Reason for a Paradis Golf Club review
I was on a press trip organised by Beachcomber Tours and Paradis was the second course on our three-day golfing tour.
Where is Paradis Golf Club?
The 18-hole course is part of the Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa, on the Le Morne Peninsula in the south-west corner of the African island of Mauritius.
What to expect
The course, which is the focal point of the resort, is a tale of two contrasting halves.
The front nine is played under the shadow of the imposing Le Morne Brabant, a distinctive rugged mountain that dominates the skyline – there can be few more striking backdrops for a golf course.
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While this magnificent mountain provides an awe-inspiring distraction, the biggest threat is seeing your ball drift into one of the many bunkers sprinkled around the course, several of which are colossal.
Water comes into play heavily in the back nine as the course winds its way round a huge lagoon.
Favourite hole
The 16th is a picture-perfect par 5 that doglegs round the lagoon and also has a stream cutting straight across the fairway.
It’s a hole fraught with danger and had my heart thumping with both excitement and trepidation.
Watching my sweetly struck tee shot get caught in the wind and land in the lagoon was one of the agonising moments I have ever experienced on a golf course – and I have had my fair share.
My best bit
Playing the Shambles format, where you play from the best tee shot in your group and you record the best individual score, I managed a rare birdie (well, rare for me) on the par-4 8th.
The big-hitter in our group drove over the trees and the stream protecting the green and managed to find the back of the putting surface.
I managed to knock my putt close to the hole and left myself a tap-in for birdie.
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So it turns out that I just need someone else to take all my drives for me and I’m actually a half-decent golfer.
What to look for
The Le Morne Brabant has a fascinating, yet tragic, history.
The mountain was used as a shelter by runaway slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It is said that after slavery was abolished in the 1830s, a police unit was sent to inform the mountain-dwelling runaway slaves that they were finally free. But the panicked slaves upon seeing the unit chose to jump to their deaths rather than risk re-enslavement.
When I go back
I will take more pictures and create more storage on my iPhone. Thirty-plus snaps simply wasn’t enough.
Played by NCG: Prince’s (Himalayas)
Played by NCG: Ilkley
