"Spectacular" and "exclusive" are two adjectives Canyamel uses freely in its marketing and the course is rated in the top 5 on this island if you look at ranking lists compiled by German-speaking sources.

The views are indeed great, perhaps best from the club-house terrace overlooking the 18th green, but I am quite sure, though, that anyone reading this has other objectives in mind than finding like-minded souls who also drive high-spec custom BMWs.

So, how does this course compare to the others on the island and is it worth the 1 hr journey from Palma and the west of the island where many visitors end up outside the summer season (when few play golf in the heat anyway) ?

While you are much less likely to be disappointed by conditioning and attention to detail here than most other places on the island I have two reasons not to mark it quite as highly as the German observers mentioned above.

First, Canyamel starts with its most challenging holes. On the three occasions I have played it so far on each occasion I have seen people wreck their score completely on the first six holes. By this, I do not mean that a course should be easy, but if your customer base consists of holidaymakers in their off-season or older people who might not wish to spend an hour on the range, chipping and putting, you are well-advised to design your course with the main difficulties further into the round. I know I have no one less than Harry Colt on my side in that argument.

Second, I do not think the short holes are as great. Two of them, the 14th and the 18th, are actually among those I like the least. The 14th because the trees and the stone walls make it penal for higher handicappers without adding much difficulty for better players. The green on the 18th is placed on such a severe slope that a three-tiered solution has been necessary. With modern green speeds, here this means that a downhill putt is quite likely to roll off the green. Hopefully, the club will sort this out at some point just like my own home club finally did.

My recommendation for those based in Palma therefore is to save your longer trip for Alcanada.

On the other hand, if you plan to be staying nearby, it makes eminent sense to play all four courses in the vicinity, i.e. Pula, Canyamel, Capdepera and Son Servera. They are quite evenly matched, so I think it is a question of personal taste rather than objective criteria which one you will end up preferring over the other.