This course is routed very professionally over a hillside, such that almost no holes play directly up or down it. Rather, most holes play alongside the hill following a terrassed design concept, so that the course remains eminently walkable. Naturally, there are still enough undulations to be navigated, only a handful of stretches are completely flat. With such a rich canvas to draw upon it is no wonder that many holes have real character and undeniable strategic interest.

The downfall of the course is the heavy soil, though. It was clearly designed with a considerable ground game component, but all of those clever bumps, slopes and rolls simply cannot work on either muddy or rock-hard ground. What is the point of having a false front to a green, if the ball cannot roll up it? What is the point of mounding that does not feed the ball back onto the fairway? For most of the year this course will dictate an aerial game, for which it was not designed.

It remains a beautifully flowing layout with returning Nines, where the most interesting terrain is used on both. A few of the really long holes seem out of place, because nothing much is going on there - while the shorter holes all have a twist or two. Playing angles are sometimes hard to figure out and that includes putting. The greens are only subtly undulated, but varying speeds and micro breaks cause problems. The course is not a push-over, but also not artificially difficult - it is some fun, but could be so much more.