‘Post Card from Menorca’
Well it is now officially the longest drought in Spain since 1857 and by the time you read this article I will have returned from a well earned rest on the beautiful island of Menorca and I can heartily recommend it for a peaceful and tranquil holiday.
Obviously despite being on ‘holiday’ golf is never far from my thoughts and while there I took the opportunity to visit the ONLY golf course on the island called Son Parc. This golf course originally opened to the public in 1977 as a 9 hole course which was later extended to an 18 hole layout by Dave Thomas who is also responsible for many other courses such as San Roque, Altorreal and the Belfry in the UK. The course measures 5,169 metres (5,686 yards) from the competition tees and has a par of 69 comprising 6 par 3’s, 9 par 4’s and 3 par 5’s and is a relatively flat, narrow and tree lined course with strategically placed dog legs, bunkers and water hazards and the golfer must carefully plan their way around the course to obtain the best result and the gung-ho approach will not work on this course. The course is designed to be ecologically ‘green’ with a wide variety of carefully selected flora and forna and a reprocessing plant to treat and re-use waste water from the urbanisation on which the course is located. The facilities include a reasonably well appointed golf shop with an 18 bay driving range (with 14 covered bays) and a good restaurant with large terrace overlooking the courses and driving range. This course is will worth a game if you intend to visit the island but remember that the resorts and accommodation in the area largely close during the winter and spring months.