[Mark_Rowlinson]

I watched a little TV coverage of the Spanish Open being played near Seville. I found it rather dull to watch, but the commentators at one point began talking about 'this fantastic design' and what a great designer Olazabal is. I can't agree or disagree as I've never seen a course of his and I only saw a few holes on TV. Does anybody have an informed opinion?

[Tim Nugent]

No, but then I don't know who's work he's putting his name on.

[Emil Weber]

Mark,

I've been to Costa Ballena Golf Reort on the south-west coast of spain twice now with my club's team to start the season.

Nothing spetacular or "great" at all, a solid to good course with a few tricky greens but somehow a bit repetitive and forgettable. Not many outstanding design ideas, if any, and only few strategic decisions to make along the way. The course is styled a little bit like the typical Florida course, with palm trees and water hazards everywhere, so it's not quite the GCA design style either.
That's my Olazabal expirience from the one course I've played (maybe 10x).

I think he's one of those one-visit-big-name designers, but I have no proof

The view of the sunset from the adjacent hotel is quite nice though...

[Jobst von Steinsdorff]

I've played Costa Ballena a few times as well and would mostly concur with Emil's view. I really doubt that Olazabal has had too much influence on the design, but would assume he just licensed his brand. Biut who am I to know?

The best thing you can say about it is that it probably has the best practice facility I've ever seen. Probably not what an architect wants too hear, however one aspect too often neglected. Much of the revenue obviously comes from team trainings there (as Emil's example shows - while I was there probably about half of the Finnish national teams were practicing there - impressive!) and I would believe it was planned with that in mind.

When it comes to the course, I thought a few holes were very well designed, the foremost examples:

The 10 is a reachable Par 5 double dogleg around a lake that plays into the prevailing wind (which was significant when I played there), so it offers some strategy for those who want to go there in two and weaker players still have to make a strategic decision: In the wind conditions I exeprienced they will have left more than 100 meters for the third and while the water will be almost out of play, the two bunker around the green invite you to lay up to the left of the green and have an easy approach.
.

The 12 is also nice, it plays uphill and into the wind and thus also longer than it appears and offers a similar challenge for those who dare to go there in two and it offers a magnificent view of the ocean from the green complex.


However most of the other holes are not too interesting, overall I thought the Par5s to be the best. All in all it's good and solid work, but certainly not great. www.top100golfcourses.com has it (1-18) as 65th in Spain. Holes 10-18 are nicely routed close to the ocean. While the course is spared from residential developments along it, holes 2-8 and especially 20-26 on the other hand don't have very nice surroundings and on some you have views of adjacent commercial structures.

So if Olazabal's input was Hole numer 10 he may be a good designer, however I would say this is just branding and Seville may have a completely different style. I don't know how qualified Mark's commentator is to talk about GCA anyway,  but maybe I'm just the victim of German golf commentators being completely clueless about it.

[Emil Weber]

Jobst,

Totally on spot... I thought 10 and 12 were the best holes, too.

The practice facility really is a sensation. A huge range, nice spinny balls, a par 3 course, huge pitching green, really fun chipping green and a good putting green. I could spent hours there practicing.

[Cristian]

The only Olazabal course I know is Masia Bach near Barcelona. It is a totally different track, and anything but Florida style. With a lot of elevation changes it is close to mountain golf yet the course is quite walkable for those with a reasonable physical condition; some green to tee walks are steep, but never very long, which is a plus in itself I guess, on mountainous terrain. Although on some holes the barrancas create very narrow playing corridors other holes make up for that (especially since the barrancas are mostly marked as water hazards).

Many greens feature wild internal contours which are a great test of one's putting skills, also the terrain is fairly fast and firm enabling the golfer to bounce his drives or approaches onto the green or middle of the fairway and to choose alternate playing lines. The course features a cape hole ( 8 ), an exciting driveable par 4 over a barranca to a green with a 6 foot(!) tier in the middle (9), also providing an alternative double iron route for the shorter player. Also some of the par 5's are downhill(1, 7), enticing to go for the green in two, even the player who is not so long, whereas the longer driver, may prefer a long iron of the tee to prevent his ball from rolling into trouble. Several par 4's are slight doglegs hugging the hillsides, inviting the player to bounce the ball back onto the fairway, fly part of the hill to cut the hole short or to hit a fade (or draw) around the corner(4, 17, 15). A very enjoyable course, despite some weaker holes, with a great mediterranean atmosphere clubhouse. Worth its 75 euro weekday greenfee, if you are in the area.

Most of the uphill holes if I remember correctly feature moderate contouring to make up for a (semi)blind approach, wheras most of the other holes offer some wild contouring, especially so at 7, 9, 10 and 17.


As to his involvement in the design, I am not sure whether he is just a signature one visit act or not.

http://www.golfmasiabach.com/castellano/hoyos.php?r=1&h=1

[Andrew Summerell]

Mark,

I don't pay a lot of attention to commentators when they are talking about the architecture, especially after this statement a few months ago.

“The architect of the redesign needs congratulations for all the flowers around the course.”
- Renton Laidlaw about Kuala Lumpur Country Club

[Jason McNamara]

He's also got his name on one of the 10+ Mission Hills courses.

[Alfonso Erhardt]

I have only played one of his courses, Retamares, in Madrid, which does feature some good holes, although others are terrible.

There is not a general view here in Spain about Olazabal's merits as a designer, as there is with Arana who is considered very good or Ballesteros, who is considered horrible. However, everybody tends to agree that the Real Golf de Sevilla, where the Spanish Open has been played, is indeed a very good track - and one of the best recent openings in Spain.

As to his involvement, it also widely held that it is quite direct and not limited to "signing", at least in his Spanish projects. He has his own company (www.igdolazabal.com) where you can check the details.

Regards,

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Don't worry, I'm not swayed by commentators eulogising about courses, but if I heard an opinion expressed by Iain Carter, the BBC's radio golf correspondent, I should listen with interest. He wrote some of the copy for the new World Atlas of Golf. He clearly had a real understanding of and love for the old school: Brancaster, Westward Ho, Rye, West Sussex and so on. It must be purgatory for him to have to go to so many sterile courses while reporting on the European Tour.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()