Golf Las Americas Tenerife Course Review

0 0 GolfCentralDaily April 26, 2012 Edit this post

This is my course review of Golf Las Americas in Tenerife. I was out to Playa De Las Americas recently on a family holiday and decided to ...

This is my course review of Golf Las Americas in Tenerife. I was out to Playa De Las Americas recently on a family holiday and decided to mosey up there to check it out. Now if its flowery descriptions you are after in your golf reviews, off you toddle to Golf World or somewhere like that. I wont waste your time. But here’s how I got on in lay man’s language.

Getting There

Ryanair fly from my local airport (Knock in Ireland) to Tenerife South. If you don’t mind Ryanair’s policy of ritual humiliation where you attempt to mash your bag into a wrought iron square frame in front of 100 people and can handle the Priority/All Other Gimps queuing policy it’s relatively cheap and easy to get there. It might be easier if the Ryanair lady shouted “Crouch, Touch, Pause….,Engage” before they let us on though. Once at the airport you can get fleeced on a taxi to Playa de las Americas for about €25 quid or get the lovely TITSA bus, yes that’s what it’s called, for less than a euro. Being a pleb, of course I got the taxi.

Is There Grass?

Now my first criteria for golf courses in hot climates is “Is There Grass?” I once visited a course in Spain that looked like one of those salt plains where they do those land speed records. You know where yer man James Hammond nearly got wiped. The good news in Golf Las Americas is there is grass. Loads of it. In fact you would be hard pushed to find any bare patch on fairway, rough or green on the property without the exact requisite amount of the stuff. So good are the greens by the way, that you wont find any plugmarks bar the ones you make yourself on them. Green staff go out to each green, morning and evening, forensically fixing any little craters. I like touches like that on a golf course. It means attention to detail. It means quality. You wont find find a bunker looking like the top of a lasagne either; they’re all raked to what I call Tour standard; the top inch or so is fluffy and it’s firm enough beneath not to allow the ball to plug. Speaking of Tour’s, Golf Las Americas has had the Ladies European Tour a bunch of times so that should give a good indication of what we’re dealing with here.

Bubba or Langer Course?

By modern standards the course is short. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple of kickass par fours for the big batters. In general however it’s a precision course. The fairways from the tees are generous but it tightens near the tiny greens which are small, fast and just a bit dangerous. The front nine is definitely tougher than the back, so don’t worry if you’re pummelled a bit going out, you’ll have some chances to score on the way home. My favourite hole on the course was the par-3 seventh (pictured); 200ish yards from the back sticks with water on the left. Tough. The GPS in the buggies is from the future too. Make sure you check that out.

Surely Its Too Hot For Golf

I hate people who say that. Maybe if you’re over 85 and have a dodgy ticker. Otherwise No. Isn’t there a bit of a contradiction in that people who think it’s too hot to play golf will happily cover themselves in factor 0 baby oil and sizzle on a deck chair by a pool? Get real and get out there. Common misconception- it’s actually cooler for golf in Tenerife in the Summer than the Winter.

Do You Speak The English?

The guy I met was a tall tanned chap by the name of Brendan Breen. He’s from Ireland so his command of the English language was okay. Better than average even! We had a good chat. Brendan’s been out in Tenerife for years and is one of only three Irishmen alive that can speak Spanish!

Power Shower or Watering Can?

When it comes to rating golf courses, I’m a big believer in facilities. You want a shower that is the equivalent of a powerhose with water that can actually get hotter than you can bare, if you want it to. I want towels, lots of them. Not ones you have to beg for or leave a deposit for. You want the locker room to be neat and carpety and stuff, not like the away dressing room of the local pitch. Golf Las Americas has all this good stuff. In spades.

You want there to be a practice ground near the first tee, with loads of balls, which cannot also be used for table tennis. You want the pro shop to have loads of tee shirts and average Joe retail opportunities, not Faberge Raingear that costs a grand. You want rental clubs to be Taylormade R11’s, not Niblick Golds. You want a cool bar and restaurant that overlook the 18th, not a truckstop cafe. Golf Las Americas has all this good stuff too. In trumps.

So Thumbs Up Or Down?

Whenever I go on holidays I spend the week trying to figure out other things to do besides sit by the pool and fry all day. Pubs with signs like “Premiership Live Here: Stoke v Wigan” are strangely more appealing on holiday than they ever would be at home. So if you are like me and would rather get up and play a round of golf than read a book by the pool, I highly recommend checking out Golf Las Americas. You wont be disappointed. It’s a thumbs up from me.