Ljunghusen GC, founded in 1932, is a 27-hole links course, that lies on the unique heath of the Falsterbo Peninsula. With the mild costal climate, it is generally possible to play golf 12 months a year on regular greens. The best season is April through November and peak time is July and August.
Ljunghusen has hosted Swedish and International Championships like the European Tour PLM OPEN 1984 and 1987, Telia Tour Grand Prix 1996-2004 (European Challenge Tour) and the European Men’s Team Championships in 2001.
Clearwater Golf Course in Christchurch, New Zealand, was the home for the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship and the USPGA Nationwide Tour. The par 72 championship course was designed by John Darby in consultation with New Zealand golfing legend, Sir Bob Charles, The golf course is built around a series of man-made lakes, bringing water into play on 14 holes; combining elements of links golf inspired by the great Scottish courses with parkland golf, more reminiscent of Florida. But wait, there’s more…
At around 6,000 yards the Kaya Eagles Golf Course designed by Master PGA Professional David Jones, is one of the shorter courses in Belek which makes it ideal for higher handicappers whilst still remaining a strategic challenge for any golfer looking for a lower score.
The Kaya Eagle course has quite a few dramatic holes where the player must choose between risk and reward. The shorter par threes provide interest because of strategically placed bunkers and the subtle contours on the greens. The snow – capped Taurus Mountains provide a spectacular backdrop to the course through the eucalyptus, olive, pine trees and crystal blue lakes. But wait, there’s more…
One of Italy’s most highly rated golf courses, the Le Betulle layout at Gollf Club Biella was designed in 1958 by John Morrison through an attractive birth forest to the north of Milan. The property itself is especially pretty in Autumn (Fall) but the surrounding mountains provide an imposing backdrop to the golf for most of the year.
The visual stimulus of Biella, however, is quickly forgotten once you tee off, especially as the opening five holes are rather disappointing. Things do get much better from the 6th, with a number of really effective green sites on small rises, picturesque fairway settings and solid bunkering, but this course needs a serious overhaul and partial redesign to warrant the reputation it has among the European golfing fraternity. But wait, there’s more
Golf de Chiberta is a terrific old school layout in the south of France, designed for a fortunate membership by traditionalist Tom Simpson in 1927. With hints of both links and heathland, the course occupies a mix of rugged duneland and manicured parkland, with the holes consistently British, fun and original across all sectors. Simpson’s pit-like bunkering, the rolling nature of his fairways and quirky green shapes have all been lovingly preserved by a grateful membership that would have had many opportunities to tone things down here over the years.
Chiberta gets off to a cracking start, the first a long two-shotter (named a par five) through a dune saddle and pine trees then down to a lovely green site. The 2nd is then a linksy hole that heads beyond a rise and across some minor ripples, the rest of the front nine unfolding in a wide clockwise loop with the back nine moving in the other direction and much more compact. But wait, there’s more
Established with the opening of its first Robert von Hagge course in 1996, Circolo Golf Bogogno is an impressive 36-hole golf and residential estate set in a sheltered wooded valley in the northern Italian lakes district. Both its Bonora and del Conte courses are made up of nine holes from the original eighteen and another nine completed by von Hagge’s partner Rick Baril later in 2000.
While the del Conte Course enjoys excellent views of the distant Alps, the Bonora Course is superior for its more consistent test and the use of natural streams and ponds to create a number of fine resort style golf holes. The bunkering throughout is both attractive and artistic, although not always used strategically as traps are often placed on the outside of fairways that bend around hazards which themselves offer better angles of attack into the greens. But wait, there´s more
A storied centurion that was founded much closer to the sea, the Royal Zoute Golf Club boasts two modest links courses that are now landlocked and set around 1km from the Belgian shoreline. Harry Colt is said to have designed both courses here, but neither resembles the layouts he surely left the club as this is now mostly a woodland setting, and over the years the contours have been largely flattened, either by man or mother-nature.
The exterior or long course is the superior track here, but some changes made over the years, like the removal and reshaping of key bunkers, the tiered green on the 3rd, the shortening and lengthening of the 1st and 18th holes and the realignment of the 6th green have not been well handled. Even restored this is only moderately interesting by comparison to Colt’s best elsewhere. But wait, there’s more
The Presidents Cup 2013 will be contested at Jack Nicklaus’ spectacular layout in Dublin, Ohio. “Inside the PGA TOUR” examines the challenges facing both the U.S. Team and the International Team.
