Holein1
France |
Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 @ 2:28:43 PM at |
IP Logged |
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This par 74 combines beauty, with nice tropical trees and vegetation, pretty homes along some undulating fairways (with "cute" palm tree-shaped grass in the middle), gorgeous (but very scary) views of a few small greens on top of the cliffs, and plenty of other unusual sights (such as a hammock, surfboards lined up on the beach, a beach volleyball court and... big boards displaying Captain Obvious’ funny thoughts !) with, unfortunately, a few displaying bugs (horizon moving up along with a few jagged sights on a couple of holes) and too many big bunkers in the middle of the fairways, making this fantasy course, really challenging ! One thing is for sure though : enjoy the front 9 while you can, as you will “suffer” greatly on your way back... After a nice right dogleg par-5 1st hole, with an uphill tee shot landing near plenty of elongated bunkers along both sides of an undulating fairway (with pretty homes lined up on the left), the par-5 3rd, slightly-uphill all the way, is very scenic, with a few palm trees surrounded by nice flowers in the middle of the fairway (with nice villas on the left and a road on the right) and a small green, with an elongated bunker diagonally in front, and on the right. Another very nice hole is the short left dogleg par-4 6th, facing the lighthouse, with an uphill tee shot landing onto a very narrow fairway (parallel to the road on the right) and a blind approach steeply downhill to the green (next to a parking lot on the right and those surfboards on the beach), followed by the even shorter par-4 (!) 7th hole, uphill to the green (with Captain Obvious’ first big sign near the tee box), and only about 230 yards away. But wait until you see the scary but beautiful par-3 8th hole, with its very narrow fairway, surrounded by the ocean, and its green at the tip, and the left dogleg par-5 9th, with a tee shot over the sea landing onto an undulating fairway (with, on your way, a little hammock on the beach, at the bottom of the cliff !) and a tough approach to the elevated green, set on a high rocky plateau. A “ton” of bunkers await you on the tough par-5 10th hole, with a blind and uphill tee shot landing near them (making the fairway very narrow, halfway), and another blind, but downhill, second shot toward the wide green, before facing the toughest four-hole stretch that could spell big trouble ! Read Captain Obvious' message first, as you get ready to tee off over the ocean to try to reach the green on the other side of the cliff on the scenic par-3 12th hole (whose distance is hard to evaluate), before moving on the right dogleg par-5 13th, beautiful but a “real nightmare”, as you will need a perfect tee shot above the ocean to land onto its very narrow fairway (while avoiding bunkers) along the cliffs (on the right), and two more shots to reach its small green, to the right. The other par-5 14th hole is pretty and scary too, with a tee shot over the sea and a very tough and risky second shot (believe Captain Obvious’ advice) if you want to reach its green, at the tip of the cliff (on the far left), just like the downhill par-3 15th, simply gorgeous with a tee shot over the ocean (with rocks and a lighthouse below), and the par-4 16th, where you might be tempted to reach its downhill green (above the cliff), only about 260 yards away... Then, after hitting a blind tee shot downhill to the green of the pretty par-3 17th hole, next to the beach on the left (with a nice little beach volleyball court nearby beyond), you will finish with the very picturesque par-4 18th, uphill all the way with bunkers across the fairway, midway, and a blind shot toward the elevated and undulating green, with a gorgeous view of the colorful garden, tennis courts and clubhouse behind ! After reading my (very long) comments, it is... obvious that this course is not for everyone, but it is also obvious that jjhold is a very talented designer ! So, if you are looking for a very big challenge, you should definitely try it out : I did, finishing 6 under par on the front 9, and 6 over (!) on the way back (despite losing 10 shots between the 12th and 15th holes !), but I still "liked" it despite some lagging times and a couple of crashes !
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