Early morning mist at the 1st
The tight drive on the Par 5 3rdNarrow entrace to the 6th green
The first course I played was the delightful Mondariz Golf Club, situated about 10 miles from the city of Vigo and part of the Balneario de Mondariz hotel and spa complex. The clubhouse sits above the 9th and 18th greens and offers not only spectacular views but sensational food and wines – so at least you’ll have something else to relish if your game isn’t quite up to scratch.
You will really enjoy playing this course. It’s not too long, but strategy plays a big part and you’re made very aware of this on the par-5 third hole. It’s the perfect risk-and-reward hole, a severe dogleg left where you have to decide to either drive over the rocks and risk out of bounds or play safe to the end of the outcrop and play it as a three-shotter.
Take it from me, there’s no chance of making the par-5 sixth hole in two shots: a stream at the 300 yard mark catches the longest of drives, and when playing your second shot there are out-of-bounds on the right. The green is built into the back of a ravine with a very narrow entrance. It’s a beautifully-crafted hole using the natural geology.
I could wax lyrical at length, but in brief: the finishing holes to each nine are fantastic driving holes; a great risk-and-reward at the par-4 fourteenth where you can go for the green if you take on the stream; and some fabulously-designed par 3s, especially the second, thirteenth and seventeenth holes.