the wet season and the cooler temperatures throughout the year make Taunggyi one of the more comfortable Myanmar golf destinations in the hotter months.

Taunggyi golf holidays and package tours

Taunggyi suits two to three day programs as part of a Myanmar Shan highlands circuit, most naturally combined with an Inle Lake visit. The city is accessible by domestic flight from Yangon or Mandalay to Heho Airport, about 36 kilometers from Taunggyi, with the flight from Yangon taking about one hour. The road from Mandalay to Taunggyi takes about six to seven hours through the Shan hill roads.

A practical Shan highlands golf program covers one round at Aye Thar Yar Golf Resort, one or two days at Inle Lake for the boat tour of the stilt villages and floating gardens, and a morning at Kalaw Golf Club on the way to or from the lake. The Kalaw to Inle Lake trek of two to three days through minority villages is one of Myanmar’s most cited hiking experiences and suits non-golfing partners who want an independent program while golf happens.

For couples, Inle Lake is the primary non-golf anchor of any Shan State visit. Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism notes Inle Lake as one of Myanmar’s most internationally recognized natural destinations, where the leg-rowing fishermen, floating vegetable gardens, and stilt-house monasteries give the landscape a character specific to this highland lake. Browse Myanmar golf packages or create a custom Shan highlands itinerary that combines Taunggyi golf with Inle Lake and Kalaw.

Golf with Inle Lake and the Shan highlands

Inle Lake sits at roughly 900 meters elevation in a valley of the Shan Plateau, about 60 kilometers southwest of Taunggyi. The lake covers approximately 116 square kilometers and the Pa-O, Intha, and other ethnic communities who live on and around it have maintained stilt-house villages, floating garden agriculture, and traditional boat fishing methods across generations. The boat trip through the lake’s waterways, visiting the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the Nga Hpe Chaung jumping cat monastery, and the silver and weaving workshops of the lakeside villages, takes a full day from the main boat hire points at Nyaung Shwe town at the lake’s northern end.

Kalaw, about 70 kilometers northwest of Taunggyi on the Shan Plateau, is a former British hill station town at around 1,300 meters with Edwardian-era bungalows, a Catholic church, and pine forests that give it a distinctly non-tropical character for a Myanmar town. The two to three day trekking route from Kalaw to Inle Lake through Pa-O and Danu minority villages, passing through terraced farmland and small monastery communities, is one of the more organized trekking experiences in Myanmar and runs through a section of the Shan hills that sees relatively few travelers compared to the main Yangon and Mandalay sites.

Book tee times in Taunggyi

Aye Thar Yar Golf Resort and Kalaw Golf Club are accessible with advance booking through GolfLux or a Myanmar specialist operator. Given the ongoing political situation in Myanmar and the specific context of Shan State’s multiple ethnic armed groups, confirming current access conditions before finalizing travel is sensible practice. Start planning here or view Myanmar golf packages to build a Shan highlands program alongside the wider Myanmar circuit.