[Carl Nichols]

I spent the first six months of 2009 living in Argentina, and in June had the pleasure of spending a few days at the Four Seasons in Carmelo, Uruguay.  Because of some torrential rain I was only able to play one time, but what a great day it was:  even though it was early winter in Uruguay, it was 62 degrees and sunny, and I think I saw only two other groups all day.  And what a really good course, too; Carmelo – designed by GCA’s Kelly Blake Moran and Randy Thompson – is certainly in my top echelon in South America, and might even crack my favorite 3 courses I’ve played.  (My favorite 2 are Jockey Club and Mar del Plata.)  It’s definitely my favorite of the South American modern courses.  

I don’t have much to add to Ran’s review of the course (see http://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/uruguay/four-seasons-carmelo-uruguay), except to note that the course drained remarkably well considering the rain we had, the back-nine transitions from the high point of the property to the low, swamp/wetlands area and then back were seamless, the 8th hole is my favorite par 5 in South America, the 12th and 15th holes are both great short and medium-length par fours, even though they’re pretty similar, and the course played really hard from the back tees with a little breeze but no roll. And the resort itself is incredibly nice.  

I’d also like to thank Randy for his hospitality with respect to Carmelo, and his offers to see his current projects; I’m sorry, Randy, that we didn’t connect before I came back to the States.

Here are some pictures I snapped; I think the holes are labeled correctly, though it's been almost five months since I played Carmelo.  





1 (par 5)


 

 

2 (par 4)

 



3 (par 3)





4 (par 4)





 

5 (par 4)

 



6 (par 4)



 

7 (par 3)
 


 



8 (par 5)









9 (par 4)



10 (par 4)







11 (par 5)











12 (par 4)
 







14 (par 4)



 

15 (par 4)









 

16 (par 5)




 

 

17 (par 3)

 

 

18 (par 4)



 

[Sean_A]

Carl

Thanks for the pix.  How much elevation change is there?  Its hard to see because the site seems to be on such a big scale - so I suspect there is more than it seems. 

Ciao

[Carl Nichols]

Sean:
My pictures certainly make the site appear flatter than it is, in part because of the scale of the property, but also because the light was pretty flat and my camera doesn't take great outdoors pictures.  But I wouldn't describe the elevation changes as dramatic -- Carmelo, like a lot of Uruguay, has gently rolling countryside.  And several holes (the ones in the wetlands/swamp) are basically flat.  In his review, Ran mentions that the majority of the holes were created out of that swamp. 

[Randy Thompson]

Carl..Thanks,,look forward to making a future tour with you. Holes one, ten and half of eleven were EDITED, the rest were created out of swamp with an average water depth of two to three feet! You have good taste, Jockey and Mar Del Plata are my favorites also and if I had to pick one.....gotta love mar del plata and more importantly respect mar del plata for maximizing the results in a limited amount of land. But Jockey has better green confiquirations and surroundings which is important but the over all formula winner is slightly Mar del Plata. But as we learn from this site...opinions are like butts....everybody has got one!! Cheers!

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