Maspalomas

Philip Mackenzie Ross is well known for his course design work in his native Scotland just after the Second World War at Southerness and Turnberry, but he also laid out the Maspalomas course on the island of Gran Canaria, six years before his death in 1974.

Residents and holiday golfers to Gran Canaria have a very good selection of courses to choose from, with Las Palmas and El Cortijo in the north, Salobre, Melonares and here at Maspalomas in the south. The course sits next to the busy resort of Playa del Ingles with a spectacular undulating sea of sand dunes situated between the fairways and the coastline.

Despite a very reasonable overall length of 6,800 yards, there are only three par threes on the scorecard, with par for the course set at 73. The two short holes on the front nine are pretty straightforward but the tee shot at the 154-yard 16th must carry a small lake all the way to the green at one of only two holes on the course where water comes into play.

The tropical vegetation throughout the Maspalomas course is a delight to the eye at a location where fickle sea breezes often play a large part in determining the degree of scoring difficulty.