Again, another interest course by SageVanni.. My personal impressions after first round follow.
Design/Graphics: 4/5. Remarkable attention to details, so much so that when I get to play very close to the trees I am concerned some wildlife may try to get me. (jokes aside, it would have been nice to see more wildlife on golf courses. I often play in Banff and hit the ball close to the wildlife on purpose). Several holes are perhaps a bit repetitive in terms of layout. Otherwise, I could even feel inclined to give a 5/5.
Difficulty: 3.5/5. In my opinion, there are three types of difficulties:
1) the "sadistic" element is the positioning of the trees. The relative short holes may tempt players to go all in with high-powered shots, but the trees are waiting for them, in particular when the wind is blowing in the "wrong direction".
2) Par 5 are overall difficult. I am normally found on green or around it in 2 shots. Not here, the positioning of the sand traps are really where you don't want them and need to rein in the power which makes for a 3 shots to the green.
3) Greens have gradients, but not extreme, but they are a tad more than just mild on several holes. Still nothing like you would like to find who designed the course and give him a big beating
I call these greens fair game if someone wants to test his/her skills.The last hole (par 5) is a two-tiered green, and if one ends on the wrong tier, then the putting requires some guessing.
The difficult pin positions is actually not that bad as getting on fringe is not worse than being on green (I had 3 chip-ins in my run, which is a
personal record). The fact is that, at least in the setting I chose, putting or chipping is not necessarily that different in terms of difficulty, unless one has short putts. Long putts are "bitches" as usual. Playing with slow green speed would definitely be more challenging than fast, as chip-ins would probably not roll in the hole at all. Wind=windy would not make a big difference, except on holes along water hazards, in case the wind blows towards the hazard. The need to stay away from the trees, would create a bit of a drama in shot decisions.
Challenge: 3.5/5. If I could get +2 using the above settings with no previous attempts of any kind on any hole , the course cannot be excessively difficult. However, par 5 are what separates the "men from the boys". As a matter of fact, while 3 chip-ins is my personal record, so is the 3 bogeys on the 4 par 5's. Par 3's are ok (2 birdies, 1 par and 1 bogey) and so are par 4's (3.90 my average shots on those). I am confident that I learned what not to do on par 5's for the next time, I hope.
There is a need to avoid driving far, the positioning of the sand traps and the contours of fairways are just meant to fatally attract your ball. Sand is a bit tougher than average to get out. Exploding out of a green bunker is more difficult than in most other courses I played lately. Hitting from the rough requires some additional power as well. On several holes the trees will make the best possible line impossible. There is a lot of thinking required in this course.
Final comment: Worthwhile course, a bit different from others I played, very pleasing to the eyes. Personally, as I do my best on par 5's, I was surprised to struggle so much on those on this course, but hole 9 and 16 (both par 5) are in my opinion the "prettiest" and the most interesting. I am normally an 85-90% drives in fairway kind of player, but here I could only muster 78%. As I wrote earlier, there is a need to rein-in the power and I got in trouble for trying to be too much of a John Daly out there.
This course (while different in many ways) reminded me of Cras Montana in terms of difficulties. The attitude one needs to play well is the same. Greens on Cras Montana are nastier though. Here I am confident that eventually I will get under par, Cras Montana I was never able to do so, despite playing it several times. Cras Montana makes reading the fairways very hard. Allen Meadow Pine Estates has a much cleaner look which helps.
Thank you again Mr. SageVanni.
(I can only imagine how someone with these skills could improve a course like Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol
)
