67 golfers with the option of going long over the mounds to leave a short pitch into the green, or playing right and away from the hazards, resulting in a longer approach to the green. A key tenet of Lobb’s design is to create a family-friendly course suitable for people playing on their holiday. This means a focus on enjoyment; it’s generally easy to find your ball, even when a little wayward, and there are opportunities for birdie. The par-four eighteenth gives players a chance to finish their round in style. Big hitters can go for the green by hitting over a lake (the only water hazard on the back nine, but there will be more on the front), while the shorter hitter has ample room to play it safe. The focus on playability doesn’t mean it is a complete birdie-fest. The seventeenth, for example, is likely to be more about damage limitation. It is the longest par four on the course and will usually play into the wind, and require a wood into the green. In Somabay’s windy, coastal desert environment, turf performance and water management have been critical to how the course plays. “We have been working hard with course superintendent Andrew Hughes to ensure that the Pure Dynasty turf can be mown down tight,” says Lobb. The paspalum turf has been used on all playing surfaces following its successful performance on tees and greens on the Gary Player course, originally supplied by Atlas Turf International and Pure Seed. Hughes has guided the grow-in of the Pure Dynasty turf on the Hidden Coves course. “Pure Dynasty is perfectly suited to our environment and gives us the flexibility to maintain a true wall-to-wall paspalum surface with varied heights of cut,” says Hughes. “It also supports the design intent of allowing golfers to putt from 20-30 yards out if they would like, making the course more playable and enjoyable for all levels. One of the advantages of paspalum is its ability to reduce water requirements once mature, supporting our long-term sustainability goals. Lobb has used material from construction to create dunes, as seen here cutting into the approach area of the par-four thirteenth Photos: Kevin Murray “ Lobb’s routing revolves around two holes that he identified as ‘must-haves”
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