TEMPTING TENERIFE

Blessed with a permanent spring-like climate, and a small but stunning choice of courses, Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, makes an ideal destination for a golfing getaway at any time of year, says Nick

Bayly

Although initially nding it hard to shrug o its reputation as one of the birthplaces of the package holiday, Tenerife has moved on considerably from the bucket and spade breaks that dominated the glossy brochures in the windows of your local Thomson Holidays shop in the 1970s.

Thanks to the arrival of world-class hotel brands, and a number of boutique alternatives to the lowrent chains that dominate the party capital resort of Playa de Las Américas, Tenerife has successfully rebranded itself as a place for cool kids and well-healed families to kick back during the holiday season.

And with a climate that settles around a balmy 24 degrees during the winter, and hotter summer days cooled by light ocean breezes, it’s easy to see why this stunning island located 200 miles o the coast of Morocco makes an ideal location for a spot of R&R.

Although beach-goers came rst in the holiday stampede, golfers were not slow to follow, with the island now o ering six 18-hole courses on which to while away a week or two under cloudless skies.

Split in half by the snow-capped extinct volcano of Mount Teide, the southern half of the island o ers the greatest concentration of golf courses, with four championship layouts within a few miles of each other strung out along the Atlantic Coast. The best of these is undoubtedly Abama, a luxury hotel and golf resort located on the rugged southwest coast, which raised the stakes for both hotels and golf in Tenerife when it rst opened in 2005.

Styled on a Moorish village, the ve-star resort occupies a 400-acre cli -top location overlooking the island of La Gomera. Owned by Ritz-Carlton, it enjoys an elevated status as a playground for Europe’s holidaying elite, with well-healed families ocking to make use of its all-inclusive kids’ club during the peak holiday season. Adult guests are also likely to be won over by its choice of 10 restaurants ¬– two of which, M.B. and Kabuki, are Michelin-starred – its superb spa, seven tennis courts, private beach, choice of elegant suites and private villas (butlers can be provided), and, of course, its 18-hole championship golf course. Host venue for the Tenerife Ladies Open way back when, the 6,818-yard layout, which was designed by the late Dave Thomas, winds its way through thousands of palm trees and cacti and o ers spectacular views of the Atlantic and the island of La Gomera. There are 22 lakes, joined by a series of waterfalls, while numerous large bunkers, lled with brilliant white sand, add to the challenge. With dramatic elevation changes, buggies are essential, and while the green fee is double what is charged at many other venues in the region, it is well worth the investment.

Thomas’s brief was to give the owners the ‘Augusta in the Atlantic’, and he certainly did this with regard to the speed of the greens, as they initially ran so fast that the women pros playing in the rst Tenerife Ladies Open were putting o the greens with alarming regularity. Fortunately, the greens have slowed down a bit since then, and they putt smoothly, but still have some very imaginative pin positions.

The opening section of holes meander about on the upper slopes, while the back nine moves onto the lower, with the 700-feet drop between the two making a buggy all but essential. Arguably the most scenic of the many stunning holes, as well as the toughest, is the par- ve 10th. Plunging downhill from a high tee near the clubhouse, the ideal shot is a left-to-right slider avoiding a lake on the left, then a mid-iron across the edge of a second stretch of water to set up a pitch to the green.

La Gomera, the aforementioned island that Abama overlooks, is also home to another ‘mustplay venue’ on any golf trip to Tenerife – namely Tecina. Requiring a fast ferry ride from Los Cristianos harbour, and a 45-minute drive on one of the greatest roads in the world, Tecina is one of the gol ng wonders of the world. Quite how the architect shoehorned the layout on the land available is a mystery, but he pulled it o with aplomb.

After checking in at the clubhouse, the rst tee requires an almost 600-foot vertical drive up a buggy path. Passing all the holes on the way, you see how the use of terracing on a former banana plantation has enabled a spectacular layout to be sculpted, providing testing holes and a view of the ocean and the ever-present Mount Tiede from all of them. Signature holes are many, with the 4th, 10th and 12th, with their exposed greens, being strong candidates for showstoppers After a round, golfers can hole up at the Hotel Jardin Tecina, a beautiful boutique-style hotel that overlooks the course and is under the same ownership as the golf club or jump back on the ferry to the mainland where other gol ng delights await.

Love it or loathe it, there’s no getting away from Los Cristianos if you’re a golfer, as the courses at Las Americas and Costa Adeje are both situated right in the downtown area, among the hotels and apartments. They play very di erently, however, with Las Americas, as the name suggests, being an American-style course in both its design and condition. Penal water hazards abound, and with the fairways not overly generous, accuracy is much more critical than length, with short game skills reaping more reward than expertise with a driver. That said, good luck with the killer par-three fourth hole – which requires a 200-yard heave over water and to a well-bunkered green.

For a striking contrast try Costa Adeje, a past host venue for the Ladies European Tour’s Spanish Open, where black volcanic sand lies around the fringes of the fairways and provides a spectacular backdrop to any round. The other striking feature is slightly more man-made, and comes in the form of raised terraces, which are a hangover of an old banana plantation on which the course was built. The designer has kept these tiered banks on the fairways of some holes, which can make driving a buggy a rather hazardous occupation, as well as creating some awkward lies.

Two par-threes spring to mind when talking about Adeje’s signature holes. At the lowest point on the course, the fth is only a 140-yard ick, but a narrow green front to rear, perched about 30 feet above the tee, scrubland to the right and the prevailing wind o the sea to the right, conjures up echoes of Troon’s Postage Stamp. Two holes further on, the seventh is an equally testing prospect, requiring a 190-yard shot over a barranca of scrub. Golf del Sur, conveniently located near the airport in Los Cristianos, is another favourite on any Tenerife gol ng itinerary. Boasting three loops of nine – Links, North and South – it was host to several European Tour events in the early 90’s, and like Adeje, boasts more of that eye-catching and white-shoe ruining black sand, even in the bunkers. When the wind blows, and that is 90 per cent of the time in this part of the world, creative shot making is a necessity in your gol ng armoury to score well here, although generous fairways help prevent running up too many cricket scores.

And nally, no talk of golf and Spain can pass without referencing the late, great Seve Ballesteros. One of the most naturally gifted players the game has even seen, Seve was also quite a handy golf course designer, although his premature death in 2011 robbed us of the opportunity of playing more his architectural output. Thankfully he got around to creating Buenavista, an 18-hole championship course located on the rugged northwest of the island that truly lives up to its name. With stunning panoramic vistas from every hole on a course that is framed by the crashing waves of the Atlantic on one side and the Teno mountain range on the other, Seve has weaved his magic to create a superb holiday track that has a unique mix of six par threes, six fours and six ves.

With many holes seemingly hanging out over the water’s edge – especially the par- ve 13th, and the stunning par threes at 15 and 17 – visitors will require the touch and imagination of the great man himself in order to score well, especially when the wind is up. And after your game, the adjacent ve-star Buenavista Golf is a relaxing spot to relive your nest Seve moments in suitable luxury.

With just a four-hour ight, and such a small but excellent stock of memorable courses to play and luxury hotels to stay in, I’d strongly advise reassessing any preconceptions you had of Tenerife. But just in case, don’t forget to bring your bucket and spade, a knotted hanky, and a threeday old copy of The Sun for blending-in purposes.