I had been to Arcos Gardens a few years ago, when its first nine holes had just opened and the very careful real estate development that is now beginning to be seen had not yet begun.
I was eager to get to know the course and play it, because everyone who has played it speaks very well of it. Located just over three kilometers from the beautiful village of Arcos de la Frontera and about twenty-something kilometers from Jerez, this resort impresses upon arrival because it exceeds expectations….. The entrance, its magnificent clubhouse, inaugurated less than a year ago, the architectural uniformity of Andalusian style of the complex, the atmosphere of relaxation and elegance that permeates … everything surrounds you immediately and predisposes you to spend a good day, or more if you choose to stay in the renovated farmhouse-hotel of the club or in any of the villas or townhouses available.
The course was designed by the prestigious American company Landmark, creator of the PGA West, Palm Beach Polo and the Ocena Course on Kiawah Island, for example.
The complex also has a large and well-kept practice area that is used by the Swedish Golf Federation, the English Federation and others as the venue for their official winter training sessions. There are also many Tour players who ‘isolate’ themselves here to train and practice. No wonder.
Peter Hanson, Johan Edfors, Mikko Ilonen, Joakim Haeggman, etc. have recently passed through here. “Here they are calm and can fully concentrate on their work,” says Ana Rodriguez Lara, the resort’s sales representative, who greeted me on my arrival and facilitated my brief stay at Arcos Gardens. I also had the chance to say hello to Ashley Northridge, the director, who pilots the whole thing with mastery.
The greens of this course are, in general, large, fast and very moving. It is here, above all, where the designer has tried to complicate the player’s life a little, because the fairways are very wide and difficult to miss.
Almost all the holes have five tee positions to make the course smoother or more difficult, depending on the circumstances. There is hardly any rough, but there are plenty of bunkers.
As the course was made in an old olive grove, the fairways are bordered by olive trees, which only come into play if the shot is really bad. Nor do the houses already built here have any impact on anything, as they are far enough away to be a nuisance.
The Levante wind, which often blows, makes two or three holes very long because it hits them head-on. It is then when you can play with the flag and tee positions to counteract this handicap or to accentuate it if you wish.
The water, three lakes on holes 6, 16 and 18, and a creek that borders the 7th and crosses the 9th, does not increase the difficulty of this course, because it hardly has any influence, except on the 18th, where a large lake borders the fairway on the left from the drop of the drive to the back of the green.
The day I visited Arcos Gardens was sunny and the crisp blue sky made the intensity of the light seem almost unreal. From the clubhouse, the course looked magnificent and perfectly maintained. I would later find this to be true.
The greenkeeper, Lorenzo Basco, with whom I had met to play, was proud of his work and, of course, of the results achieved, which make this course enjoy a well-deserved prestige and so much liked by all those who play it.
To begin the course, hole 1, a par 4 of 305 meters from the yellow bars (from now on the distances will always be from these tees) proposes a slight dogleg to the right. It is not a complicated fairway, but a bunker awaits us at the drop of the drive, also on the right. If you want to take a risk, you have to lean to the left. If not, you have to stay short of the bunker and from there you will be 120 meters short of a green that is very busy and protected by two bunkers on the left.
Hole 2 is a short par 3, 126 meters, with the green lower than the tee. The only difficulty lies in going to the right, because there is a great slope and recovering is complicated.
Hole 3 is a fairly straight 328-meter par 4, although it has a very slight dogleg left. A large tree in that area of the fairway makes the second shot difficult if you fall short, and if you lean too far to the right there are two bunkers waiting for you. The shot to the green is greatly influenced by the large bunker that runs along the left side of this long, narrow green.
Hole 4 is the first par 5 of the course and measures 438 meters uphill. There is a bunker in the middle of the fairway, right at the drop of the drive, which is not easy to reach. The best thing to do here is not to gamble and to get to the green in threes: drive, 3-wood or 5-wood and a wedge, at the most. Par is a magnificent result.
Hole 5, a par 4 of 352 meters, is usually influenced by the easterly wind, which blows against it. It is therefore quite long. There are two bunkers on the left, just at the drop of the drive, which must be taken into account. For the second shot you have to calculate the slope to the right, so we must lean on the left so that the bounce does not send the ball out. This green has a lot of slope from left to right.
Hole 6 is a par 3 of 137 meters and the first hole of the course where we find water on the left of the fairway and the green. The difficult position of the flag is at the back left, which forces you to shoot over the water. If you choose to lean to the right, there are several bunkers waiting for you. The piano in the middle of the green, if you are not on the right platform, makes it very difficult to make two putts.
Hole 7 is a short par 4 of 267 meters. The main difficulty here is in the river that borders the fairway on the right because it is easy to fall into it. At the height of the drive drop, two bunkers await us on the left. Therefore, a 3 or 4 iron is safe, which will leave us a maximum 9 to the green. Trying to get from one to the green can end up complicating the par because there are only five or six meters to roll in and the steep slope from left to right will send the ball into the creek.
On the other hand, hole 8, 363 meters long, is very, very long, because the wind always blows against the green. The green is high and on the left side of the fairway, so it is not visible from the tee. It is large and wide, although with a lot of movement due to the three platforms it has. The fairway doglegs to the left, uphill, so you have to aim to the right to get a better angle of attack on the green. The second shot, with wind, is always going to be very long. This is the most complicated hole of the first round.
Hole 9 is a wonderful par 5 of 467 meters. A creek crosses the fairway twice. If you hit a good drive, it is feasible to attack from two to the green, since the fairway is slightly downhill, but it is very risky. The most likely outcome is to end up in the water, despite the fact that here the Levante wind is behind us. It is best to play a second shot before the creek and attack the green comfortably.
The second round of the course also begins with a hole that is long due to the headwind. Hole 10 is a 346-meter par 4 very protected by bunkers on the drive downhill; and the green, with three platforms, slopes from right to left. The second shot will always be quite long, so par here is a success.
Hole 11 is a 438-meter par 5 with a slight dogleg left, where most players will need three shots to reach the smallest green on the course, with subtle slopes. Avoid the bunker on the left at the tee and those around the green.
The 12th hole, a par 4 of 363 meters, slightly downhill, is one of the few holes where there is a risk of finishing out of bounds. It has a slight dogleg to the right and the wind comes from the front. The green is very protected and has a steep slope from the back to the front, with a piano right in the middle.
Hole 13, 366 meters uphill, is the longest par 4 of the course; not in vain, it is the handicap 1. The green is very, very long and has two pianos. To reach it in two is quite an achievement.
The 14th hole, on the other hand, is a short par 4, 281 meters long, with a dogleg left. This hole encourages you to drive to leave a sand wedge, but there are many bunkers lurking. It is best to stay short with a 3-wood and then hit a 9-iron. The green is very high, with a drop from back to front and protected on the left.
Hole 15 is a medium par 3, 142 meters, very nice and also usually affected by the wind. The tee is high and the biggest difficulty is in the bunker on the right, which comes into play a lot because the drop goes towards it. The safe thing to do is to play to the left of this large and fast green.
Hole 16 is a par 5 of 492 meters with spectacular views. The fairway is wide and on the tee there is a decision to be made: to shoot or not to shoot for a two green. Three shots are not complicated: drive, fairway wood, mid iron and onto the green. But as we have the wind behind us, we may be tempted to try a two-putt. In that case, watch out for the bunkers on the right and the water on the left. The green does not have many problems, so two putts, once on the platform, are not difficult.
The 17th hole is a long par 3, 164 meters long. You can’t see half of the green because of the slope of a bunker in the middle of the fairway, which makes it look like the green is closer than it really is. It has slopes from back to front and there are two bunkers that always come into play. The difficulty lies in not reaching the green cleanly.
To finish the course, the 18th hole is one of the longest par 4’s, with 406 meters. The tee is slightly elevated and from there the perspective is fantastic. A large lake runs along the left side of the fairway from the height of the drive drop to the back of the green. You can hit the driver with determination because the fairway is wide. The best angle to attack the green is to place the ball on the right. From there we will have a long shot to a green protected by bunkers at the back and water on the left. The green does not have excessive movement. The problem of the hole is the distance.
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