Finca Cortesin is located on the south coast of Spain and is a resort that has received many awards and played host to the Volvo World Match Play several years. It is a course I have always wanted to play and during a summer trip in 2017 I booked a tee time. The course is open to visitors and was very quite when I played.
driving range
the course
The first hole is slight downhill par 4 where you aim just right of the tree in the fairway. I hit a good opening drive and was in the fairway with an 8 iron to the green. I missed the green, but made par.
They had just established new greens and changed to Bermuda grass. We knew that beforehand and were told they were 80-90% perfect and that was fair. As you can see from the pictures the course has some brown patches with didnt effect play, but obviously would have been even nicer if in perfect condition.
Quite a difficult second hole and was playing 190 into the wind. I hit a great shot with a hybrid and managed to follow it up with a good birdie putt. As you can tell the are a lot of building work going on and I am sure it will look really good once finished.
One of the shorter par 5s on the course but with water in play on the left hand side and bunkers on the right.
My tee shot was good and I decided to go for the green in 2. Hit a wonderful shot that ended up a bit long in the fringe and resulted in another birdie.
driveable par 4
I was too tempting not to try and hit the green with my drive and it was nice to pull it off for once and be in the fringe of the green in 1. Another birdie on the card and 3 in a row which is rare for me.
A par 5 where you need an accurate drive to hit the fairway. You can’t see the fairway behind the left hand bunker. I aimed just right of the bunker and ended up in the middle of the fairway with just over 200m to the green.
I hit a really poor second shot into the left hand hazard and had to take a drop and got a bogey.
I made double bogey on what should be a pretty straight forward par 3. Hit a 5 iron into the left hand bushes and came from being 3 under par to 1 under par on holes I should have played better.
great views from 6th hole at finca cortesin
A dogleg right where you can be aggressive with the line over the corner.
I was in the fairway and had 234m to the green uphill and it was out of reach for me. Decided to lay up but didn’t concentrate enough and hit the ball in the bushes on the right which resulted in bogey.
The finishing hole on the front 9 is a short par 4 uphill. There is a well placed bunker in the middle of the fairway and up both sides of the fairway. I was driving the ball well so decided to go over the middle bunker and leave a short second shot. Made a good par, but with 3 birdies I should be out in par as a minimum.
the back nine at finca cortesin
The back nine starts with a par 3 that is severely downhill and was only playing 125m. I hit a 9 iron and made par.
long par 5 hole 11
The longest hole on the course and an intimidating tee shot with a narrow landing area. I aimed just right of the bunker and was in the fairway.
I still had a long way to the green and hit my 3 wood followed by a sand wedge. A good long par 5 that requires 3 good shots to get on the GIR.
I liked this hole even though I hit a poor tee shot into the right hand bunker. It is a short par 4, but well designed.
Another short par 4 where I decided to take the driver after being in the bunker on the previous hole with my hybrid. I hit the driver well but slightly to the right in the rough. Quite close to the green so made par.
A good looking hole where you need to decide how much to carry from the tee to give yourself the best approach to the green. I aimed over the middle bunker and hit a good drive but still had 149m to the pin on an elevated green.
My second shot went in the right hand bunker and I made a bogey.
best par 3
A well designed par 3 with a premium on accuracy. The green is quite narrow on the left hand side where the pin was placed. I hit a good 9 iron that just stayed in the fringe and resulted in a poor bogey.
A blind tee shot uphill where I aimed just over the right edge of the left hand bunker.
Check out above video from the 18th fairway.
My drive was in the middle of the fairway and with 184m to the pin. I was in between clubs and didn’t commit to the shot resulting in a drop from the left hand bushes and a finishing bogey.
my experience
I shot a 76, but felt it should have been close to par, but that is golf…….
The course was a nice challenge with variations of long and short holes with risk reward opportunities which I enjoy. The condition could be better, but it was as expected. The service and experience of the resort is good. The hotel looks really nice and a place I will return for vacation one day.
my score
