In this article, first published by Bob Warters at Golf Magic, we witness first hand the magic effect a visit to Las Colinas can have! We republish the article for your interest...
US designer Cabell B.Robinson has injected such imagination and innovation into his latest creation at Las Colinas Golf and Country Club, close to the Spanish resort of Campoamor.
He has transformed a huge parcel of undulating scrub land just a handful of kilometres from the famous La Manga strip, into a golf course that winds through gorges and valleys, served by elevated tees and greens.
The course is punctuated by man-made lakes and sandstone rock formations, where little, green, Rana Comun frogs dive for cover into babbling, boulder-strewn streams as golfers approach anything boasting red or yellow stakes.
As visitors to other courses that bear his hallmark will know (La Reserva in Sotogrande, Praia d'El Rey near Lisbon and Finca Cortesin where Ross Fisher won the world matchplay last year), Robinson places a distinct emphasis on accuracy, course management and club selection in his designs.
But he also tempts the longer hitter to go for broke on the par-5s even though water protects the greens on three out of four of them.
In the group of visiting overseas and UK journalists I joined at Las Colinas recently, the testosterone was definitely firing as one after the other smashed their drives into the distance in a macho effort to mount the 3rd, 11th, 15th and 18th greens in two mighty blows from the back tees.
But I have to admit it brought a wry smile when petite Dagmar Kaske, from the German "Golf Magazin" in Hamburg won the longest drive prize, albeit from the ladies tee on the 524-metre 15th.
As for the five short holes at Las Colinas, the 7th and the 10th reminded me of the 6th and 12th at Valderrama, while at the 6th, the approach to a parapet green, I almost experienced deja vu with the short 7th at the former Volvo Masters venue.
The course has a definite sting in its tail, with four of the last five holes offering no more than a stroke index of seven in defining its degree of difficulty.
It's unusual to find a short hole with an index as low as three but 17 deserves it with a three-tier green demanding 200-metre carry from the competition tees - at least five on every hole - with a difference of up to 130 metres.
As for the closing hole, a deceptively long 475-metre par-5 over the brow of a hill, danger lurks left and right off the tee, with a lake urging the second shot to keep to the left.
Having negotiated my par successfully in taking the wimps' route, I was grateful for the haven of the clubhouse's contemporary UNiK Cafe, with its classic Mediterranean tapas, to reflect on my 18 holes and join in the buzz of anticipation at doing it all again tomorrow!
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