Heritage Golf Club highlights
-A prize winning 18-hole championship golf course designed by Peter Matkovitch (PAR 72)
-9-hole par 3 'Pitch & Putt"" (PAR 3)
-Scenic landscape between lagoons and hills
-A putting green, chipping and pitching facility and double sided driving range
-A golf pro shop
-PGA Pro
-A golf academy
-Night golf sessions
-A club house with restaurant and bar
-Environmentally responsible golf
Priviledged access to 2 other 18-hole championship golf courses in the region (Paradis & Tamarina)
The spectacular layout lies on undulating ground with both nines rising up from sea level into the foot hills of the Black River Gorges National Park, providing magnificent views of the lush, green, jungle-covered mountains on the one hand and the endless Indian Ocean on the other. Built on more than 100 acres of land across the road from two golf resorts – the Heritage Awali Golf & Spa Resort and the Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Spa Resort – and adjacent to the Frédérica Nature Reserve, the course has been extensively landscaped to enhance the natural beauty of the setting and to make optimum use of the two watercourses that cross the layout. Other water hazards include five lakes that come into play on the 1st, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 18th holes. Further hazards are provided by numerous bunkers, mounds and stands of trees.
Also integrated into the golf course is the magnificent, stone Château de Bel Ombre: a restored manor-house where you can enjoy a fine-dining experience in the elegant restaurant whilst overlooking the 7th and 8th holes, and its lovely formal garden.
Amongst the more beautiful and spectacular holes on this very beautiful golf course are: the 9th – an almost driveable par four of 305 metres that will tempt the long hitters into taking their chances with the lakes that lie either side of the green, offering a watery grave to any tee-shot that’s less than perfect; the 13th, a delightful 178 metre par three across a lake where anything short is wet; the dog-leg left, 499 metre, par five 14th, where two strategically placed bunkers lie in wait for anyone attempting to bite off too much of the dog-leg with their drive, after which the hole rises steeply uphill to a green located in the foot hills; the 164 metre 15th, another beautiful short hole played from an elevated tee down to an undulating green surrounded by sand; and the 523 metre, par five 18th, which provides stunning views across the course, the resort and the Indian Ocean beyond from the tee and which is reachable in two for long hitters – again provided they don’t mind dicing with the lake that lines the last 150 metres on the left of the fairway before cutting in front of the green.
By using a lot of the space available and keeping many of the holes separate from each other, Matkovich has created a tremendous sense of freedom for the golfer – although it’s important not to let that go too much to your head as wayward shots can easily be swallowed up, never to be seen again, in the lush vetiver grass that surrounds many fairways, or the mango, papaya and palm tree-filled jungle that lines some holes.
In addition to the already mentioned holes is the 390 metre par four 6th, which plays downhill to a narrow fairway lined with jungle on the left and vetiver grass on the right. A beautiful rock-strewn stream meanders in front of a heavily undulating green surrounded by three deep bunkers, making this hole an absolutely superb two-shotter.
Adding to the course’s beauty are the strategically placed boulders and course signage on rocks that enhance the look of an already spectacularly beautiful golf course and one that, with a variety of tees on each hole and wide fairways, provides a challenge to golfers of all skill levels.
Other golf facilities include a double-ended driving range, a superb short game area that allows for anything from 65 metre lob wedges through a range of bunker shots to any kind of chip shot you wish to practise, a practice putting green, pro shop and charming clubhouse. There is also an additional nine-hole, par three course for beginners and those wishing to practise their short irons, located in the middle of the main course.
