Going for Golf

Carya

Peter Thomson, Australia’s five-times Open champion of the 50s and 60s, was trained as a journalist in the days when facts mattered more than opinion, and there has always been a strong element of savvy in his play and in his golf course design.

Curious, then, to have his interestingly different 7,110 yards of Carya course the subject of a botanical experiment. Sprigs of heather, unknown in these parts hitherto, have been planted in great abundance both in front of the tees – these have five placements – and, more puzzlingly, on the lips of some bunkers.

Clever use has been made of the Belek sand ridges within the obligatory corridors of pine, particularly at the par-threes, where the bunkering offers some heathery flutes and flounces to help make your day.