El Prat has been on my Spanish “must see” list for some time. Now that the two 18-hole courses here have been ticked off, there’s only La Manga (South) and Sevilla to go to for me to complete the current national Top 30.

There’s been a bit of confusion in my mind as the club has changed the names of the preferred 18-hole layouts in recent years but the Yellow definitely now consists of the two nines (Piscina and Abajo) that lie between the clubhouse and the railway line to the south of the property.

I think the two reviews below refer to the Piscina and Bosque nines which used to form the Blue 18-hole course – so, you can see where my uncertainty came from before arriving here last week!

There’s a mix of tree-lined and open holes on the Yellow, with the latter type played in the middle part of each returning nine. The landscape’s pretty flat so it’s easy to walk, with everything laid out in front of you on the tee at every hole.

A high voltage power line runs along the railway which isn’t great visually, in contrast to the rail track that runs through a cutting, avoiding interference from passing trains.

I noticed a few sandy waste areas in front of some teeing areas and close to a number of greens, there’s a cordoned off archaeological site to the side of the fairway on the par five 9th, and I liked the use of a wetlands area to separate the 10th and 11th holes.

The slightly downhill par three 12th was my favourite hole on the course, played across an area of scrubland to a green with three bunkers placed diagonally in front of the putting surface, backdropped by a canopy of trees.

There’s a nice wee surprise near the end of the round when you use a somewhat rickety wooden bridge to cross a ravine and play out the last three holes on the other side, finishing alongside the practice area which is well screened to the left of the 18th.

Jim McCann