Was designed by David Thomas in his first nine holes, par 37, 3275 meters, requires good shots to put the ball in the Fairways and the greens are well protected by bunkers and the surrounding lakes. ~Now managed by IRM Golf Experience this ex Polairs World Course. It is proving very popular with our Golf4ualicante golfers.

 The back nine holes designed by Nicklaus is par 35, 2878 m, have wide fairways and great holes, deserving a special mention to his own “amen Corner , a spectacular lake surrounding the holes 13, 14 and 15, making the water in the biggest obstacle to overcome.
The rest of the holes are protected by strategic bunkers. If you decide to play this course designed by two of the better designers , you can enjoy two different experiences on the same Golf Course.  All facilities , Club house, Spa …a place to be all day.

Hole 1 Par 4, 319 Metres,
From the tee this hole is straight forward with a wide fairway to get your round of to a good start. There are villas lining both sides of the fairway and there is a road bunker to carry over to find the fairway from the tee. There are bunkers drivable on both side of the fairway, this is a beautiful looking first hole to open with. Your second shot is played with a short iron to an elevated green that is only 15 metres deep but very wide. With your second shot you have to avoid the two steep faced bunkers protecting both sides of this large green, however the ball will draw up very fast if hit right. You can be faced with a long putt to the hole if you only make the front edge of the green.
Hole 2 Par 3, 153 Metres,
From the tee you play up to an elevated green ,the fairway is lined both sides with villas, there is a large bunker protecting the left side of this green so club selection is all important as if your ball lands short it will hit the steep slope just short of the putting surface and roll back down the hill making it harder to score par.
Hole 3 Par 4, 418 Metres,
This is a great looking par 4 and at stroke index 1 on your score card its not that easy. From the tee this hole has a wide open fairway, villas down the left hand side of the fairway and a line of palm trees on the right, there are also 3 bunkers to catch drives hit down the left. Over the crest of the hill to the right there is a large water hazard that runs up the right hand side of the fairway all the way to the green (Between the water and the green there is a long shallow bunker to avoid). Your drive must be down the middle or short right, if you are a long hitter and hit it down the right side you could land in the water. As I said the green is protected by this lake and also a bunker cutting into the front right hand side of the green. The safe line with your second shot is down the left hand side of the fairway, this will leave you with an easy pitch up to the pin. It takes a brave man to take on the green with his second shot over the water and bunker. The green lies at an angle to you and is 33 metres long but quite narrow. Par at this hole is a very good score.
Hole 4 Par 5, 457 Metres,
Your tee shot here is played over the same water hazard as the 3rd hole and its about 160 metres of a carry to a nice wide fairway. Watch out for the bunkers to the right and left as they can come into play and cereate problems with your second shot if you land in one. Both bunkers protecting this fairway on the right and left can be reached with a good drive but if you are up the middle they don’t come into play. Once you find a good position on the fairway its possible to reach this green with two well hit shots. Hazards to avoid when playing your second shot to the green are the large road bunker way out to your right, the two large bunkers to the right edge of the green and lastly the water hazard up the left side of the fairway just short of the green. If you hook the ball left your ball will disappear into the water. The safe line with your second here is short right of the green to leave an easy wedge over the bunkers and onto the putting surface. This green is 29 metres deep and quite wide, it slopes from back edge to front. Par at this one is good.
Hole 5 Par 4, 325 Metres,
This is quite a tight driving hole as the fairway is lined with villas left and right and there is a small road bunker to clear from the tee. There are also bunkers to the left and right which come into play if you use the driver from the tee. This is a straight forward hole but big hitters beware if going with your driver because if you carry the hill on the right hand side there is a lake just out of view from the tee. Your drive needs to be straight up the middle at this one or short right. If taking a chance with driver you can get very near the green even if you hit it slightly left but watch out for the bunkers. The whole green is protected by a massive deep bunker which cuts into the front of the green and all the way round to the back right hand side of the green. This is a generous green at 24 metres from front to back, so don’t be scared to hit your second shot at the pin all be it over the edge of the water and green side bunker. This green slopes from back to front and right to left.
Hole 6 Par 5, 495 Metres,
This is a good long par 5 and also offers a chance to make a birdie if played well. From the tee you have a short carry over the water hazard to this wide open fairway. This fairway is protected on the right by one bunker which does come into play from the tee. If you stay up the middle there is no trouble at all. You can afford to open your shoulders up at the hole, but watch out as there is another set of bunkers up the right hand side which really don’t come into play and also out of bounds down the left all the way to the green. It takes two mighty good hits to land on this green in two as you have to carry over 3 staggered bunkers just short of the green.  The best line with your second shot is up the right side of the fairway just short of all the trouble. The green is very large and generous to land on, there is a bail out area to the right over the bunkers so no real problems at this hole.
Hole 7 Par 5, 474 Metres,
Yes back to back par 5’s and another chance to make a good birdie. The best line from the tee is just of centre to the right as there are two deep fairway bunkers that cut into the left side of this fairway and again can come into play from the tee. With a good drive from the tee it is possible to hit a good fairway wood and carry over the deep green side bunkers. The smart play with your second shot here is to lay up short of the two bunkers at 100 metres short of the green.  This will leave you a very short iron up to a narrow entrance over the bunkers and onto this pear shaped green. There is plenty of room through this green with two run of areas to pitch back from. This green is like a hog’s back that runs down the middle and can make putting very challenging if on the wrong side of the green.
Hole 8 Par 3, 205 Metres,
This is a great long par 3 (Stroke index 3) and a real test of your ability with a fairway wood or long iron to carry onto this green. There is plenty of room on this hole but watch out for the bunker up the left side about 25 metres from the putting surface as it will make life very difficult. This green is 30 metres deep and almost bowl shaped to gather a well hit tee shot. There are three bunkers round the out side edge of this green one deep left, one deep right and one back right. Good chance to make par at this hole even if you miss the green with your tee shot.
Hole 9 Par 4, 429 Metres,
This is a good driving hole and gives you the chance to go for a big tee shot. The fairway is wide but you need to watch and not spray the ball to far of line as there is out of bounds on both sides of the fairway. Again just on normal driving distance there are also fairway bunkers that can come into play from the tee on both sides of the fairway, but you have to be well left or right to land in them. For the longer tee shot there is one more bunker up the right side about 150 metres from the green that also can come into play, so beware. It take a well hit shot to find this green in two as its up hill for your second shot. The safe play here is up the right side of the fairway as there is no trouble to the right. If coming in from the left side of the fairway you will have to carry over two pot bunkers about 20 metres short of the putting surface. This green is only 18 metres deep but very wide and if you land just short of the green your ball will roll back down into the valley of sin and make it very difficult to make par. My best advice with your second shot here is to take more club and be long rather than short of this green as its an easier pitch back to the pin from the back of the green.
Hole 10 Par 5, 493 Metres,
Yes another par 5 and the chance to make a good birdie if you miss the bunkers on both sides of this wide fairway,(The one to your left is deep and the one to your right is shallow). This fairway slopes from left to right and opens up once passed the bunkers, the best line from the tee is straight down the middle. If you can’t make the green in two shots I think it best to hit your ball right of the green this will give you a good line into the pin with your third shot. This green lies slightly uphill and is about 28 metres deep with a good sizes run of area to the back, so don’t be short. The green has three bunkers round it one far left, one short middle and one more wide right. This hole should be an easy par.
Hole 11 Par 4, 341 Metres,
From the tee this fairway is wide open with plenty of room to the right and only one long deep bunker up the left side, again its within driving distance. So the best line from this tee is down the right hand side, this will also open up the green for your approach shot. Your second shot is uphill and the green is 29 metres deep but quite narrow, it can be tricky to land on. It takes a good confident shot to get close to the pin as the bunkers can be of putting as they are positioned front left, back left, front right and back right. One last thing the green slopes from back to front and will help you stop your second shot quite quickly, there are also run of areas between the bunkers so if you miss them all you could still make it up and down.
Hole 12 Par 4, 294 Metres,
This is a good driving hole with many different options to choose from depending on how far you can hit the ball from the tee. The fairway has two well placed bunkers, one to the left and one in the middle of the fairway but don’t worry as there is plenty of room to the right of this bunker. From the tee you can opt to lay up short of the middle fairway bunker which will leave you a longer and more tricky second shot or hit a long carrying ball over the bunker on the left this will leave you with just a flick up onto the green. The third option is blast it long and right of the middle fairway bunker this will give you again a shorter shot to the green. As you approach the green its slightly uphill to a narrow entrance then the green opens up and is about 23 metres deep. There are two well placed bunkers at the front of the green the one to the left side is deep and eats into the front edge, the one to the right is set back a bit and is also very deep. If the pin is cut at the front of this green I would say go for the percentage shot and land on the middle wide part of the green. There are two run of areas at the back of this green one to the left and one to the right so don’t be short.
Hole 13 Par 4, 365 Metres,
Now for the next three hole they play like Amen Corner at National Augusta USA, this is a super part of this great golf course and a real test for all golfers alike. This hole plays as a dog leg to the right and like the last hole you have options from the tee depending on how far you hit the ball. This fairway is very wide and just on the dog leg there is one bunker in the middle – right of the fairway so you need to miss this bunker. One option is to hit the ball out to the left side of the fairway which will leave you with a longer shot into the green and will bring the water hazard into play if you spray your second shot out to the right. Another option is to lay up short of the bunker and leave a medium iron onto the green avoiding the bunker way out to the left side of the green. The risky option is to drive straight over this very large water hazard as it will cut of about 50 metres in length from this hole and leave you with a very short lob wedge to attack the pin. I might add that this large lake comes into play for the next three holes and between the waters edge and all three fairways there is a wide beach area that you can play your ball from if you land in it. This green is quite narrow as you approach it, made even more so with the water running past the right hand side. The green opens up towards the back edge where you will find a small run off area, its about 30 metres deep and can be very fast to putt on.
Hole 14 Par 3, 179 Metres,
This is a brilliant par three and I think also the best looking one from the tee. Standing on the tee this tee shot looks quite daunting as the green sites at an angle to you and is only 19 metres wide and quite narrow. Club selection is very important here as its all carry to the putting surface over the water, the beach and onto the green. If you opt to hit left here there is a rather well placed bunker to the left – middle side of the green and then your faced with coming out of it with the lake just at the other side waiting for your ball. Par here is a good score.
Hole 15 Par 4, 325 Metres,
This is another great and testing golf hole. I would say unless you can carry the ball straight and more than 260 metres from the tee leave your driver in the bag at this short par 4. Your tee shot is played over the water and beach area to quite a wide fairway to the right, this area is flat. The beach runs all the way across the fairway to the left side and then continues all the way uphill to the green side. If you opt to go with your driver here beware of the huge bunker cut into the right side of the fairway it might come into play if this hole is played with a following breeze. If you opt to play short of the beach area you will have to choose the correct club to carry your ball all the way to the putting surface as its all uphill to the green with many hidden dips and hollows on the fairway. This green is 28 metres in length and quite narrow so check out the pin position before you play your second shot as you may be left with a very long putt. If you do over shoot the green don’t worry as there are two run of areas one back left and the other back right. Par here is good as this hole is stroke index 2 on your score card.
Hole 16 Par 4, 386 Metres,
This is quite a long par 4 and its driver from the tee. Watch out for the two staggered bunkers down the middle – right hand side of this wide fairway. Out to the left side about 100 metres from the green there is another very flat bunker that runs up to the edge of the green, don’t worry if you land in this one as you still have a good chance to hit this large green. The best line from the tee is just left of centre, this is also a good line into the green. To the right side of the green you will find one pot bunker waiting for any thing that lands short of the putting surface as there is a slope up to the green. If the pin is cut to the front edge my advice is aim at the middle of the green and take all the trouble out of play. If you go through the back of this green it ok as there are a couple of run of areas. Par at this stroke index 4 is a good score.
Hole 17 Par 3, 147 Metres,
This is a good straight forward par 3 and at stroke index 18 on your score card the easiest hole to play. You have a road bunker down the right side wide of the fairway and one large bunker protecting middle – right edge of the green. This green is a large target to aim at from the tee. It steeply slopes from left to right side and back edge to stop the ball going through the green. Club choice is all important to making an easy par here.
Hole 18 Par 4, 348 Metres,
This is a cracking hole to finish your round of with and the fairway looks wide and inviting to hit your country best. Steer clear of the left as its out of bounds all the way down to the green. There is a large bunker down the right hand side of the fairway and also a big bunker protecting the middle – right side of the green. The safe line for your second shot is just short left, this will open up the green so you can attack the pin with your wedge. Watch out for a couple of undulations on this green as it can be tricky to get down in two depending on where you land the ball. And what ever you do don’t go to far through the back of this green or you might end up in the Hotel swimming pool !!!.

Our rating 5 out of 5.

This 18 hole review was written by Steven Franchi.

GOLF COURSE UPDATE, Steven played the  Mar Menor Course often over the years and for any interested golfers who may wish to play at Mar Menor especially while our discounted green fees are so reasonable. This golf course is in fantastic condition and is a great golf course to play for all levels of golfer.

Location: Murcia,Spain
18 Holes | Par  72 | 6153 metres
Course Designer: Dave Thomas & Jack Nicklaus opened in 2006- operated by Global Golf.

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