SINGAPORE - The Serapong course at Sentosa Golf Club has been named the 79th greatest golf course by Golf Digest magazine (www.golfdigest.com/story/worlds-100-greatest-golf-courses).

Serapong dropped 21 places from 2016, when it made its way into Golf Digest's decorated list of the world's 100 greatest golf courses for the first time but it remains the only Singapore course to make the prestigious ranking.

Now into its third edition, the biennial rankings are based on ratings by independent course evaluators and golfers across the globe.

Royal County Down in Northern Ireland maintained its grip on the top spot, while the runner-up place went to Scotland's Royal Dornoch.

According to Golf Digest, the original site where Serapong now stands was a mangrove swamp in the early 80s.

The course took many years to build with sand that was dredged from the sea and was designed by world-renowned American golf course designer Ronald Fream.

Serapong was recently rebunkered by architect Gene Bates and the course came in for his praise for having the Singapore skyline as its "legendary backdrop".

The latest accolade comes just days before the SMBC Singapore Open tees off on the Serapong course on Thursday (Jan 18).

The SMBC Singapore Open and its host venue Sentosa Golf Club were also honoured with the Best Tournament of the Year and Best Golf Course awards respectively at the Asian Tour's 2017 Awards night in December.

Jointly-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation, a host of big names have been confirmed for the Singapore Open including reigning Masters champion Sergio Garcia, 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, three-time PGA Tour winner Pat Perez, Japan's Ryo Ishikawa, and 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Gavin Green.

Tickets can be purchased at: www.smbcsingaporeopen.com