Course
Opened – 1990
Course Designer – Hubert Chesneau with Robert Van Hagge as a consultant.
Special Features - Stadium style course with lots of elevated viewing positions. Water is very much a feature especially over the closing holes which are something of an amphitheatre with water coming in to play on 13, 15, 16 and 18, as well as 1 and 2.
General Playability - Always a good test, the rain in the last few week has however left the greens quite receptive.
Undulating/ flat - Quite a lot of undulation.
Tree lined/exposed - Mostly exposed.
Many / few water hazards - Many, see special features above.
Changes to the course - None
Greens
Type of grass - Mix of Poa Annua and bent grass
Height of cut - 2.8 mm
Speed/stimp reading – 11’
Any specific comments – Fairly generous but a lot of movement in many of them.
Fairways
Type of grass – Mix of bent and fescue
Height of cut – 12mm
General width and contouring – Average width but a lot of movement through the drive zone means that they play narrower.
Any specific comments - None
Tees
Type of grass – Mix of Poa Annua and bent grass
Height of cut - 9mm
Any specific comments -
Collars
Type of grass - Mix of Poa Annua and bent grass
Height of cut – 9mm
Any specific comments -
Rough
Type of grass – Mix of Fescue/ Rye grass
Semi-rough - Height of cut – 1.8m wide at 32mm
Intermediate Height of cut – 3m wide at 64mm
Rough - Height of cut – maintained rough at 114mm (Unmaintained outside of this)
Any specific comments – The maintained rough is as penal as it has ever been after new irrigation was installed this year and wet weather has been prominent in the run up to the event.
Weather
In advance – A lot of rain in the last 4 weeks and not that warm.
Forecast - Showers with moderate winds and mainly cool/mild.
Other Features
The lakes are full of some of the largest carp in this part of the world that feed almost exclusively on the grass clippings from the golf course.
