Terramar Golf Club was founded in 1927, and it is near the town of Sitges by the south coast of Barcelona. The golf course was designed by arquitects Tom Simpson, F.Hawtree , Jim Fazio And Enrique Saenger and the arquitect Martin Ebert has newdesigned it a bit. The new design will make the course more challenging and will attract all source of players.The course will remain very playable and the views to the Mediterranean course will be enforced. Terramar Golf is par 71, and it is 5615 m long from yellow tee. Below some pictures from the course. I give totally 9 points to this course; Caddiemaster and price level (not weekends 9,5), layout and playability (8,5), clubhouse and restaurant (9). Absolutely worth visiting. Some photos of the course below.
Terramar Golf Club on perustettu vuonna 1927, ja se on lähellä Sitgesin kaupunkia Barcelonasta n. 30 km etelään. Golfkentän ovat suunnitelleet arkkitehdit Tom Simpson, F.Hawtree, Jim Fazio ja Enrique Saenger ja Martin Ebert on uudistanut sitä hieman. Uusi muotoilu tekee kentästä paremmin pelattavan kaikentasoisille pelaajille. Kentän parluku on 71 ja pituus keltaisilta 5615 m.
1) Caddiemaster -palvelut ja hintataso; Caddiemaster toimi hienosti, ja peliaikoja oli kesäkuun lopulla saatavissa aika helposti vaikka edellisenä päivänä. Läheisen hotelli Terramarin asukkaille greenfee kärryjen kanssa oli ma-pe 41,50 euroa, mikä Espanjan kenttien normihintoihin verrattuna on todella edullinen. Viikonloppuhinnat ovat aika korkeat. Kokonaisarvosana 9,5.
2) Pelattavuus ja kentän kunto; Kenttä ja erityisesti griinit olivat erinomaisessa kunnossa. Kastelua tunnuttiin käyttävän myös väylille paljon, koska niin vihreät ne olivat kuumuudesta huolimatta. Kentällä ei ole mitään ”monsteriväyliä”, vaan kaikki par 4:setkin ovat kohtuumittaisia. Mukaan mahtuu muutamia haastaviakin väyliä. Kentällä oli parhaillaan yhden väylän remontti menossa, joka hieman alkuviikolla muutti pelijärjestystä. Kokonaisarvosana 8,5.
3) Klubitalo ja ravintolapalvelut; Klubi on miljööltään todella upeassa paikassa . Proshop oli kattava ja ravintolan hintataso jopa lähikaupunkia edullisempi, mikä sinänsä on poikkeuksellista. Arvosana 9.
4) Yleisarvosana. Yleisarvosanaksi annan tälle kentälle 9,0
Avausväylä, par 4, 359 m, HCP 2.
Väylä 3, par 3, 148 m. Takana siintää hiekkaranta ja turkoosinkirkas Välimeri.
Kentän yksi hienoimmista par 3:sta. Väylä nro 7, 166 metriä.
Kentän vaikein väylä, nro 15 on 484 metrinen par 5, jossa väylä kapenee loppua kohden ja erityisesti lähestymiseen tarvitaan tarkkuutta.Kentän viimeinen väylä on 384 metrinen par 4 (HCP 3).
Päätösreiän griini. Griinit ylipäätään olivat kaikki isokokoisia, osa myös melko voimakkaasti muotoiltuja.Tämä kenttä on ehdottomasti testaamisen arvoinen. Recomiendo!
Tänä kesänä kannattaa aloittaa oma golfharrastus, mikäli asia on ollut mielessä. Monilla kentillä on keväisin pakettitarjouksia, joissa greencard -kurssi, pelejä ja opetusta on paketoitu edullisiin paketteihin. Näin uuteen harrastukseen pääsee vaivattomasti kiinni.
Ohessa muutamia kenttiä , jotka tarjoavat omia pakettitarjouksiaan keväällä 2016 (mallina keskinen Suomi. Selaa oman alueesi kenttätarjontaa tai googlaa lisää vaikka hakusanalla”greencard kurssi”):
Golfaddiktina on helppo kehua omaa harrastustaan, mutta ohessa muutamia perusteluja:
Golf on rentoutumista luonnon äärellä ulkoilmassa
Se on sopivaa kisailua ja mukavaa yhdessäoloa joko tutussa tai tuntemattomassa peliporukassa
Golfkierroksella kävellään paljon, joten omasta kunnosta tulee huolehdittua aivan huomaamattomasti
Onnistumisen kokemukset, kun lajiosaaminen pikku hiljaa lisääntyy
”Luonnosta ja maisemista nauttimista ovat asioita, joiden golfin harrastajat kokevat vaikuttavan eniten golfin harrastamiseen. Naisten vastauksissa ulkoilu, omasta kunnosta huolehtiminen, luonnosta ja maisemista nauttiminen, uusien lajitaitojen oppiminen sekä ajanvietto perheen kanssa korostuivat voimakkaammin suhteessa miehiin. Vastaavasti miesten vastauksissa korostui naisia voimakkaammin halu nähdä ja kokea uusia golfkenttiä, kilpaileminen sekä panoksesta pelaaminen.” Ote Suomen Golfliiton harrastajaprofiilitutkimuksesta vuodelta 2012. Koko tutkimuksen voit lukea tästä
Golf Digest equipment editor Mike Stachura tells his opinion in Hot list 2016 analysis about putters: ” Unless Your name is in the bag, You should use mallet putter”. Do you endorse that?
Have played these courses couple of times before. Even though they can´t be regard as championship courses, they are both quite fun to play. Maspalomas is older, and I like very much the clubs athmosphere – it is straight and friendly – although can be very congested. But if You start quite early in the morning, there is always room for 1 or 2 players.
Lopesan Meloneras golf is much expensive than Maspalomas, but if You live in Lopesan hotels, it is possible to get discount. Great views are especially seen in the last 9 holes.
Olen pelannut näitä kenttiä muutaman kerran ennenkin. Vaikka kumpaakaan ei pidetä varsinaisena championship-kenttänä, ne ovat molemmat varsin hauskoja pelata. Maspalomas on vanhempi, ja pidän kovasti sen tunnelmasta – se on rehti ja ystävällinen – vaikka toisinaan kenttä on hyvin ruuhkainen. Mutta jos jaksaa lähteä heti aamulla, on aina tilaa 1 tai 2 pelaajaalle. Lopesan Meloneras Golf on kalliimpi kuin Maspalomas, mutta jos asut jossakin Lopesan -ketjun hotellissa, on mahdollista saada alennusta. Näkymät Meloneraksen takaysillä ovat hienot!
Here is a short 7 minute video about the new courses I have played during the Year 2015. All and all 12 new courses – 5 in Finland and 7 abroad! Now the whole list includes 117 courses (38 of them abroad). Long journey ahead, if the coal is to visit all of them – there are about 34.000 courses in the world at the moment.
Are New Drivers Really Better? Let´s have a closer look!
Every new golfyear starts with new commercials about drivers. ”Hit Longer”, ”Hit more accurate”, ” More forgiveness”, even ”New colours availabe”. There have been several surveys from that issue – let´s have a look at couple of them: Pluggedin.com and MyGolfSpy.com.
1. Pluggedin.com test
Pluggedin. com tested at October 2015 some myths about new drivers aganist older ones. All testing was done at Club Champion
The Myths
Myth #1: New drivers are longer than old drivers
Myth #2: New drivers are more accurate than old drivers
Myth #3: New drivers are more forgiving than old drivers
So what did they found…
Myth #1
”Unsurprisingly, we found that new drivers are significantly longer thanold drivers. When looking at the group average, the modern driver was 30 yards ahead of the persimmon driver and 13 yards ahead of the driver from the 90’s”
”Interestingly, the modern driver was edged out by our 2000’s driver. There are a couple reasons for this. First, the modern driver’s average was hurt by a couple of truly awful mishits. Second, the shaft in the 2000’s driver was, overall, a better fit for our test group. Our test group had a number of very strong players who really preferred the heavier, stiffer shaft. This further evidences something we say often: if you get fit for the right club and shaft, you can keep it for years.”
Myth #2
”While common sense certainly tells us that modern, high MOI drivers should be substantially more accurate than older drivers, our small sample size did not provide the data to confirm this fully. Overall, the dispersion from the 2000’s and modern drivers was better than that of the 1990’s and persimmon clubs, but some of our testers showed great accuracy with the older clubs. There’s something to be said for the focus that a tiny persimmon head commands.
Myth #3
”Though our small sample size doesn’t provide overwhelming data, and some of our “proof” is anecdotal, we believe it’s fair to say that modern drivers are substantially more forgiving than old drivers. Of course, we know it’s fair to say this based on measurements like MOI, but we can also support it with what we saw in the testing.
Averages from 5 players hitting persimmon, 1990´s, 2000´s and a modern driver (plugged.in)
Plugged.in conclusions
”The next time you see an ad touting the latest driver as being the longest ever, remember what you’ve seen here: a driver that’s nearly 10 years old went toe-to-toe with the best driver of the year because of a well-fit shaft. It’s true that drivers do improve every year, but the improvements are gradual. If you want to really see a jump in performance, get fit for the best head and shaft combination, then play it until it falls apart.”
2. MyGolfSpy Labs: Persimmon vs. Your Titanium Driver
”What advantage does modern driver technology actually provide the golfer over a steel shafted persimmon club?”
Test Parameters
Driver data was collected for 8 golfers (6 males and 2 females)
2 golfers had swing speeds in the 70’s, 2 in the 80’s, 2 in the 90’s and 2 in the 100’s
Each golfer hit series of shots with their own driver and another with the persimmon driver
Any shots that had a total distance variance of greater than 25% from the norm (all shorter) were eliminated and replayed
Golfers would hit 2 shots with their own, 2 with the persimmon, 2 with their own, until we had collected enough shots for each
We used new Titleist NXT Tour Practice golf balls and the data was normalized
Handicaps ranged from Professional (plus) to 15 and included a golfer that has played in the Senior US Open, a former General, a Ladies Club Champion, a girls junior golfer, a teaching pro and a former CEO
DATA
”The primary point of interest for me was that all the golfers had drivers that were, not surprisingly, physically longer than the persimmon club (yes, even the ladies) and all their shaft weights were lighter than the heavy steel shaft in the persimmon club, says Andrew.”
”Calculating yards per mile per hour – the modern drivers hit the ball 2.50 yards per mph, while the wooden club hits the ball 2.44 yards per mph. Also keep in mind that the persimmon club was not ”fitted” to any of the test subjects nor had any of them ever hit a shot with the club before.”
”In my opinion this could easily account for the relatively small differences in yards per mph. In fact if the modern titanium clubs were of similar length and weight relative to the wooden club thus resulting in the same club speed the average tee shot would have traveled 202.8 yards – less than five yards longer! Andrew Rice goes on in his article.
Andrews conclusions…
”So what can you take from this? No, I don’t want you digging around the garage to find that old MacGregor Tourney driver you had, but I do want to be clear on the following:
The length of your driver should be a length that you can swing fast and control. The next time you get fitted please try shafts of different lengths.
The weight of the shaft in your driver shouldn’t be extreme – not overly heavy (90+ grams) or overly light (less than 45 grams).
With regard to the performance of titanium, it’s the not the material itself, but rather what that material makes possible from an engineering standpoint. Titanium allows for lighter and longer shafts and larger, more forgiving heads.
Physics makes the ball GO! Higher launch (commensurate with your club speed) and lower spin (1900 rpm – 2400 rpm) work very well, no matter what club you’re hitting.
A well positioned strike on the clubface will do wonders for both your distance and control.
”If you’re a competitive golfer I would encourage you to find an older, small-headed driver to practice with. Wood or metal it doesn’t matter. It will help you hone in on making a centered strike on the tee ball on a more regular basis.”
”Good driving is less about the club and more about how you deliver the club to the ball.”
”Find a club that works for you and then work towards getting the most out of it. The club – titanium or wood – makes less of a difference than you might think”, Andrew gives his tip in the end.
3. My own small driver test, year 2015 – old against new!
I have had a Cobra AMP Cell with Smart Pad for couple of years. It has been adjusted to 9,5 degrees loft with my Pro and FC2 launch monitor.
Cobra AMP Cell
First year I used it with Cobra´s own shaft, but changed this summer to OZIK white tie (55 R).
OZIK White Tie 55 R
I have never been a ”big hitter”, so this shaft gave me better launch angle, and a bit more accuracy. At October I had a chance to test Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 driver with OZIK red tie (65 R).
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815OZIK Red Tie 65 R
The last few rounds 2015 I played with this club (10,5 loft) and shaft – and have to admit, that I may become a Callaway fan in future – at least when it comes to drivers. This driver feels much better, has a solid launch. And what´s best, even light misshits give satisfying results. It is interesting to make hits with this to FC2 next season, and compare results to Cobra.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,200 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 53 trips to carry that many people.
"Kokemuksia golfin pelaamisesta ja kentistä Suomessa ja maailmalla. Lyhyitä arvosteluja golfvälineistä ja vinkkejä mentaaliharjoitteluun. Tekstit suomeksi ja englanniksi. Experiences from golf courses in Finland and abroad. Short reviews of golf equipment and tips for mental training. Texts written in finnish and english."
