The
course, by Gary Player, is handsome and modern, the bent grass greens, alive with creative
contouring, providing a particular talking point. The layout also features unusual bunkering,
some traps having a deep 'pot-bunker' character, while from the gathering slopes of others,
railway sleepers radiate outwards to unique effect. Rewarding all year round, it is at its
best in early summer (November) after the winter rains.
Erinvale is a tale of two nines; on the front, where the holes run in generous playing
corridors, much use has been made of water and the lies are level. On the back, the land
climbs and falls dramatically and one seldom has the luxury of a level lie. There's scarcely
an ordinary hole on the course, but the par five 13th and the par three 14th, played from a
raised tee, will linger in the memory. |