Millennium (Championship) - Belgium

Millennium is a really enjoyable course with some cracking holes. I loved the par 5 3rd that is named after Pebble Beach as it is reminiscent of the 18th we all know. The par 4 7th plays on a peninsula surrounded by two lakes which is really cool and the 18th is a great risk reward reachable par 4- if you can carry your drive far and high. The facilities are state of the art indeed, as Jim already stated. Millennium has a corporate feel, and having experienced the tranquility and majesty of Royal Fagnes the day before, I tend to say that is what I really love in a golf club. There's nothing wrong with Millennium, it's just not a club or course to fall in love with. It also seems a bit unnatural in places, although the site is perfect for a golf course (a bit loud though due to roadnoise). Not quite a five star course for me; maybe it has to mature but I understand that golfers can have a great time playing this course. MO

Architect Bruno Steensels has imported a real flavour of Florida to the heartland of Belgium with this new millennium track. In routing many of the fairways around water and brashly placing a number of eye-catching waste bunkers around the property, the designer has brought more than a modicum of the Sunshine State’s golfing feel good factor to the Championship course.

Most of the aquatic challenge takes place on the front nine, where the 162-metre 8th hole, “Fly Dry,” is rated stroke index 1 - I don’t think I’ve ever played a course where a par three has been rated the toughest on the card!

On the back nine, the 325-metre 13th, “Desert Split,” is a cracking short par four, with a fairway that forks at the landing area, offering a choice of approach to a raised green which is partially hidden behind a huge expanse of sand and shaggy grass mounds.

This place might not suit older, more traditionally minded golfers as it’s a very modern set up, complemented off the course by state of the art facilities in and around the clubhouse -- I suppose it’s fair to say it’s where the game is at nowadays for golfers in the new millennium and I won’t be surprised if the course breaks into the national top 10 chart when it’s next re-ranked.

Jim McCann.