A scheduled day off golf was changed to a golfing day after the goats and I felt we could squeeze one more in. News from Sheila in Morocco is that she is having a great time, and has decided to explore some more and not come back to Spain…….I think she is rockin’ the casbah……..hooked up with a car and driver through a friend of her daughter’s so it is game on……..look out Tangiers.
We have decided to play today at Duquesa GC……..just 15 minutes south of us down the coast. It was one of the first properties we considered for a long stay in Spain during November……..condo’s available right on the course…….you could buy 10 round packages that reduced your per round cost substantially………all sounded great, then we started digging into the reviews……….even the best review was absolutely terrible. Course conditions were horrible having suffered badly through a few extremely hot years without much rainfall, total lack of maintenance, and the clubhouse/hotel on the property was in really rough shape (tear down material)……….the condo’s we were considering on the 10th fairway didn’t fare much better…..BUT….apparently they were working on it, and the property had changed hands. More recent reports were much more positive and we knew people were playing there because when we initially checked for a tee time on Golf Now the earliest we could get was 9:30 with many times available later, and when we checked back a few hours later, it was 11:50 and slim pickings after that. We booked the 11:50. This is a Robert Trent Jones course which opened in 1968 so it is well past its best before date………complete major renovations required.
Yep, Duquesa is a construction site……..we park on the road outside the course and carry our bags in, walking through a makeshift practice tee for the driving range which is right there………..BUT…….there is a brand new, just installed fake turf practice tee setup……..probably enough for 10-15 bays running parallel to where I am walking……..not in use just yet……..BUT……looks great though. I go in to check the brand new clubhouse…….not quite finished……..BUT……it is going to be a beauty. The young fella on cash thinks they are a month or two away from being fully operational, with full restaurant, workout rooms, lockers, etc., but he admits it is going to take a couple of seasons to get the course back in shape. I ask about the Duquesa Hotel immediately next door, now fenced off and looking derelict, and all he had to say was it has a separate owner and wasn’t part of the golf course deal. Interesting!
Sibylle checked in and has snagged the last available golf cart for us and a pull trolley for herself. We head out on the course. It is immediately clear that we are not in Kansas anymore Toto. It is pretty rough. Fairways don’t have much Bermuda grass left on them and are largely some type of leafy weed……..BUT…..it is actually ok to play on……..greens are pretty rough also……..BUT……at least they have a little speed and are rolling ok. Bunkers are just a mess, total shite, and the cart paths………don’t talk to me about the cart paths…….exposed concrete edges with 6-8 inch drop offs everywhere………if you have never rolled a golf cart, this would be an excellent opportunity to give it a go. It was actually hard sometimes to pick a spot where you could safely make a dive for the fairway………Jutta always jumped out before I pulled the maneuver. It ended up that the green to tee walks were long, so we rigged up a three bagger and the goats took turns hoofing it, or we squeezed the three of us in on the seat. How cozy said Hugh. The layout is just great…….greens are way too small by today’s standards, but the course is not terribly long, so you should be hitting short irons in on many of the holes. It will be a beauty when it is finished and we will be happy to say we played it when it was total crap. I am going back and forth here……..final word…….we enjoyed it…….we had fun…….it was good golf.
Sibylle enjoyed our takeout so much the other night, she wanted to actually go to the Sibiritas and see for herself. Thomas the owner is there and he gives us a nice warm greeting……..hooks us up with a bottle of his OMG vino, and sells the goats on some wacky looking mushrooms he picked up at the market and is offering as an appetizer………Jutta has never seen a mushroom she didn’t like, so we are in for 3 portions por favor. They sell their meat by the kg and we opt for a shareable rib eye…….needed a little extra cooking for the goats past the med/rare we ordered, but it is delish and plenty for the three of us………some fresh veg and potato and we are done. Not so quick……..there is the unresistible tiramisu and the pistachio encrusted almond ice cream……..now we are done. Another great one in the books.
HUGEBLOGSITE 
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