Elea Golf Club Review

During a memorable time spent in Cyprus, Golfshake Ambassador Andy Picken visited the superb Elea Golf Club, which was designed by a team led by Sir Nick Faldo. Andy describes the venue in this new review.

Elea Golf Club is an excellently presented golf course from the Sir Nick Faldo design team, with a par of 71 off 6,775 yards from the black tees.

It features a range of well-placed and angled tee boxes to accommodate golfers of any skill level so don’t be intimidated by the championship length. Simply select the tee length that suits your game and enjoy.

First Impressions of Elea Golf Club

I love how this golf course sits so comfortably into its natural surroundings. This is a beautiful landscape that has been sculpted and moulded gently to add to its playability. The golf course is not forced upon the terrain, it supports it.

It is easy to forget how close this venue is to the centre of Paphos because of its rugged and isolated feel. It is an easy 15-minute drive from the main hospitality areas.

Throughout the course excellent use has been made of the existing fauna, herbs, wild grasses and trees. There are fascinating natural limestone formations that have been incorporated into the design and structure of the holes. 

The grasses are very hardy and strong given the environment in which they live so take care trying to extricate a golf ball from within them. Find the ball then take a drop unless you want a sore wrist for the rest of your trip.

There are 83 bunkers strategically placed around the course. All are visually intimidating, and experience now shows that they are to be avoided to maintain a decent score. 

I really enjoyed the way in which the design team incorporated a host of ‘waste areas’ into the hole layouts. These are areas of natural rock formations and scrubland that are very difficult to play from and should be treated as independent hazards.

They also add visually to the impact of the bunkers.

There are excellent practice facilities and a very well-appointed professional shop. Hire clubs can be arranged and they are also of a good quality.

Given the terrain this is a highly accessible golf course with both trolleys and GPS supported buggies available. For speed we used buggies but this does seem to be an easily walkable golf course.

I also like how the ecology of the site has been supported by the careful use of three pond areas that are all linked by flowing water cascades.

Elea Golf Course Layout

The first hole is an intriguing proposition with a gentle right to left dogleg. The elbow of the hole is protected by a cleverly placed bunker complex. The hole is called "Bonelli's Eagle" as a tribute to a protected species of eagle that breeds in Cyprus. It shares its home within the golf course. I liked this gentle opener into the round. An elevated tee box with ocean views on the horizon greet you to add to the expectations that an inaugural tee box evokes. 

The 7th called "Rosemary" is another delightful short hole. We were in no rush as there were no people behind us. We played this three times with varying degrees of success. This is just a beautiful golf hole. From the tee box everything to the right-hand side looks as though it's out of bounds.

I enjoyed the back nine especially as the course seems to tighten and bring in more gradients and views across the valley.

The 17th is called "Bobby Jones". It caused some controversy within our group. I enjoyed it immensely, completing a hard-fought bogey having pulled my drive left and almost out of bounds from the tee box. There is an island fairway surrounded by the natural waste areas. I did wonder if it caused havoc in members competitions and how many decent scorecards had been wrecked at this point. I also wondered if this became a choke point for pace of play. My experience was a positive one and I like the overall concept as holes towards the end of a round should not be easy. This was not! An interesting hole requiring an accurate tee shot for a chance of a par score.

Why You Should Play Elea Golf Club

After we concluded a highly enjoyable and competitive round of golf, we adjourned to the clubhouse to enjoy the excellent and friendly hospitality afforded by enthusiastic staff. 

We had a superb locally sourced meal of the finest quality to top off a superb day of golf at a venue that I am happy to ratify as Highly Recommended in every respect.

I loved the challenge offered by the short holes here. The green complexes were excellent, each broken into separate areas offering a range of pin positions. Most are framed by the natural stone and grasses giving the impression almost of island greens within a stony outcrop. None of them are particularly long but all require carefully executed shots.

This is a strategic player’s delight given the way Faldo has used his tour experiences to create a test for every shot. There are no easy and obvious lay ups here. Decent scores must be achieved and played for by decent golf shots. Anything off-line is punished and penalised.

I loved the entire experience of testing myself at Elea and will return. It is a special golfing venue.

I loved the experience of pitting myself against the design team led by Sir Nick Faldo. The setting of the course is beautiful, and this was a major consideration when it was being created.

When asked about his design ethos in relation to Elea, Sir Nick said: "We want our golf to be played in a natural environment that fits perfectly with its surroundings - perhaps even enhance them." 

He also said: "I hope I can offer players an experience that will live long in the memory. I also hope to draw on my own experiences during 30 years as a professional golfer in which time I’ve played some of the world’s best loved courses."

Faldo meandered the layout around existing Carob and Olive trees that he used to frame many of the holes. I liked the way that waste areas have been made more visible from the tee to increase their visual impact. The bunkers are superbly located, and they are also constructed to stand out as visual cues to be avoided at all costs.

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