HOLE PRESENTATION

di Donato Di Ponziano

Allow me to be slightly excited as I begin to tell you about the characteristics of the course on which I grew up. I will start immediately by telling you that playing golf on the San Remo course is fun, so if you can, take advantage of it without delay.
Due to its morphology, the course can certainly not be counted among the long ones, the par 4s are all more or less easily reached with the second shot. It is not a course for “hitters” but compensates well for this shortcoming by offering some very technical and delicate holes where the player must pay the utmost attention.

Let’s start with hole 2, a 180 metre par 3 with an out of bounds left. For being the second hole on the course, it is particularly challenging and dangerous. I have seen so many competitions end on the tee of this hole, and so many I have finished myself.

Hole 4, a 345 metre par 4, has a rather tricky tee-shot. The fairway is quite narrow and the entry to the green, to be taken with an 8 or 9 iron, requires particular precision on the part of the player. Be careful not to close the shot!

Hole 6 is a very light dog-leg left of 340 metres. I recommend playing the tee-shot on the right side of the hole; if the rough is not very high, the ball will normally roll into the fairway. The entry to the green is tricky, be careful not to close the shot otherwise a difficult recovery awaits you.

Hole 8 is a par 4 of 385 metres dog-leg left. For scoring purposes it is the most difficult hole on the course, the tee-shot must be played to the right of the fairway for a better view of the green. The green is well defended by bunkers.

Hole 14 is a very tricky 210-metre par 3. A wood is also played from the back tee. The player must take great care not to get into the groves of olive trees on the right and left of the hole, any recovery for par would become quite difficult. This is, in my opinion, the truly most difficult hole on the course. Hole 16 is a very challenging 228 metre par 3. It is best to play to the left so as not to risk ending up in the scarp on the right, where it is very easy to then find the ball unplayable. The hole was once an easy par 4, later converted into a par 3, I would say with excellent results.
Finally, hole 18 is a fairly easy par 5: dog-leg right for 440 metres; try to place the tee-shot on the left side of the fairway. The second shot should be played in the direction of the clubhouse. If you try to take the green with two shots, you have to be very careful of the out of bounds on the right of the hole; the vineyards and greenhouses of flowers are always waiting with open arms.

THE HOLES