Risk & reward holes are by far the best way of testing tour players, whether on the European circuit or on the USPGA tour.
The answer of course, is not necessarily. A good case in point is the host of last week's Wales Open - the Celtic Manor Roman Road course, which by modern tournament standards, is relatively short at "only" 6,743 yards. Despite this, the winning score was only 13-under par, whereas the average winning total at most European Tour events is between 20 and 24-under-par. True, the course has only two par fives, but unusually, boasts five par threes, resulting unusually in a total par of only 69. However, four of the par four holes measured well under 400 yards, yet some of Europe's best golfers were unable to bring the course to it's knees. Risk & reward holes are by far the best way of testing tour players, whether on the European circuit or on the USPGA tour and can solve the problem of having to find the extra land required to provide monster golf courses measuring well over 7,500 yards, most of which will be used only once each year when a tour event, or a Major comes around. Certainly, club members won't see any advantage from the extra distance.
Ironically, the Celtic Manor Golf Club has produced just such a monster (appropriately named The Ryder Cup Course) to host the 2010 Ryder Cup match. This "new" course, which is actually a mixture of nine holes from the old Wentwood course and nine new holes, measures just a few yards short of 7,500 yards. For those with deep pockets and a burning desire to play this course before the Ryder Cup match, Celtic Manor offers a package of 600 pounds for a fourball, including lunch or dinner. And by the way, for those who don't already know the result of the Wales Open, Richard Sterne of South Africa overcame a heroic effort by Welshman Bradley Dredge to win by one stroke, completing the final four holes in 3-under-par.
WHERE ARE THE BEST SUMMER DEALS ON THE COSTA DEL GOLF?
You don't know? Well, Golf Leisure Breaks does and a call to Julie on 952 582 943 will ensure that you can take advantage of the best deals around, most of which will include the use of a buggy.
Happy golfing!
GOLF COURSES AS LUNGS
Strange, but true. And a perfect example is the new golf course in Casares, Finca Cortesin. Golf Finca Cortesin have just completed the planting of no less than 400,000 trees, shrubs and native plants around the course, including rosemary and oleander, which "by any other name would smell as sweet", especially when they mature. More importantly, all this flora lives on carbon dioxide and returns oxygen into the atmosphere, so ecologically inclined golf clubs can genuinely claim to contribute to the ecological system, rather than detract from it. Congratulations to Golf Finca Cortesin and other golf courses which help to disprove the adverse criticism sometimes directed at golf courses and their supposedly advers ecological effect. |
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