点评:This is just down the road from Torre, and I got the distinct impression the two are friendly rivals. The staff laughed about it when we arrived. Again, you drive a couple of miles from the gate to the clubhouse, and again there's a really warm welcome.
It's only about three years old, but you'd never know. The trees are more mature and it feels established. They've started building houses around it, which didn't affect us at all. We were in the middle of nowhere and it was blissfully peaceful. Give it ten years and it'll be ringed with posh villas.
There's a proper clubhouse here, and it's lovely. Drinks are served in ice-cold chilled glasses, which I fully endorse. You get the same bottle and bag tag treatment as Torre, plus water coolers and toilets out on the course. The practice facilities are brilliant. It's quite hilly, so the buggy earns its keep.
It's harder than Torre. We both took more shots. There's more sand, more waste areas and more runoff. Miss the fairway and you're punished. The fairways curve through waste areas like they've been carved out with a knife, so you have to be really accurate off the tee. And the bunkers. My word. Deep, heavy sand like a beach. I was literally clambering out with my feet sinking. I looked like a man escaping quicksand in a 1950s film.
The grass here is fescue, not Bermuda, so more like we're used to back home. We'd heard they'd struggled after last year's drought, and the tees and fairways had clearly been watered hard to bring them back. They look green as anything now, but early in the morning parts were wet and you lost the roll on the ball.
The greens are absolutely massive, the biggest I've seen outside Scotland. They're true dance floors, slower than Torre, with lots of tricky borrows. A real test.
Verdict: 10 out of 10. It's a top-end course with a top-end clubhouse. Bring your A-game and your sand wedge.
翻译:这里就在托雷高尔夫球场的附近,给我留下的印象是两家球场算是友好的竞争对手。我们到达时,工作人员还对此开起了玩笑。从入口处开车几英里就能到俱乐部会所,在那里我们又受到了热情的接待。
这座球场才建成三年左右,但完全看不出来。树木已经长得相当茂密,整体氛围也显得很成熟稳定。他们已经开始在球场周边兴建住宅区,不过这对我们毫无影响。我们置身于荒僻之地,四周宁静得令人心醉。再过十年,这里就会环绕着一排排高档别墅了。
这里有个非常不错的会所,环境很怡人。饮料都是盛在冰镇过的杯子里供应,这一点我完全赞同。这里提供的服务与Torre球场类似——有专属的酒瓶和球包标签;球场上也设有饮水机与卫生间。练习设施也相当出色。球场地势较为起伏,因此电瓶车确实派上了大用场。
这里比Torre球场更具挑战性:我们俩击球次数都变多了。球场上有更多的沙坑、荒地以及积水区域。一旦偏离球道就会受到惩罚。球道蜿蜒穿过荒芜地带,就像是被刀刃切割出来的一般,因此开球时必须极其精准。还有那些沙坑——天哪!里面是又深又重的沙子,简直就像沙滩一样。我每次都要费尽全力才能从沙坑中爬出来,双脚不断下陷。那模样就像1950年代电影里试图逃离流沙的人。
这里的草是羊茅草,不是百慕大草,所以更接近我们国内常见的草种。我们听说,去年遭遇干旱后,这里的草场状况一直不理想。球道和发球区显然经过大量浇水才恢复生机。如今它们绿意盎然,但清晨时分仍有部分区域潮湿,导致球无法顺利滚动。
果岭的面积极其庞大,是我在苏格兰以外见过最大的果岭。它们简直就是“舞池”一般,球速比托雷球场还要慢,且布满各种难以预测的坡度。真是个考验球技的场地。
总结:满分10分。这是一座顶级球场,配有一流的会所设施。务必使出全力,同时别忘了带上沙坑杆哦。