In the first of this Travelling Golfer series, Rory Anderson heads to Mallorca to experience Pula and Alcanada. He plays both courses to see what the area has to offer.
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00:00Hello guys and girls and welcome to a brand new series here on the Golf Monthly channel
00:07called The Travelling Golfer. I'm your host, my name's Rory. If any of you who do recognize
00:12me you know that I'm an eight handicap golfer. I've spent years travelling the world, filming
00:16golf content and whacking it on YouTube. I'm here on the Golf Monthly channel to pretty
00:20much do the same and show you guys some of the best destinations that you guys might
00:23want to consider for future golf holidays. To kick off the series, I'm off to Mallorca,
00:2948 hours, two golf courses. Let's get going.
00:43Right guys, just got to Gatwick Airport. I've got a two hour, 20 minute flight time from
00:46here to Parma, capital city of Mallorca. Once I get there, I've got an hour's drive to the
00:50northeast corner of the island where the two golf courses that I'm playing this week are
00:55waiting for me. Two epic golf courses. Stay tuned, 48 hours in Mallorca, golf, sun, maybe
01:01a couple of beers and we'll see what happens. 48 hours in Mallorca, here we come.
01:19Right guys, morning of day one of my Mallorca adventure. I'm at Pula Golf Resort, one of
01:24my favorite venues that I visited here in Mallorca. Basically, it's like a one-stop
01:28shop, stay and play resort. You've got two different accommodation options, one here
01:32and then some proper golf-centric apartments up there. Got the Sierra de Pula restaurant
01:36just literally 20 yards away from where I am now. Fantastic restaurant, great pro shop,
01:42track man on the driving range, two-tier driving range here at Pula. Everything you need for
01:47a golf holiday, literally roll out of bed onto the first tee or onto the driving range
01:51and away you go. 18-hole golf course. I'm going to set myself a target of breaking 80
01:55today. We'll see. It's a European tour venue. It's hosted multiple European tour events
02:00in the past, so we'll see how I get on. Obviously, I play off eight, so breaking 80 is an ambitious
02:08slash realistic target depending on how I'm playing. I'm kind of quietly optimistic. Let's
02:13take to the golf course, show you what it's all about here at Pula, what you can expect
02:16you head to Mallorca on your next golf holiday. You all have noticed I've gone baby blue head
02:35to toe. Hope that's okay with some of you guys. I know, got beard, got man bun, and
02:40now head to toe in the same color. Apologies if that offends anyone, but here we go, stroking
02:46X18 par 4 downwind. Bunkers up the right, I'm not sure if I can fly them or not, but
02:53let's find out, I guess. Straight at them. Drifting right a touch, but it should be fine,
03:12findable for sure. Could be nice. Oh, zipped. That's gone a little bit long. Right guys,
03:25long and left of the first green here, or the fourth green should I say, after skipping the
03:30first three holes. Texas wedging, don't really feel like tipping it off a bear lie. I'm trying
03:37to practice my chipping at the moment after a few years of duffing it all over the world,
03:41but this is definitely a putt in my eyes. Sit down now. Go, go in. That's it. There's a lot
03:52of emotion going on. You can probably hear on the cam, it is quite windy today here in
03:57Mallorca. I've looked at the forecast the last couple of days. It does look like it's going to
04:01die down a bit. Look, it's start of March. In the UK, we're wearing under armour, base layers,
04:07bobble hats, thermal leggings, if you're getting on a bit like I am. Here in Mallorca,
04:12I'm in a t-shirt. It's lovely weather. It's about 10, 12 degrees. Definitely take a pile
04:17on the first. Two points. Straight away here on the fifth hole at Pula, you're faced with
04:36what this course is really all about. In the middle of the round here at Pula, you've got
04:40quite big, sizeable water hazards. Like I said, it is a little bit windy today. All up the right of
04:45this hole, you've got water. Into the wind today, so playing a little bit longer than it usually
04:50would. I'm going to hit driver, which I think is pretty aggressive, considering the fairway just
04:54gets narrower and narrower and narrower the further up the hole you go. If it was a still
04:59day, I wasn't just straight out my hotel room onto the course. I'd flirt with the idea of hitting a
05:03two-iron down there into the fat part of the fairway. Today, I'm going to hit driver. I'm on
05:08holiday. I'm wearing baby blue head to toe. I shouldn't be taking myself too seriously, should
05:14I? That's an arrow. Just leaking right. Get down. I'm not going to lie. I've rinsed one into the
05:29water. Taking a bit of a drop. Got about 110-ish yards. Again, into the wind. Got a 50-degree wedge.
05:39What a disappointing start. Pile on the first. Stupid club choice off the second, to be fair.
05:46See if I can hit the green. Top two, play three. In for a five with two putts. It's at it if it's
06:00the club. Be up. Be up. Yes, please. That is six feet or so. I've got a par putt, people. Come on.
06:09This would be very sneaky, getting out of here with a four. Great wedge shot, if I don't say so
06:16myself. Not like me at all. Come on. Left to right. Another par. I've hit that quite hard as
06:31well. Don't miss this now, Rose. Thank God. That's exactly where I wanted to hit it. I think that's
06:45perfect. He's fatted it. Not going to lie. Fatted that. It's done quite well, actually.
07:03For a four. Pretty uninspiring after the tee shot, which was in a great position, to be fair.
07:08Go. Go. I'll take it. Four five hives to kick things off with. Not the end of the world.
07:25I nearly missed that.
07:46Now, Pula opened for play in 1995, and it was just about a decade after that that the course went
07:52through an extensive remodelling phase. It was none other than Jose Maria Olathebal who was
07:56overseeing that project. Anyone who's ever played Olathebal course knows that the guy knows exactly
08:02what he's doing. Hardly surprising for a double Masters champion and Ryder Cup legend. He oversaw
08:07the renovations here at Pula. You can definitely see how from these back tees, if you look behind
08:12me there, the white tee is a good, I don't know, 60 yards further back than the yellow tee here
08:19today. On the 12th, there really is championship golf on offer here at Pula. If you're the kind of
08:25low handicapped golfer who likes to test yourself, this is definitely a course that will test your
08:29game. But with multiple tee positions, it is definitely a friendly or a more friendly
08:34proposition for handicapped golfers who just want a bit more holiday golf vibe.
08:39Today on the 12th, we've got 127 yards, plays uphill, wins slightly off the right and a little
08:44bit against, I would say. So let's see what we can do here. I've not had the best of front nines.
08:50Respectable in places and something to work on for tomorrow when I head to Alcanada,
08:54which is one of the favorite courses that I've played over the last few years.
08:58So yeah, enjoying my time so far here in Majorca. Let's see if we can finish strong
09:02on the back nine, rack up a few more pars, starting with the par 3, 12th.
09:07That is a toey hook, but I reckon I'm putting. Right, as you can see, just about held on to the
09:15putting green, to be honest, with the great result after a pretty bang average shot.
09:20And I'll show you in a second, but the step in this green is quite severe.
09:25So the pin literally three or four yards up onto the top level. This is not an easy hole,
09:30despite only being 130 yards from the yellow tees today.
09:34Go, go. OK.
09:41As you can see, if you get this just slightly wrong, that is just going to go and go and go
09:49off the front edge of this green. That's a naughty little pin, isn't it?
09:56And that's out to the right.
09:59And that's out to the right. Get out of that bunker.
10:17Right, this is kind of my nightmare, considering how bad my chipping is. Ball off the downslope,
10:22green running away from me. I've got the 60 degree wedge out,
10:26weight on the left. Oh, God, this is so difficult for me.
10:33I played that quite nicely, though. Not understanding how it's not rolling right
10:38instead of left, but oh, well, it's on the green. That could have been Duff City.
10:44Right. One final putt. Can I scramble a par? Can't believe that that chip has rolled down
10:51here, although now that I'm on this side of the hole, it is a little bit more obvious.
10:55See, that thing that tall pros do when they kind of look at it from all angles does make sense, but
11:01ain't nobody got time for that. If I can slot this one, I'll be happy with the way I've played
11:05on day one. Looking very much forward to trying a little bit harder to put a score together
11:10tomorrow. The golf course tomorrow is out of this world, so make sure you stay tuned for that.
11:16Not hit that hard enough. That's poor, to say the least. All right, tap in, bogey.
11:27Oh, well. Right, guys and girls, there's a bit of a snapshot of what is on offer here at Pula Golf
11:32Resort in Mallorca. Make sure you stay tuned because tomorrow we've got an absolutely amazing
11:36course playing at Alcarnada Golf Club, host of the Challenge Tour Grand Final, three-time host
11:42as of November this year. If you are looking for a winter golf holiday later on the year,
11:47definitely consider Mallorca because you can play a few rounds of golf here at Pula.
11:50You can go to the event at Alcarnada. You can obviously then play that golf course the day
11:54after the event in tournament condition. There are some other courses in this corner of the island as
11:59well. Good first day at Mallorca. Hopefully, you've enjoyed what you've seen of Pula Golf
12:05Resort. If you have any questions about this place, make sure to pop in the comment section,
12:08but for now, I'm going to head into the Pula Clubhouse, get changed,
12:12go for dinner in a banging restaurant, get up early tomorrow, hit the road for some more golf.
12:39All right, guys, day two of my Mallorca adventure and I'm off to a place called Alcarnada Golf Club.
12:50It's about an hour's drive, just less than an hour from where I'm sitting here at Pula Golf
12:54Resort, still up in the northeast corner of the island. This, I have to say, is one of my
13:00favorite golf courses that I've played over the last few years. A special one in store for today.
13:08So,
13:20let's go.
13:37Right, guys and girls, arrived at Alcarnada Golf Club. As you can see from the drive in,
13:40the location of this course is pretty spectacular. We'll see more of the amazing views
13:45as we get to the high points around these mountains, which some of the rays tease
13:49looking out over the Bay of Alcudia, looking pretty special. I have played this golf course
13:54before and I was last here. I didn't play, but I was watching the Challenge Tour Grand Final,
13:59which has been hosted here at Alcarnada twice, is coming back in 2023 for a third visit. So,
14:05as you can see, when you come here, play off those back tees, Championship Golf is very much
14:09on the cards. And the winning score last year was only minus nine. And bearing in mind, these guys
14:14are obviously playing for their rights on the DP World Tour, so they're at the top end of the
14:18professional game, really, really amazing players. And only coming out with a winning score of minus
14:23nine shows you what the test of golf is like here at Alcarnada from those back tees. Now,
14:28I'm not man enough to take on those white tees, because it's over 7,000 yards from back there.
14:32I get my handicap at a 6,200 yard course. So, I've edged forward onto the yellows,
14:37which are still 6,600 yards. And I've set myself a target of breaking 80.
14:43Now, an educated guess, I'd say I'm probably not going to do it. But anyway, let's crack on,
14:48play a bit of golf here at Alcarnada. Like I said, an hour from where I'm staying at Pula
14:52and a really, really special course. Can I break 80? Jump in the comments down below. Yes or no?
15:01It's up the right. It's well here. It's fine. It's just over that bunker.
15:07Kicking down now. It could be on the adjacent fairway once gravity gets involved, but
15:12considering I'm fresh out of the car with no time to warm up, I'll take that to start.
15:18I'm not really expecting to hit this all the way up to the green,
15:28but anything in play and over that trouble, I'll be happy with.
15:38Ripped it straight at the bunker.
15:42Yeah, that is about five, six yards short of the green,
15:45exactly where I was aiming. Happy, happy with that start. Like that. Run.
15:54Not enough to get over that slope. Not the best, but given my history of the duffs,
16:01I'm not overly disappointed with that. I just needed to fly a little bit further or take a
16:06little less loft. Something to think about. Obviously, I didn't have a chance to warm up
16:11on the practice screen before I teed off, so a little bit of guesswork with how the green is
16:16going to react over the first couple of holes, but hopefully, I'll get up to speed with them.
16:20For lack of a better pun, apologies. Birdie putt on the first.
16:31Go in. Go in. I will take a two-inch tap-in par putt on the first hole without a warm-up
16:38any day of the week. Level par through one.
16:44Yeah, actually a bit of a cut there, but that's absolutely fine.
16:58And hit the slope. And go a bit. And go a bit more. And go in.
17:04Oh, I think we can all agree that that is a gimme. It's worth noting that Alcanada boasts
17:11this Tag Marshall buggy system, which is a really, really detailed GPS of the golf course.
17:17Tells you what your pace of play is like, what your start time was. I've been playing for 29
17:21minutes, so too old. Maybe I need to speed up a little bit, but you can do all sorts of stuff
17:26with this. Give it a bit of food and Bev's action. Lovely. As you can see, map of the course.
17:37Don't get lost, all that kind of stuff. It's a great system.
17:40One of the fancier GPS units out there, for sure.
17:46A bit skinny. Low on the face, up the right. Not a good shot at all, but it's bouncing.
17:54Could even get a bit of Carterpath love and a few extra yards out of that one.
17:58So, quick shout out to Alcanada, actually. The course opened for play in October 2003. So,
18:03we're creeping up on the 20th birthday of this magnificent golf course. We'll just see if I can
18:08find my ball. Flick another little wedge shot into this par four green and hopefully start
18:13off with par, par, par. That would be lovely. I've taken the wrong club down here. I've got
18:2060 degree wedge. So, I'm going to have to throw this quite far,
18:23but I definitely can't be bothered to go back to the buggy.
18:28Played it nice and sit. Definitely take that.
18:37No, that was low all day long. Now, to be honest with you, struggling for a bogey.
18:42Yeah. In for a five, one over through three, to be honest with you. Without a warmup,
18:49take that for sure. Right. Seventh tee, raised tee. Absolutely spectacular view in the background,
18:55as you can see, as this par five snakes its way down the hill in between bunkers and rows of
19:00trees. Brilliant, brilliant golf hole. I would argue this is the signature hole on this golf
19:04course. There are other candidates later on in the round, which I'm sure you'll see on this video.
19:09But yeah, if I can get a good drive away over this bunker, chasing down the hill,
19:13even though it's a 600 yard par five from this yellow tee, I reckon I can get pretty close in
19:18two. So, bombs away, as they say, and let's see if we can sneak one down there in the fairway.
19:30It's a bit necky. Definitely not my best strike. Up the left, it's absolutely fine. It's at that
19:36kind of big tree right in the middle of the two bunkers. But as you can see, I've been so close
19:43to going down this slope and getting a few extra yards. That would have been lovely. But as it
19:48stands, I've got about 320 yards left in. So there are two bunkers down there, one right, one left,
19:55which I do think make this lay up a little bit more complicated than it needs to be. So
20:00I am kind of tempted to hit three wood and just try and get as close to the green as possible
20:05over these bunkers and in play with a wedge. Unfortunately, though,
20:10three wood off the deck is not really my strong suit. I'm going to be a wimp. I'm sorry. I'm going
20:17to play this hole as a three shotter, which let's be honest, unless I absolutely ripped one down the
20:22right side here and chased down the hill. It was always going to be anyway. I was going to hit a
20:27six iron, which I don't think is enough to reach the bunker on the right. If I go in that direction,
20:35should leave about a wedge in.
20:40That's straight out the bunker, so it does reach it. I'm an absolute plonker.
20:47Oh, yeah, comes to be right in the middle of that bunker.
20:51Right, so nine iron, one, three, six. Try and catch it a little bit clean.
21:00Like that. That's the yardage. That's such a good shot. Get down, get down, get down.
21:09Straight over the top of the pin. I think I have hit that a little bit too hard. Probably
21:13got like a 35 footer for a birdie. I'll take it though.
21:43So
22:05come on. Par required to break 80.
22:14Oh, hit a bit bottomy, but that's so straight and safe.
22:22Oh, that's fairway, I think. Rubbish for distance, but accuracy wise, lovely.
22:30Stay there and be the yardage. Stay there.
22:35It's just not quite reached the green, but I think it's literally like a yard short.
22:39Should be putting that now. I know I said I quite fancy practicing my chipping at the
22:43moment, but this would be a good opportunity to practice that strike off the tight fairway lie.
22:50But let's be honest, I need to get this down in two for 79. So I'm running back to the putter
22:58off the left. Quite a few left to right putts today. All on the pace.
23:03And swing and go. And that's a tap in 79. Nothing to write home about for decent golfers. But for
23:13me, a handicapper, seven over broken handicap, break 80 done. There we have it guys. All done
23:23at Alcanada. All done in Mallorca. I'm sad to say that was my 48 hours on this amazing island
23:28playing two really cool golf courses. Really enjoyed my stay at Pula as always. Fantastic,
23:33all encompassing resort, track man, driving range, superb restaurant, great place to have a few
23:38drinks in the evening. Really relaxed kind of vibe, friendly people. And obviously the two
23:42different accommodation options on site, making it a super convenient place to stay and play in
23:47Mallorca. And then you've got this place, Alcanada Golf Club, an hour's drive. Well,
23:51just less than an hour from my home. So I'm going to show you around. I'm going to show you
23:55an hour's drive or just less than an hour from Pula. So if you're looking at maybe like three
24:00nights, five nights kind of holiday stay and play package, definitely recommend Pula as a good base.
24:06There are accommodation options near Alcanada, but as a standalone golf club, they don't have
24:10their own hotel as of yet. So this is definitely a kind of tack it onto the itinerary kind of vibe
24:16option. And I certainly would recommend it. One of my favorite courses I've played over the last
24:21few years. And I'm lucky to say that I've ticked off a fair few all the way around the world. And
24:25this is definitely one of the most spectacular places to play as you can see behind me. And as
24:30I said at the start of the video, super friendly, really great clubhouse to have a spot of lunch
24:34after your round. Unfortunately, I don't have time for all that. I've got to shoot back to
24:39Palmer airport now and back to the UK, back to base layers and jumpers and bubble hats.
24:45Can I just stay in Mallorca?