EL ENCIN - A DIFFERENT PATH
(Electronic translation of original Danish text)
Bankia Madrid Masters was played at El Encin Golf Hotel. The track opened in early April this year and had a somewhat different challenge to the pros.
The course was designed by Von Hagge, Baril & Smelek with Rick Baril at the head, and he is in Denmark known for being the architect behind Stensballegaard Golf in Horsens and Lyngbygaard Gulf of Aarhus.
They began to build the track in 2009, and the area was completely flat before the golf course was built, so everything is created from nothing. It's a new track, so players were just a foretaste of how the track is when it has evolved, says Rick Baril to HOTJUG.
. The intention has been to create a course where strategy is not a foregone conclusion - not even for pros, so they were udfodret more than usual, it is usually given when the fairway people prefer to lie. There are wide fairways and big greens, but you have to score low, you need to land the right places on the greens. The greens are very undulating and capricious to such an extent that it is rarely seen.
- Greens are dramatic but playable, and they are definitely not what the tour players are accustomed to. We knew there would be players who grumbled about the greens. The approach shot can be lucky or unlucky and it would be unusual for pros who are used to perfect conditions. But what is golf without coincidence, fate, luck and perhaps even accidentally, asks Rick Baril conductive.
The course is long, 7561 yards, equivalent to 6915 meters, but it is not intended to be played from all the back tees. The architect hoped before the tournament, the European Tour for the challenge would use different tees. It was done, and par-3 fifth hole measured for example193 meter on one day and 135 meters a second.
Rick Baril did not have the opportunity to be in Madrid, but have seen the tournament on TV at home in Houston, USA.
Some players were uttilfredse over greens, while others were enthusiastic. As Henrik Knudsen and Leif Nyholm said at Viasat Golf from Madrid, it was as if the players became more and more positive every day and also Leif Nyholm went from being a little lukewarm to think it was exciting.
One of those players who criticized the greens were Paul McGinley, but his criticism is also a praise:
I would not design a course like this, because the greens are undulating. But they are very similar to what you see at St. Andrews and Augusta National, and they are regarded as masterpieces, so who's right and who is wrong, said Paul McGinley.
Rick Baril has been for many years Von Hagge, Baril & Smelek man in Europe, where he has been deeply involved in the design of all their courses including Les Bordes, Golf World has just re-elected to continental Europe's best track , and Le Golf National, which in 2018 will host the Ryder Cup.
Reactions of course very similar to the way Les Bordes was received and to a lesser extent, Le Golf National. Both were controversial because of their quirky and unique character. Both are now recognized as good tracks and I am hopeful that El Encin will be the same, said Rick Baril who would rather draw a track that evokes emotions than a track that is tedious and trivial.
If the greens were 100 years old or on a links course would seem that they were charming, eccentric and exciting. It's fun to see players worry about some shots, says Rick Baril.
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