One of the better ones begins proceedings. The 492-metre 1st is an opportunity to get your round off to a flying start, as the par-5 tumbles downhill to a green fronted by a creek that trickles into a lake left of the green. The roomy putting surface creates a sense of safety for any shot that carries the trouble, even if two-putting from long range is anything but a certainty. I’ve always liked the 3rd hole, a 383-metre par-4 that also plays downhill with water left of the green, as well as the 5th, another par-4 where a big drive can bound across the top of the domed fairway.

The front nine closes with three holes that are strong for varying reasons. The 390-metre 7th is an exercise in precision as both the drive and, in particular, the approach must be pinpoint accurate. The fairway falls slightly to the right as it moves downhill and any drive straying too far right will finish in the rough on a sideslope and with the non-preferred angle into the green. Conversely, bunkers down the left are there to catch drives veering too far in the other direction. The green slopes steeply from back to front and missing left or right almost guarantees a bogey. The right side brings a deep bunker and a pond into play and while left appears to be the less penal direction to miss, any chip shot from below the green on that side is perilous.

The tee shot at the 349-metre 8th asks golfers to slot a drive long and over a series of bunkers that probe into the right side of the fairway or lay back with a long iron, leaving a mid-iron into a wide but shallow green with two distinct halves. The 9th is strong par-5 where there is ample space from the tee but the second shot must carry a fairway bunker to reach a downslope that will kick the ball towards the long green. That bunker atop the hill isn’t big but the terrain around it feeds balls inside it like a plughole swallows water.