Above: Looking back down the 3rd hole with the water in play along the right hand side

This is second Nicklaus course that we’ve played this week and we have one more coming up on our last day at Old Corkscrew. But after a hearty night’s fare at the Reunion Resort, I am now on the stunning practice ground shaking off last night’s activities and getting my swing and short game together.

And after a good hour’s practice, I jump in the buggy and I’m off. As I pull out my driver and stand on the first tee looking down the fairway, the beauty of the morning takes my breath away. As the early morning sunlight is still burning off the dew and the trees glittering their array of orange, green, gold and purple and producing long beautiful shadows across the fairway, it’s another one of many great moment on this trip. Beautiful villas line some of the fairways here, but they are not at all intrusive like I have seen on other trips to America. If anything they add to the aesthetics here.



The back tee at the 3rd holeThe tough 379-yard 7thBunkers at the par 3 11th hole

There are four teeing options on this track ranging from 7,244 yards from the gold tees to 5055 yards from the reds, so you can see there are plenty of options.

Jack has been given a stunning piece of land to work with. There is plenty of movement in the fairways and the green complexes are tricky and fast, but what I like about the design of this course is that Nicklaus has taken into account that a lot of golfers will only play this track once. Although to score really well you would need to play it several times to gain the nuances of the track, you can still build a good score by playing to the middle of the fairways and middle of the greens and have a chance to make birdies.


There are many great holes and the Nicklaus Course at Reunion, like many of the venues this week, proves to be a track that I would highly recommend you play if you get the chance. All the par-3s are strong holes, with my personal favourite being the 210-yard 16th that is played to a raised green over water and is all carry from the back tee.

I’m reluctant to run through all the holes that I enjoyed, as there were many. But I would say make sure you play or at least go and stand on the back tee at the third – it’s a fantastic hole from back there and I love the wooden buggy paths/bridges that meander through the trees to get you to some of the holes. It’s definitely not a walking course, but it’s a track I know you will love playing. And unlike me, I hope you get to play it more than once.

I never had that luxury. I wish I had – that's how much I enjoyed it.

All carry on this 210-yard par 3 island green if you go for the pin at the 16th