The first thing one notices about this course is the more than 90 bunkers that were artistically designed and placed in clusters. Many of them are rarely in play, but once the player hits his ball in the general direction of a bunker, it is sure to end up in sand. If not in the first bunker, then in one of the others that make up that particular cluster. This is especially true around the greens, where most recovery shots will be from a deep sand trap.
The contours of the property are close to ideal for designing a golf course that frequently changes directions and has moderate undulations throughout to make matters interesting. Credit goes to the architect for coming up with a layout that has returning nines, but is still very straightforward to navigate. There are no steep climbs or unnerving green to tee walks and just two cases of appreciable backtracking at the 3rd and the 13th. The nines have been switched since the famous 59 with a bogey recorded here by Martin Kaymer and the new routing is probably a touch more balanced. The most difficult hole is now the 9th and the 18th is a downhill par 5, where it doesn't take Martin Kaymer to produce a good score. Plus, the view of the clubhouse and playing towards it for the entire final hole is just more enjoyable.
Even though the course is moderately undulated and the third dimension definitely comes into play, the tee shots aren't particularly dicey. Most fairways gather towards the middle or at least towards the bunkers and there is room for strategic play. The only shortcoming in this regard are the sticky aprons that completely kill the ground game. Bouncing the ball onto the green is not a viable option in most cases. On the other hand it is very hard to lose a ball here, so every coin has two sides. Overall the fun factor looms large and the very agreeable routing makes this course a joy to walk.