The journey from Sugar Beach Resort on the West coast has taken about an hour and you can see the change in scenery as we near the south, it’s become greener and as we hit the ocean views it’s one of those heart leaping moments that you can’t help but have a wide smile on your face, Mauritius has certainly impressed me with its beauty.
After checking in with the pro I am back on the range loosening up. Pyramids of balls and bins full of water and brushes to clean your clubs shows that golfers are well looked after here.
I have been informed that I will be starting on the 10th but I will write the review as if I am starting on the 1st as I wouldn’t want to confuse anyone. Standing on the first you will notice how wide the fairways are, which is great news for holiday golfers, but I decide that I would push my tee shot into the right–hand bunkers!! The green sits above the fairway in an outcrop of trees and long grass with two bunkers sitting in the hill on the left and one deep bunker short right.
Top Aerial view of the course. Above 9th hole and 13th and 18th greens
The wide fairways continue on the par 5, 2nd hole and this is certainly reachable in two, I have left my hybrid second shot just to the left of the green in between the bunker on the left and the back bunker.
The ocean comes into view as you reach the 4th green and look back down the fairway, but apart from the obvious visual distraction’s concentration is key here as it’s a raised green with lots of complexes and rock formations just short. The tee shot on the 5th is just as inspiring, played from a raised tee to the fairway below but it’s the blues of the ocean that dominates the vistas beyond, that truly makes this a wonderful golf hole – those same views are also visible on the elevated tees on the 6th hole.
Elevated tees are certainly in abundance on the front nine as there are more on the 8th and 9th with the front nine coming to a stunning close. As I look out from this elevated tee I may not have the ocean as a backdrop but I do have water on both the right and left hand side of the fairway, fortunately a good drive sees me with just a 50-yard pitch shot to the flag.
The back nine gets off to a solid start, but if you look to your right that is the 11th green where water will come into play for your approach shot. The 12th turns out to be my favourite hole, standing on the tee I just love the flow of the hole and how it doglegs left, but the design is like one of those banked curves on a race track it banks round to the left with two bunkers on the hill giving the hole a wonderful aesthetic and as I play my second shot to the green that sits slightly below me, I already want to go back to the tee and play the tee shot again.
The 13th brings up the first of the two par 3s on this nine and both are great holes, the first played over water and the second played from an elevated tee. These sandwich a risk and reward par 5, that doglegs left and runs uphill with water running down the left, you can choose how much or little you want to carry to hit the fairway and the more you cut off the shorter your second shot will be.
Like the closing hole on the front nine the 18th is played from an elevated tee and it really is a spectacular view as you look across the course, as I crash my drive down the fairway I look out across the course to the ocean beyond and it really is a fitting finale to what has been a wonderful golf course, you can certainly see why they hold the Mauritius Open here every other year. Looking out from the clubhouse with a cold beer in hand, I am already looking forward to the next time I can tee it up here.
