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Changing courses
WHAT-TO-DO - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - JULY 2004
Changing courses
Golf choices keep improving
The Bahamas? oldest golf course, the Radisson?s Cable Beach course, is maturing and lush following its recent complete makeover. Veteran golf course designer and consultant Fred Settle Jr directed the cosmetics, which included reversing the nines, eliminating some sand traps, enlarging the greens and adding water and irrigation and drainage systems.
With four tees to play from, the course plays to a par 71 and stretches 6,453 yds from the blue tees; 6,001 yds from the white; 5,412 yds from the gold tees and 4,755 yds from the red tees.
The design features spacious fairways guarded by a scenic network of lakes. Protected by a series of mounds that create a sense of containment, it is dotted with a minimum number of sand bunkers.
?The character of the course is changed in a number of significant ways,? explains Settle. ?The addition of tiers to the greens and catchment areas establishes containment around the greens. Some holes have been lifted up as much as four to five feet, and the newly planted salt-tolerant Paspallum grass will make for healthier conditions throughout the year.?
A facelift
South Ocean Golf Club in southwestern New Providence is undergoing a major facelift following a change of ownership. The course was to close for the summer and reopen by the end of November 2004.
The South Ocean course was designed by Joe Lee and opened in 1974 by Canadian financier and developer of Lyford Cay, E P Taylor.
The planned changes, under the ownership of PRK Holdings Ltd of Canada, will see a completely new set of greens, mostly enlarged for bigger targets. A new driving range is also planned, and sand traps are being reconditioned.
Two other courses include the private Lyford Cay course at the western tip of the island in the upscale Lyford Cay enclave, and the Ocean Club layout on Paradise Island, the private domain of guests at Atlantis, Ocean Club, Harborside Resort, Comfort Suites and the Marina at Atlantis. Atlantis also plans an 18-hole links course on Athol Island, immediately to the east of Paradise Island.
Out Island courses
The new Emerald Bay course, a few miles north of George Town on Great Exuma, meanders nearly 6,900 yds around mangrove swamps and sand dunes with six spectacular holes skirting the ocean. Designed by Australian Greg Norman, this par-72 layout incorporates much of the original natural vegetation, including sea grapes, silver buttonwood, thatched and cabbage palms and sand fly bush.
Abaco boasts one mature course and another under construction. Treasure Cay is an 18-hole, 72-par, 6,985-yd, Dick Wilson-designed golf course, the first course on Abaco. With 66 strategically placed sand bunkers, the Treasure Cay course presents a formidable challenge with ocean winds, tight fairways and a layout that makes you ponder every club selection.
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