Mallorca Mixed Pairs

Perched high on a hill and commanding magnificent panoramic vistas of the bay of Palma, the Castillo Hotel Son Vida was our home for the week. Dating back to the 13th century, this castellated, luxurious hotel is set in pristine gardens overlooking the Son Vida course. 

Round 1 Son Muntaner

Our opening days play took place on the stunning Son Muntaner layout. This is the stand-out layout of the trio of courses we played and is a regular feature in Spain’s top 100 courses. Designed by the esteemed designer Kurt Rossknecht, the course opened in 2000 and is a championship layout in every sense of the word. So much so, that just 4 weeks after our event, the DP Tour (formerly European Tour) is set to play the Mallorca Open here.

In preparation for this tournament, the greenkeeping staff had set the course up extremely tough, with narrowed fairways and difficult rough several inches high just off the greens. This made for a very demanding day for our couples. By the end of the play, only 3 teams had beaten their handicap. Nawal Mayor & Rachel Davis had played solid golf to record 37pts. 2 couples had scored 38pts which proved to be the best score of the day. Richard & Rosemary and Mike & Wendy had tamed the “beast” of Muntaner.

Round 2 Son Quint

After our first group dinner together, we arrived at the Son Quint Golf Club the following morning to another beautiful day with clear blue skies. Son Quint is the newest addition of the three courses, having been inaugurated in 2007. In the style of its neighbours at Son Vida and Son Muntaner, this layout rolls through the hills of the charming countryside outside Palma. With the course being far more forgiving, the group were anticipating higher scores than the day before.

As the completed cards were returned to the clubhouse, it became clear that scoring was still proving tricky, with only Jeremy & Ruth Horn from Royal North Devon posting a score of 37pts. Then out of the pack and dove-tailing beautifully as a pair, John & Barbara Taylor blew the field away and signed for a brilliant 42pts, the best score on the day by 5 shots.

Round 3 Son Vida

Son Vida is the oldest golf course on Majorca, having originally opened for play in 1964. The course is renowned for being the most beautiful spot on the island. With stunning views across the bay and Sierra de Tramuntana it is well known by players from all over Europe having hosted European Tour events in the 1990’s with Seve Ballesteros amongst its champions. Son Vida can look tight from the tee, but the fairways open out and make good use of the hilly terrain. The greens are large and slightly elevated calling for some accurate shots and good course management.

Some golfers play their whole life without scoring a “Hole in One” On Fairway’s Overseas events just this year we have witnessed two! At Son Vida that became three when David Roberts from Royal Porthcawl, holed his 8-iron shot on the 16th. (We won’t mention one of the organisers also scoring an ace the day before on their day off playing Alcanada)

Finally, the points started to flow with Richard & Rosemary playing wonderfully shooting 42pts & John & Barbara continuing their fine form of the day before and repeating the 42pts scored just 24 hours earlier. It was only fitting, that the man who on the day scored an “ace” should take the spoils. David & Linda had fired a brilliant 43pts helped a little with that 4pts on the 16th!

In the evening, at another lively group dinner David very kindly bought all the group a drink to celebrate his memorable day!

Round 4 Son Muntaner

We returned to the “beast” for our final round and another chance for the group to try to take down this demanding layout. With only 4 shots separating the top 5 couples it was going to be a battle to the very last green. John & Barbara was the first of the leaders to return. Playing solidly, they had scored 37pts for a total of 152, but was it going to be good enough? Jeremy & Ruth did their chances no harm when signing for 40pts giving them the “best score of the day” and pipping John & Barbara with 153.

But taking in their stride, just like they play the game (Richard admitted he has never seen a practice ground) the Kennett’s produced a very fine round, signing off with 39pts. With a total of 154 it could not have been closer. Congratulations to them on taking the title “Mallorca Mixed Pairs” champions.

An incredible week had sadly come to an end. A truly stunning hotel in a wonderful location. Beautiful weather and 3 great golf courses that tested every compartment of your game. We look forward to returning in a couple of years’ time and repeating the whole experience again!