Buenavista - Canary Islands - Spain

One of the real virtues in heading to Buenavista is the winding roads taking you to the location. You are clearly away from the maddening crush of people found closer to where all the main hotels and restaurants are cloistered in and around Costa Adeje.

The golf dimension provides what a resort course should do. Give people a beautiful site -- the layout provides views of the Atlantic Ocean -- while the holes come near but never really intersecting.

The property the course resides upon is rolling and full of different movements. The design unfortunately opted to include an equal balance of par-5, par-3 and par-4 holes and this desire to "equalize" the presentation often doesn't work because the plentitude of such holes makes for wasted opportunities. Buenavista would have been better served with a more robust and comprehensive array of par-4 holes.

The 6th through the 9th holes is well done. The two par-4's at the 6th and 7th go in different directions and feature a good mixture of terrain and shotmaking challenges. The long par-3 8th is a stern hole for its length but could have been better in its presentation. The risk / reward 9th is a good way to end the outward half with a par-5 that provides players to finish the side with a possible birdie.

The inward half starts from an elevated tee near the clubhouse. The short par-4 16th is especially well done as the hole turns left and you can hear the ocean immediately to your left.

Buenavista has a staff clearly engaged and the amenities certainly allow for the mind and body to rejuvenate when on holiday. The layout is in need of a makeover because the potential to be much more is certainly present.

by M. James Ward

A realy great and fun course to play, the scenery has a wow factor when you come near the sea. Balesteros had some fun when doing the desing and clearly left a lot of that behind! Emphasis should be put on the design of the clubhouse and do go for a dine the restaurant under the green of the 10th next to the sea.. best fresh fish!

The twisting road via Masca was hilarious. Don´t miss that one at least on one way.I loved the modern architecture of the club house – very stylish and pure. I found the front 9 a lot tougher than the back 9. Scenery and conditions were just amazing. Feels like an Irish Links course at times, which I reckon as a big compliment. We had the course almost for ourselves in early April, which was surprising, when you look at the quality of the venue and the reasonable green fee price. Maybe the remote location is keeping most of the golfing tourists away. But this place I can strongly recommend, It´s also more than just a gem and should rank so much higher.

Having visited Tenerife recently and being delayed due to a volcano erupting, I could not refuse the chance to play a round of golf to while away some time ( any excuse will do ) !Your choice of course is spoiled here on the island as there quite a few courses to play and most within easy reach of the main resorts.I chose Buenavista on the recommendation of my friend Jim. Although some may be put off by the journey to get to Buenavista ( we went the scenic route thro’ the hidden village of Masca ) once you get there, in my humble opinion it is well worth the effort.Buenavista is a Seve Ballesteros designed course and his design is imprinted on the course with an S shaped bunker !The backdrop scenery is fantastic and there are not many courses in the world where your line from the tee is an archway cut into the mountain ! The 18 holes are split in the 6’s of par3’s, par4’ and par5’s in equal measure and the course designed in a natural way, as if it had always been there, by combining the contours of the hillside and natural habitat to suit the golfer and the wildlife ( watch out for the family of ducks between the green at 1st hole and tee of 2nd hole.!)Given the course, surrounding scenery, wildlife, great weather and scenic journey thro’ Masca, this is one golfing trip to be recommended and remembered.GTC

I've played here half a dozen times now and never tire of returning as it's a real day out away from the crowded south west of the island and it's such fun to get to and from via the "hidden village" of Masca. I played with a mate last week and if you don't walk off with a beaming smile on your face then there's something far wrong with you, believe me. Greens on the front nine had been cored but we were warned about this before starting out (declining the offer to play the back nine twice) so the putting lottery on the outward half was avoidable if we had so chosen. The scenery on the back nine never fails to impress with several fairways plunging down towards greens sited close to the edge of the cliffs with enormous sprays of water drenching the rocks – I've never played Pebble Beach and probably never will but I'll bet Buenavista would stand up well against it in terms of the respective seaside beauty of both courses. Golfers to Tenerife should have this one on their playlist, simple as that.

Most golfers who have played in Tenerife have been on one or more of the courses in the south of the island (Del Sur, Amarilla, Las Americas, Adeje or Abama) but few venture north to Buenavista. That’s a real shame as I think it’s easily as good as the others. I played here for the third time last week and my enjoyment increases with every visit. It’s such a great driving experience (with only four non-elevated tees) and the greens are an absolute delight to putt on. The natural water run off at holes 1 and 5 is beautifully incorporated into the design and the greens at holes 10 and 13 sit yards above the waves crashing onto the rocks below. Located between mountains immediately to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Buenavista is one of Seve’s favourite golfing venues (I know, as it featured in a ½ hour golf program on CNN last year) and it’s a firm favourite of mine. The real pity is that so few golfers make the pilgrimage to play at Buenavista as they’re missing a great day out. The journey to and from here is simply breathtaking and the course is always beautifully presented (all year round!) so there really is no excuse not to play here when on the island. Jim McCann