Sport Industry Group

16 Dec 2011

Curse of the fair weather golfer, by Sport Industry Group's Jason White.

Standing on the first tee of my home golf club, a Links course positioned ruthlessly on the south coast, I am heavily exposed to all mother nature has to throw at you. And throwing she is. Wind in your face, every individual raindrop hits you like a school bully flicking your at your frozen ears. I hit a four iron right down the middle, the vibrations shudder through into your arms, but the ball soars down the middle of the fairway.

Of course, then the wind plucks it out the air, and shoves it straight towards the nearest bunker. The sound of the ball burying itself in the sand echoes downwind like the chilling thud of a wet spoon in a sugar pot. ‘Why am I here again?’ I think to myself.

I am certainly not a fan of the conditions being presented to me here. What are my options though? I enjoy the game of golf. I could hack my way round the next 17 holes dependent largely, in more ways than one, on whether I have enough balls to see me through. Or I can explore some alternatives.

One such alternative for the fair weather golfer is to simply follow the fair weather.

Thanks to the good people of Mason Williams, such an opportunity was presented to me in late November. Tickets booked and bags packed in the space of a ten second Hollywood montage, I find myself in a taxi at 4am on my way to Gatwick. Final destination: Murcia, Polaris World La Torre.

A province in the South East of Spain, Murcia basks in more than 300 days of sunshine a year and enjoys an average temperature of a mild 21 degrees. Perfect.

Following a 45 minutes drive from Alicante airport, we arrive at our hotel. An integral part of a modern-day community, built around Polaris World and the abundance of golf courses on offer.

Our first 18 holes of the trip began at the picturesque El Valle course; a 71 par, Jack Nicklaus-designed course, described as ‘one of the great challenges of the Nicklaus Golf Trail’. Nice little starter then…

For the benefit of all involved I shall leave out my scores, but rest assured – the round was up-and-down in more ways than one. What I will say is that the course intertwines perfectly the challenges in length and approach for a single figure handicapper, while offering some simpler alternatives and ‘lay-up’ options for the not so expert.

Perhaps due to the absurd amount of consistent sunshine, or perhaps because of my remarkable inadequacy to read anything I am not entirely used to, the greens are lightning fast – something that took me a few holes and too many putts to get close to conquering.

Of course, as ‘The Golden Bear’ was quoted as saying, “The game is meant to be fun.” Simple, but handy to remember as you line up a cheeky two footer for another three putt…

I am happy to report, however, that despite our entire four ball struggling to get to grips with the greens to begin with, the putts soon started to fall, with the ‘dancefloor’ remaining consistent and lush throughout.

Dinner that night was served at our hotel in their La Vinoteca restaurant. A six-course extravaganza, with a delightful seared mullet proving particularly popular with the group. I was a long way from the links course right now…

The following day began with a short drive to the nearby Mar Menor course. Also part of Polaris World, the resort opened in 2005, itself boasting an Inter-Continental hotel five minutes from the beach.

This course is also heavily influenced by Mr Nicklaus, most noticeably around the turn. Golfers beware the eighth, ninth and tenth that snake precariously around a lake, sitting smugly yards from the fairway, waiting not-so-patiently to swallow up anything that edges close to the big blue abyss. A few ‘three off the tees’ naturally ensued.

To conclude the weekend tour, a brisk 9 holes around La Torre resort’s own 5,400 metre, 68-par course, perfectly encapsulated by the ninth, and our final, hole of the weekend – a relatively straightforward 160 yard par three.

By relatively, I mean straightforward had it not been for the water stretching the entire length of the hole from the tee box to front edge of the green. The hole is also positioned right next to the hotel, most noticeably the outdoor bar overlooking the lake.

On the plus side, the positioning gives the option of a nine-hole, or a full 18 round. On the negative side, should you stick your tee shot in the water, you may be susceptible to a little friendly international banter from any bar-dwellers that happen to be enjoying the lakeside view.

A vibrant community, largely still growing in the South of Spain, more information on Polaris World can be found here.

With facilities consistently top-class during the trip, and a vast selection of golf courses within a ten minute drive available to suit any golfers need, the Polaris World experience cannot come recommended enough.

The feeling is most suitably summed up by the exit at Gatwick Airport at the end of the return leg. Hello winter.

Roll on summer.