70 OMBRIA Image: Ombria Resort – www.ombria.com/en figure in the Portuguese golf industry, Benjamim Neves da Silva of Progolf Construction (who also built West Cliffs and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic course for architect Gil Hanse). The river valley is very good land for golf, but it is in no sense big enough to accommodate eighteen holes. The front nine occupies land on the other side of the hill. At first glance, it looks less interesting, but, from the fourth hole onwards the course is routed along the bottom of the wild hillside, which adds a lot of appeal. The par three second hole features a very large and quite dramatically contoured green; though there are others with notable contour, this is by some distance the wildest. The contours divide the green into several different ‘pockets’. Getting caught out and leaving your tee shot in the wrong pocket will cause a lot of strife when the greens are running at full speed; on the other hand, especially in the front left pocket, the slopes create a gathering effect – a ‘hole in one’ pin location, if you like. The most remarkable, and I think memorable hole on the front side, is the very long par-five seventh. All around the property, routing the course around the old oak trees was a challenge; these trees are basically not permitted to be removed under any circumstances. Most of the way round, the team has done an excellent job. The seventh (which plays from a series of increasingly high tees at the edge of the property and tumbles downhill) has several of them basically in the fairway, interfering with where the golfer wants to be on his second and third shots. Now; trees interfering with a golf hole in this way? Normally I would say no, and it is a rather jarring look. On the other hand, the trees are several hundred years old, and do not grow more than about ten or fifteen metres high. It should not be impossible for golfers to plot a way around them, or over them if need be. The ninth hole – a short par four, in principle driveable for many from the right tee – has the potential to be endlessly vexing. Because of the dogleg left, from the back two tees, the hole is basically blind, if one tees off with anything more than a six iron or so. With several bunkers around the green, and no real landing area for those going with the driver, to do so will be an extremely high risk shot. I like the hole, and I expect, on returning to play the course, to be sorely tempted to pull out the big dog, but I think that six iron is going to be the smart choice of shot in most circumstances. Ombria’s front nine is good, with some quite memorable holes, but I think that for sure it is the back nine that will capture the imagination. The valley is quite narrow, and so the “ One of the things I loved about Ombria was the way that the design and construction team has emphasised its Portuguese character”
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