Previous review scores for Las Ramblas vary between 2.5 and 5.0 so it clearly splits opinion. Maybe I was spoiled by the two courses I visited immediately before coming here (Villamartin and La Finca) during a recent fact-finding trip to the region but Las Ramblas just didn’t cut it for me, much as I like quirky courses.

There are four borderline crazy holes on the front nine (at #4, #5, #7 and #9) and if I also include the par three 10th then that means half the holes in the opening ten are of highly dubious architectural merit. Things do improve from the 11th onward but by then the damage was done for me.

Holes on the front nine are way too tight for a start but forget about that – it’s the severe nature of the terrain that’s the biggest problem, with holes 4 to 7 routed through a deep gorge then #9 laid out around an irrigation pond that’s actually positioned at a higher elevation than much of the fairway!

You have to question why so many golf holes were ever built on ground that was obviously so unsuitable for this golfing layout – the phrase “land not fit for purpose” springs to mind here – and it reminded me in some ways of a scaled down version of the New course at Salobre in Gran Canaria.

I enjoyed that course, mind you, but I didn’t take to Las Ramblas I’m afraid. Don’t let that put you off playing here though as there’s lots of fun (and frustration) to be had playing the unconventional front nine – if you approach this place with an open mind, and think a little (or maybe a lot) out of the box then I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself.

I’m not surprised when I check that Las Ramblas dropped 4 places in the recent regional re-ranking exercise on this website but I’m really surprised that it sits comfortably inside the national Top 100.

Jim McCann