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The Cascades resort covers some 2,500 acres and is strung out along the shore line of the Red Sea. It is an awe inspiring concept, the realisation of one man’s dream to create a thing of extravagant beauty. I’d give my address book and my trusty old putter to see it in five years’ time.
By then it will have a marina, a diving school, a clutch of five star hotels, another golf course, an academy course and a caddie school. A three storey club house is about to open, as is the golf academy; the second course is taking shape as I write and a five star hotel is rising alongside the new clubhouse.
All is presented with flair and élan: hand laid cart paths and dry stone retaining walls; course surrounds that are vast and pristine waste bunkers hemmed by kikuyu rough, greens as true as a bride’s kiss. Nothing intrudes, no detail is over-looked.
It is a desert course but in fact the sand was trucked in from the Sahara, as cover for the shale that pervades the landscape. So too was the top soil. There’s a desalination plant producing three million litres of irrigation water every day. It must all have cost a pretty piastre. Think of a telephone number and double it, most likely.
The fairways, of kikuyu grass, cut emerald swathes through the dazzling sand. The greens, of Bermuda Tifdwarf, are jade islands set in landscape of parchment. Six holes are hard by the Red Sea, including the signature hole, the par three 5th. It’s a sight for tired eyes.
From the tiger tees it measures 207 yards, although the secondary tee of 170 is meaty enough for most. The green pokes into the sea like a fat finger, side on, and from all but the most forward tee the shot is all water carry, although there’s a bail-out area to the left for the faint of heart.
There’s a narrow strategic bunker running around three sides of the green that, just to make things really interesting, is laid out in steps!
It’s a hole to impoverish adjectives and it is almost matched by the 14th, another par-3 calling for a shot over a desert ravine with sea as a backdrop. It’s worth a painting.
A hallmark of Player design is his use of illusion in green configurations. They’re all different in shape and movement and never quite as they appear from second shot distance. At Cascades this is complimented by a melodic tempo and a routing that brings oodles of variety.
Most fairways bend a tad but there are only four true dog-legs – one, the par-4 12th, has a split fairway – which in my view is a mark of superior design, in this case matched by flawless presentation. Would you believe there are 70 greens staff?!
This would be an out-standing course in any location. Set as it is, where the desert meets the sea, it deserves every accolade. Go see it and marvel at man’s artistry and ingenuity.
OUR final day on safari involved a dawn ferry boat ride across the Red Sea, from Hurghada to Sharm El Sheikh, a remarkable resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsular. To the north lie the mountain and the desert of Biblical renown. It’s an incongruous juxtaposition for a de luxe resort.
It’s remarkable because less than a decade ago the place was simply a fishing village. Now it’s a full blown resort city, its palm-lined avenues hemmed by dozens of high class hotels and every attraction required by the tourist industry. It’s a great venue for a family holiday. The kids would adore it. Even teenagers would find boredom difficult to accomplish!
There’s one golf course. It’s known as the Jolie Ville GC and it has common ownership with Movenpick, the renowned European tourism group which has an hotel nearby.
Opened in 1998, the course is a Florida-style lay-out with 16 lakes, thousands of specimen trees and luxurious villas on the perimeter. The backdrop, though, is one you won’t find in Florida: mountains fill the skyline, at their feet lies the desert.
The course was designed by America’s John Sandford and it has all a golf resort requires: good practice facilities (they’re big on golf schools), a luxurious club house and an easy walking course with variable tee boxes according to handicap.
They have a marshalling system that seems to work (they say a touch over four hours is about right…) and the whole package brings a most pleasurable experience.
Which nicely sums up golf in the Land of the Pharaohs.
Egypt is about to climb the leader board in golf tourism. If you’re searching for somewhere exotic for your next golfing holiday I commend it to you.
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