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 called
00:08the traveling golfer i'm your host my name's rory for any of you who do recognize me you know that
00:13i'm an eight handicapped golfer i spent years traveling the world filming golf content and
00:17whacking it on youtube but i'm here on the golf monthly channel to pretty much do the same and
00:21show you guys some of the best destinations that you guys might want to consider for future golf
00:26holidays to kick off the series i'm off to mallorca 48 hours two golf courses let's get going
00:32right guys just got to gatwick airport uh got a two hour 20 minute flight time from here to palma
00:47capital city of mallorca once i get there got an hour's drive to the northeast corner of the island
00:52where the two golf courses that i'm playing this week are waiting for me two epic golf courses yeah
00:57stay tuned 48 hours in mallorca golf sun maybe a couple of beers and uh yeah we'll see what happens
01:04but yeah 48 hours in mallorca here we come
01:07right guys morning of day one of my mallorca adventure i'm at pula golf resort one of my
01:24favorite venues that i visited here in mallorca basically it's like a one-stop shop stay and play
01:29resort you've got two different accommodation options one here and then some proper golf centric
01:33apartments up there got the sierra de la pula restaurant just literally 20 yards away from
01:38where i am now fantastic restaurant great pro shop track man on the driving range two-tier driving
01:45range here at pula like everything you need for a golf holiday literally roll out of bed onto the
01:50first tee or onto the driving range and away you go 18 hole golf course i'm going to set myself a
01:54target of breaking 80 today we'll see you know it's a european tour venue it's hosted multiple european
02:00tour events in the past so we'll see how i get on obviously i play off eight so you know breaking 80
02:06is an ambitious slash realistic target depending on how i'm playing i'm kind of quietly optimistic
02:12let's take to the golf course show you what it's all about here at pula what you can expect you head
02:17to mallorca on your next golf holiday
02:19you all have noticed i've gone baby blue head to toe hope that's okay with some of you guys i know
02:38got beard got man bun and now head to toe in the same color apologies if that offends anyone
02:44but here we go stroking x18 par four downwind
02:48bunkers up the right i'm not sure if i can fly them or not but let's find out i guess
02:55straight at them
03:05it's been right a touch but it should be fine findable for sure
03:13should be nice
03:18oh sick that's gone gone a little bit long right guys long and left of the first green here or the
03:28fourth green should i say after skipping the first three holes
03:31um texas wedging don't really feel like tipping it off a bear lie i'm trying to practice my chipping
03:38at the moment after a few years of duffing it all over the world but this is definitely a putt in my
03:44eyes
03:45sit down now go go in that's it oh there's a lot of emotion going on you can probably hear on the cam
03:55it is quite windy today here in mallorca obviously i've looked at the forecast the last couple of days
03:59it does look like it's going to die down a bit look it's start of march in the uk we're wearing
04:05underarmoured base layers bobble hats thermal leggings if you're getting on a bit like i am
04:11and here in mallorca i'm in a t-shirt it's lovely weather it's about 10 12 degrees
04:15now definitely take a pile on the first two points
04:20so straight away here on the fifth hole at pula you're faced with what this course is really all
04:38about in the middle of the round here at pula you've got quite big sizable water hazards
04:42like i said it is a little bit windy today so all up the right of this hole i've got water
04:47into the wind today so playing a little bit longer than it usually would i'm going to hit driver which
04:52i think is pretty aggressive considering the fairway just gets narrower and narrower and narrower the
04:56further up the hole you go you know if it was a still day i wasn't just straight out my hotel room
05:01onto the course i'd flirt with the idea of hitting a two iron down there into the fat part of the fairway
05:05but today i'm gonna hit driver i'm on holiday i'm wearing baby blue head to toe so
05:11i shouldn't be taking myself too seriously should i
05:14ah it's an arrow
05:19just leaking right get down
05:23i'm not gonna lie
05:26ah i've rinsed one into the water
05:29so taking a bit of a drop got about 110 ish yards getting into the wind got a 50 degree wedge
05:39what a disappointing start par on the first stupid club choice off the second to be fair
05:46so i'm gonna hit the green and top two play three in for a five with two putts
05:55oh it's at it if it's the club be up be up yes please that is six feet or so i've got a papa people
06:08come on right this would be very sneaky getting out of here with a four great wedge shot if i don't say
06:16so myself
06:17not like me at all
06:19come on left to righter for another par
06:24oh i've hit that quite hard as well
06:32don't miss this now roars
06:35thank god
06:38that's exactly where i wanted to hit it i think that's perfect
06:46and he's fat at it
06:52not gonna lie fat at that it's done quite well actually
07:02all right foot four
07:03pretty uninspiring after the t-shot which was in a great position to be fair
07:09go
07:14go
07:15ah
07:17i'll take it
07:19four or five hives to kick things off with not the end of the world
07:24i nearly missed that
07:27now pula opened for plate in 1995 and it was just about a decade after that
07:52like the course went through an extensive remodeling phase and it was none other than josé maria alathabel
07:57who was overseeing that project and anyone who's ever played a alathabel course knows that
08:02the guy knows exactly what he's doing
08:04hardly surprising for a double masters champion and rider cup legend but
08:07yeah he oversaw the renovations here at pula
08:10and you can definitely see how from these back tees if you look behind me there the white tee is a good
08:15i don't know
08:16i don't know if you're going to be 60 yards further back than the yellow tee here today on the 12th
08:21there really is championship golf on offer here at pula if you're the kind of low handicap golfer who likes to test yourself
08:27this is definitely a course that will test your game but with multiple tee positions it is definitely a friendly or a more friendly proposition for handicapped golfers who just want a bit more holiday golf vibe
08:38today on the 12th we've got 127 yards plays uphill wind slightly off the right and a little bit against i would say
08:45so 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 which is one of the favorite courses that i've played over the last few years
08:57so yeah enjoying my time so far here in majorca let's see if we can finish strong on the back nine rack up a few more pars
09:04starting with the par 3 12th
09:07that is a toey hook
09:11but i reckon i'm putting
09:14right as you can see just about held on to the putting green to be honest with you
09:19great result after a pretty bang average shot
09:22and i'll show you in a second but the step in this green is quite severe
09:26so the pin literally three or four yards up onto the top level
09:31this is not an easy hold despite only being 130 yards from the yellow tees today
09:36as you can see if you get this just slightly wrong
09:49that is just going to go and go and go off the front edge of the screen
09:55that's a naughty little pin isn't it
09:58and that's air out to the right get out of that bunker
10:05right this is kind of my nightmare considering how bad my chipping is ball off the down slope
10:21green running away from me i've got the 60 degree wedge out
10:25weight on the left oh god this is so difficult for me
10:31i played that quite nicely though
10:35not understanding how it's not rolling right instead of left but
10:40oh well it's on the green that could have been duff city
10:43right one final putt can i scramble a par
10:47can't believe that that chip has rolled down here although now that i'm on this side of the hole
10:53it is a little bit more obvious see that thing that tall pros do when they kind of
10:57look at it from all angles doesn't make sense but
11:00ain't nobody got time for that if i can slot this one i'll be happy with the way i've played on day one
11:05looking very much forward to trying a little bit harder to put a score together tomorrow
11:11the golf course tomorrow is out of this world so make sure you stay tuned for that
11:16not yet that hard enough that's poor to say the least
11:23all 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 pool of golf
11:34resort in mallorca make sure you stay tuned because tomorrow we've got an absolutely amazing course
11:38playing at alcanada golf club host of the challenge tour grand final three time host
11:42as of november this year so if you are looking for a winter golf holiday later on the year
11:46definitely consider mallorca because you can play a few rounds of golf here at pooler
11:50you can go to the event at alcanada 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 so yeah good first day at mallorca hopefully you've enjoyed what you've seen of pooler golf resort
12:05if you have any questions about this place make sure to pop in the comment section but for now
12:09i'm going to head into the pooler clubhouse get changed go for dinner in a banging restaurant
12:14get up early tomorrow hit the road for some more golf
12:17right guys day two of my mallorca adventure
12:46and i'm off to a place called alcanada golf club it's about an hour's drive just less than an hour
12:52from where i'm sitting here at pooler golf resort still up in the northeast corner of the island
12:56and this i have to say is one of my favorite golf courses that i've played over the last few years
13:03so yeah a special one in store for today
13:06so
13:18so
13:24right guys and girls arrived at Alcanada golf club but as you can see from the drive-in the
13:41location of this course is pretty spectacular we'll see more of the amazing views as we get
13:46to the high points around these mountains with some of the raised tees looking out over the bay
13:50of Alcudia looking pretty special I have played this golf course before and I was last here I
13:56didn't play but I was watching the challenge tour grand final which has been hosted here at Alcanada
14:01twice is coming back in 2023 for a third visit so as you can see when you come here play off those
14:07back tees championship golf is very much on the cards and the winning score last year was only
14:13minus nine and bearing in mind these guys are obviously playing for their rights on the DP
14:16world tour so they're at the top end of the professional game really really amazing
14:21players and only coming out with a winning score of minus nine shows you what the test of golf is
14:25like here at Alcanada from those back tees now I'm not man enough to take on those white tees it's
14:30over 7,000 yards from back there I get my handicap at a 6,200 yard course so I've edged forward onto
14:36the yellows which are still 6,600 yards and I've set myself a target of breaking 80 now an educated
14:44guess so I'm probably not going to do it but anyway let's crack on play a bit of golf here at
14:49Alcanada like I said an hour from where I'm staying at Pula and a really really special course
14:53can I break 80 jump in the comments down below yes or no
14:57it's up the right it's well here it's fine it's just over that bunker
15:05kicking down now could be on the adjacent fairway once gravity gets involved but
15:11considering I'm fresh out of the car with no time to warm up I'll take that to start
15:25not really expecting to hit this all the way up to the green anything in play and over that trouble
15:32I'll be happy with
15:38ripped it straight at the bunker
15:42yep that is about five six yards short the green exactly where I was aiming happy happy with that start
15:48like that run ah not enough to get over that slope not the best but given my history of the dust I'm not
16:02overly disappointed with that just needed to fly a little bit further or take a little less loft something
16:08to think about obviously I didn't have a chance to warm up on the practice screen before I teed off so a
16:14little bit of guesswork with how the greens gonna react over the first couple holes but hopefully I'll get up to
16:19speed with them for lack of a better pun
16:23apologies
16:25right birdie putt on the first
16:31go in go in oh
16:34I will take a two inch tap in par putt on the first hole without a warm-up any day of the week level par through one
16:44yeah actually a bit of a cut there but that's absolutely fine
16:57and hit the slope and go a bit and go a bit more and go in oh I think we can all agree
17:07that that is a gimme so worth noting that alcanada boasts this tag marshall buggy system which is
17:14a really really detailed gps of the golf course tells you what your pace of plays like what your start
17:19time was i've been playing for 29 minutes
17:22too too old
17:24maybe need to speed up a little bit but you can do all sorts of stuff with this
17:27give it a bit of uh food and bevs action lovely as you can see map of the course you know don't get
17:37lost all that kind of stuff it's a great system one of the fancier gps units out there for sure
17:43a bit skinny low on the face up the right not a good shot at all but
17:52it's bouncing could even get a bit of carter path of 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 we're creeping
18:04up on the 20th birthday of this magnificent golf course we'll just see if i can find my ball
18:10flick another little wedge shot into this par four green and hopefully start off with par par par
18:15that would be lovely
18:18i've taken the wrong club down here i've got a 60 degree wet so i'm gonna 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
18:45yeah in for five one over through three to be honest with you without a warm-up take that for sure
18:51right seventh tee raised tee absolutely spectacular view in the background as you can see as this par
18:56five snakes its way down the hill in between bunkers and rows of trees brilliant brilliant golf
19:01i would argue this is the signature hole on this golf course there are other candidates
19:06later on the round which i'm sure you'll see on this video but yeah if i can get a good drive away
19:11over this bunker chasing down the hill even though it's a 600 yard par five from this yellow tee i reckon i
19:17can get pretty close in two so bombs away as they say and uh let's see if we can sneak one down there
19:23in the fairway
19:30bit necky definitely not my best strike up the left it's absolutely fine it's at that kind of big tree
19:37right in the middle of the two bunkers but as you can see i've been so close to going down this slope
19:44and getting a few extra yards that would have been lovely but as it stands i've got about 320 yards left
19:51in so there are two bunkers down there one right one left which i do think make this lay up a little
19:57bit more complicated than it needs to be so i am kind of tempted to hit three wood and just try and get
20:03it as close to the green as possible over these bunkers and in play with a wedge unfortunately though
20:08three wood off the deck is not really my strong suit so i'm going to be a wimp i'm sorry i'm going to play
20:17this hole as a three shotter which let's be honest unless i absolutely ripped one down the right and
20:22side here and chased down the hill it was always going to be anyway so i'm just going to hit a six iron
20:28which i don't think is enough to reach the bunker on the right if i go in that direction should leave
20:35about a wedge in that is straight out the bunker so if it does reach it i'm an absolute plonker
20:47yep comfortably right in the middle of that bunker right so nine iron one three six
20:54try and catch it a little bit clean
20:56like that that's the yardage that's such a good shot get down get down
21:09straight over the top of the pin i think i have hit that a little bit too hard probably got like a 35
21:15footer for a birdie i'll take it though
21:26so
21:32so
21:40come on
22:05par required to break 80.
22:15oh it 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
22:26stay there and be the yardage stay there
22:35just not quite reached the green but i think it's literally like a yard short should be putting that
22:40now i know i said i quite fancy practicing my chipping at the moment but and this would be a good
22:45opportunity to practice that strike off the tight fairway lie but let's be honest i need to get this down
22:52in two for 79 so i'm running back to the putter off the left quite a few left to right putts today
23:02all on the pace
23:02and swing and go and that's a tapping 79
23:14nothing to write home about for decent golfers but for me eight handicapper seven over broken handicap
23:21break 80
23:23done
23:24there we have it guys all done alcanada all done in majorca i'm sad to say that was my 48 hours on
23:31this amazing island playing two really cool golf courses really enjoyed my stay at pooler as always
23:37fantastic all-encompassing resort track man driving range superb restaurant great place to have a few
23:43drinks in the evening really relaxed kind of vibe friendly people and obviously the two different
23:47accommodation options on site making it a super convenient place to stay and play in majorca
23:53and then you've got this place alcanada golf club an hour's drive or just less than an hour from pooler
23:58so if you're looking at maybe like three nights five nights kind of holiday stay and play package
24:03definitely recommend pooler as a good base there are accommodation options near alcanada but as a
24:08standalone golf club they don't have their own hotel as of yet so this is definitely a kind of
24:14tack it onto the itinerary kind of vibe option and i certainly would recommend it
24:19one of my favorite courses that i've played over the last few years and i'm lucky to say that i've
24:23ticked off a fair few all the way around the world and this is definitely one of the most spectacular
24:27places to play as you can see behind me and as i said at the start of the video super friendly
24:32really great clubhouse to have a spot of lunch after your round unfortunately i don't have time for
24:37all that i've got to shoot back to palmer airport now and back to the uk
24:41back to base layers and jumpers and bubble hats and can i just stay in the yorker