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, dry weather means the fairways will play quite firm and “running”.
Undulating/ flat - Quite a lot of undulation.
Tree lined/exposed - Mostly exposed.
Many / few water hazards - Many, see special features below.
Changes to the course - None
Greens
Type of grass - Mix of meadow grass and bent grass
Height of cut - 3 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 grass 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 meadow grass and bent grass
Height of cut - 10 mm
Any specific comments - No
Collars
Type of grass - Mix of meadow grass and bent grass
Height of cut – 10 mm
Any specific comments - No
Rough
Type of grass – Mix of fescue and rye grass
Semi-rough - Height of cut – 1.8m wide at 32mm
Intermediate Height of cut – 1.8m wide at 75mm
Rough - Height of cut – maintained rough at 100mm (Unmaintained outside of this)
Any specific comments – Dry conditions leading up to the event has left the rough less penal than 2008.
Weather
In advance – Warm and mainly dry.
Forecast for tournament – Mostly warm and sunny in the early part of the week with some cooling from Friday and a chance for some rain over the weekend.
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.
