81 clubhouse location, everything from the fourteenth tee (which is located at that choke point) onwards is quite steeply uphill – not ideal for any golf architect, least of all one who trained with Nicklaus, who famously said that if he could build a course with eighteen downhill holes, he would. For all that, though, there is a lot of compelling golf out there. After the first three holes – a short par five, a brutal 230-yard par three (half-par holes are a major characteristic of the course) and a longish par four with a semi-blind drive but an excellent green site – the real drama begins. The fourth hole is a short four, not really driveable for normal human beings, with a fairway landing zone that appears, from the tee, to slope from left to right at about forty-five degrees. Of course, it doesn’t, and the wide fairway landing zone offers golfers a range of options as to where to place their tee shots. The best line will depend on the pin location, your appetite for risk, and your preferred length of pitched approach. A good hole. But it is the par-five fifth that is destined to be one of the most photographed holes in Spain. Severely downhill from the tee, the golfer must ensure their tee shot stops before a ravine that crosses the fairway (I don’t think this will be a problem for anyone not named DeChambeau). The closer one can get to the ravine, though, the better, because it will give a better chance to get home in two – to a 21,000 square foot double green, extravagantly contoured, that sits just above the beach – Bowman has filled the green site to make it stick out further towards the sea. With the pin set left, close to the beach, it will be an epic approach shot. A long par four, the seventh hole plays across a rather odd cut-andcover tunnel used by pedestrians going to the beach; the tucked green is set behind a water hazard. The ninth, high above the water at the top of the beachfront parcel, is one of only a small number of holes that Bowman was able to completely regrade, and it shows – it’s a very strong hole. The uphill run to home is where Bowman’s skills have most been tested. The fourteenth is a steep, but for all that compelling, short par four; driving over a pond, golfers will find their wedge game sternly tested by the green, which is closely guarded by sand. Sixteen, a par five, features a substantial ‘donut’ bunker to the right, separating it from the third, and a very severe, steeply f lashed bunker, inspired by the fourteenth at Pebble Beach, protecting the left half of the green. Photos: Gary Lisbon The long par-four seventh and, to the left, the par-three eighth green
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