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Now booking at La Manga SpainThe Grove Golf course
Having plied his trade with the Robert Trent Jones group, Kyle Phillips found fame in his own right with his convincing ‘modern links’ at Kingsbarns, near St Andrews, which was acclaimed as among the world’s best new courses soon after its 2000 opening.
‘We studied a range of land forms, including green complexes and bunkers, to agree a vision for the Grove that would combine old-fashioned features with modern-design shot values’ says Philips.
‘Given the many challenges provided by the site, including the elevation changes, the restoration of old water features and the preservation orders on everything from trees to wildlife’ adds Phillips.
‘I tried to imagine what demands Repton would make on a golf architect like Harry Colt a master of art and strategy’.
The results is a compelling 6,766-yard (from the medal rather than the back sticks) layout that delivers an experience far beyond the Groves nominal ‘open parkland’ setting. The grove keeps you guessing as to the next twist in both design and routing through an inspired, constantly shifting journey amid the estates varied landscape.
The high and low Plateux of flat land have been skillfully shaped to create a feature-filled round where most holes have their own isolation, despite the open aspect.
One of the first tasks was to restore the estate’s original water features, including the pretty lakes at the 3rd and 6th holes which were once apart of an ancient river that pre-dates the Grand union Canal that meanders nearby.
A Course review of The Grove
This is one of the most ambitions resorts ever. A 5-star plus facility half an hour from London with a luxurious hotel catering to both major social functions and golfers plus an 18-hole course manicured by 20 green- keepers.
Architect Kyle Phillips, no longer just a rising star in course design, resisted the temptation to create a too flashy course and set about paying a serious tribute to the great architects of the past.
Harry Colt would have been delighted to see his style evoked in the subtle shaping of the landscape and the often deceptive bunker placing. Phillips has revisited the art of cloaking perspective and trompe I' oeil worthy of Alister Mackenzie.
This is a severe test of talent with a certain emphasis on the chip shot which is so often over looked on modern courses. An ability to shape the shot and strategic intelligence are as important here as the power game.
A connoisseur's course course whose excellence is unveiled as you play it, testing for the finest exponents of the game but never humbling for the common mortal, all wrapped in absolute elegance.
Hole 1 is a Par 4 at 340 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 15. Hole name:- Follies.
Bunkers patrolling the corner of the dog-leg might egg you on to go for the carry, but there is no point. From the middle of the fairway the green, once hidden is now comfortingly closer than expected. A gentle warmer.
Hole 2 is a Par 4 at 429 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 11. Hole name:- Alcove.
A softly diving ribbon of green Framed against the of a far off wooden escarpment lies beyond the mysterious horizon, yet beyond it the green tilts appealingly at you strike your approach well or your ball will be tossed by slopes or snaffled by sand.
Hole 3 is a Par 4 at 428 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 1. Hole name:- Hoggery.
Try to find the haven down the right side before taking the shot over 'Hell's lake'. If you miss the green, shaven swales gather your ball thoughts, and you'll need skill and touch to recover. Tough but memorable.
Hole 4 is a Par 3 at 167 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 9. Hole name:- Boathouse.
Take a deep breath and be brave - go for it. Short means wet in the bubbling stream, while going over shallow ledge of a green means relative safety among deep dells, but there are few up and downs from in there. Precise and unnerving to the faint-hearted.
Hole 5 is a Par 4 at 414 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 5. Hole name:- Eggshell.
The hole rumbles away from you like a crumpled green blanket. Ahead a tousled strip of rough splits the fairway, and brilliantly, the sight of a channel of rugged bunkers dominates the direct route to the green, whose edges invite shots to trickle away. Sensual and clever.
Hole 6 is a Par 5 at 538 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 7. Hole name:- Scotch hut.
A serene and meandering par-5 that simulates the senses. Aim for the towering tree in line with the shimmering pond, then follow the natural flow of the hole to a green framed by a cluster of glaringly white traps. Peaceful and claming.
Hole 7 is a Par 3 at 142 (meters) from the whites tee and Hcp 17. Hole name:- Pyramid.
An honest but puzzling one-shotter looked over by eye-catching grandeur. It rises gently up towards the great house and so you spy only a furtive glimpse of a silver of green on the right. Be warned that a flag cut on the back right plays at least a club more than if it is on the left.
Hole 8 is a Par 4 at 400 (meters) from the white tees and Hcp 13. Hole name:- Rustic seat.
Don't cut off the corner of the dog-leg, because in the lee of the slope lurks a dastardly, secretive bunker ready to globble the unwary and bold. Better by far is to aim at sculpted trap on the left side from where you can caress one up the hill to plateau green.
Hole 9 is a par 5 at 549 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 3. Hole name:- Ruined Tower.
Let yourself off your tether and give it a ride, taking aim just to the left of the spreading Cedar in the distance. Don't fear what is beyond a tangly outcrop of grass that breaks the view to the green, because a gnarly waste of humps and hollows on the left is the only real trouble.
Course Review by Golf Holidays Abroad
Hole 10 is a Par 4 at 370 (meters) from white tee and Hcp 14. Hole
name:- State of Neptune.
To have a clear sight of this handsome green sitting comfortably behind an audience of bunkers you must drive to the heart of the corner of the rumpled fairway that slips between two statuesque sweet Chestnuts before turning abruptly left and downhill. Short but tastily sweet.
Hole 11 is a Par 5 481 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 8. Hole name:- Green house.
Only when you reach the first trap on the right of the majestically sweeping does the green shimmy into view-then its decision time. Do you go for it or lay up. The bail out area is short right over the bunker, from where you have the length of the green to conjure with.
Hole 12 is a Par 4 at 433 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 2. Hole name:- Portico.
Aim for the left -hand pot which is deceptively past the more unforgiving one eating in from the right. A cunning bowl in front of the green sweeps away anything short and a ball filtering left or bounding on will be sucked into a gully. Fair but also delightfully mischievous.
Hole 13 is a Par 3 at 209 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 6. Hole name:- Praeneste.
Incredibly inviting but sneakily long. Masterfully the features nestled against the trees below you lull your senses into thinking the distance is shorter than truth. Trust the yardage and choose a big gun. If you cant carry the ball all the way you could try swinging it in from the right.
Hole 14 is a Par 4 at 375 (meters) from the white tee and hcp 16. Hole name:- Tuscan seat.
The seeming width of the fairway screams safety first. But in front of the encroaching bunker on the right is an arc of fairway and similarly beyond the sand it opens out to reveal acres of space to land a drive. Also the green is more generous than it looks. Cunning yet trustworthy.
Hole 15 is a Par 4 at 394 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 12. Hole name:- Temple of pan.
Crack one away exactly between the edge of the trap jutting in from the left and the cedar standing gloriously on the hillside by the 16th. Then remember to fly the approach all the way to the green since a sinister sunken 'arena' lies in wait on the front right.
Hole 16 is a Par 3 at 173 (meters) From the white tee and Hcp 18. Hole name:- Mausoleum.
Don't be drawn into thinking the green lies just over the right-hand bunker because your eyes are deceiving you and the trap is deliberately and dishonestly well shy. There are no tricks on the green however, and so if you find it you can give it a roll.
Hole 17 is a Par 5 at 488 (meters) from the white tee and Hcp 10. Hole name:- Malayan Hut.
A boomer will put the green in range but 'bunker hill' looming large on the left just short of the green hides a third of the tiling green. Any ball short or tugged left will be swallowed by the gully.
Hole 18 is a Par 4 at 436 (meters) from the white tees and Hcp 4. Hole name:- Clock Towers.
A surprisingly soothing looking drive for a tough home hole, and the approach looks straightforward enough too, but in reality it takes a sweet strike to the hit and hold the green. It sums up the course perfectly.
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To Book anything from a single Tee Time to a complete golfing holiday package call one of our golf holiday consultants on:- (+44) 020 8644 9229 Fax (+44) 020 8644 9779 or e-mail or written quotations to:- Golf Holidays Abroad Ltd, 234 Gander Green Lane, Sutton, Surrey. SM3 9QF.