Birdie hunt in Canaries
IRON-WILLED: It might have been hot and a little humid, but Chris Stratford soaks up the warmth on a golfing holiday to Tenerife.
HE apology was offered swiftly on our arrival in Tenerife and was repeated by many – all were sorry for the effects of La Calima, a wind of African origin which had been blowing over the island for several days.
It was set to continue during our brief stay and would, we were told, lead to slightly increased levels of humidity and temperature. The apologies were well intended, and showed how Tenerife’s populace is used to the island’s temperate climate, but heat closer to 30C rather than low 20s is hardly the worstt thing with which British golfers normally have to contend.
And a little more perspiring during the round? Just another excuse to linger longer après golf over a beer on the sunblessed clubhouse terraces at the island’s courses; it has nine and we played three during ourr stay.
We were based at the excellent nt five-star Las Madrigueras Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, and the fantasist in me revelled in the lift’s descent to a floor two levels below the reception area to climb into awaiting golf buggies. As we accessed the adjoining Las Americas golf course via security pass-operated electronic door and gate, images of James Bond and Goldfinger were brought to my mind.
The pragmatist would revel in the fact that he or she can finish breakfast at the hotel’s Restaurant Belle Vue, overlooking its swimming pool, and be on the first tee in little more than five minutes.
Las Americas is the perfect holiday golf course: challenging enough in parts for the low-handicap player to enjoy it, not of sufficient length to discourage the middle-handicapper, nor pe penal to the extent that it fills th the high-handicapper with d dread.
Our second golfing destination, Abama, on theh other hand, boasts 20 la lakes. While the sight of a v vast expanse of adjoining water, ie the Atlantic Ocean, is easy on the eye, water on a course can induce apprehension among g golfers.
However, the lakes enhance the exceptional visual appeal of a course whose fairways roll, dip and curve like the path of a d drunken hang-glider.
Playing with a member who knows the track would be a distinct help in assessing both blind shots and those where the terrain can be visually deceptive, as well as being on hand to give a read on its undulating greens.
Abama’s golf course certainly asks plenty of questions of a player, although should you have the means, the question you may ask yourself is whether to purchase a one,
The fairways roll, dip and curve like the path of a drunken
hang-glider.
two or three-bedroomed flat or a luxury custom villa on site as your golfing holiday home.
In terms of difficulty, Costa Adeje, past venue for the Ladies European Tour’s Tenerife Open, probably sits between Las Americas and Abama. Like both the Las Madrigueras Hotel and Abama, it