Positioned 1,000 toes above sea degree, Apes Hill Barbados – designed by Ron Kirby – has rapidly constructed a fame as a bucket-list venue for all golfers.
We are saying ‘all’, as a result of with 4 teeing choices starting from just a little over 5,000 yards to 7,000, the structure goals to welcome an eclectic mixture of golfers: from passionate newbies to seasoned veterans.
Laid out on an enviable and enriching stretch of land – very like one other Kirby basic some 4,000 miles throughout the Atlantic at Eire’s Outdated Head – the structure is surrounded by historic coral rock formations, streams and gullies together with some dramatic adjustments in elevation.
“After I noticed Apes Hill for the primary time, I noticed there have been vistas that had been simply very good,” Kirby says.
“The enjoyable at Outdated Head and the enjoyable at Apes Hill are the vistas, and also you simply really feel such as you wish to get out right here and revel in it on a course that has such world-class views because the backdrop.”
The fantastically framed inexperienced on the par-3 fifth gap
(Picture credit score: Apes Hill)
It was 2019 when Kirby first began work on reimagining Apes Hill into the surprise he has created right this moment. After being commissioned by proprietor and Canadian investor Glenn Chamandy – whose personal goal is to redefine Apes Hill as a luxurious retreat with quite a lot of key developments over the next 12 months – Kirby recognized quite a lot of key adjustments to the unique design that first opened in 2006, with playability on the forefront of his technique.
The considering was easy: why construct a golf course for less than the perfect gamers to get pleasure from when everybody ought to have the ability to pattern the delights of his ‘Caribbean Masterpiece?’
“We put 4 tee containers in in order that we might cowl all varieties of gamers,” Kirby stated. “From those that can strike it pure to the common golfer after which newbies.
“To everybody who performs at Apes Hill, I need them to stroll away and say this was a enjoyable golf course.”
Some extra delicate adjustments would comply with, crafting the structure with respect for the realm’s pure environment with sustainability at its coronary heart. The course makes use of an environmentally pleasant grass that cuts again on water waste. What water is required for the turf is pure rainwater housed in a 58-million-gallon reservoir. The brand new-look structure reopened to members and their visitors final November, with Apes Hill remodeled right into a wow-a-minute feast for all.
Ron Kirby has crafted the second gap right into a risk-reward par 4 that tempts gamers to assault the inexperienced
(Picture credit score: Apes Hill)
After a delicate opening designed to ease gamers into their rounds with an exhilarating risk-reward, drivable par 4 on the second gap, the structure serves up a shocking run of vistas with views out and over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Whereas there may be lots to get enthusiastic about on the course’s outward 9 – with the fourth gap and its tee field positioned on one of many highest factors of the course – the inward half delivers nice pleasure. Notably, the run from 12 to fifteen that units up a grandstand end as gamers attain the course’s signature gap at 16.
Named the ‘Cave’ with a coral rock hugging the outlet behind the inexperienced and water lining the appropriate, Kirby has left an indelible mark on Caribbean golf with a par three that possesses many traits for which Barbados is genetically well-known for.
Off the course, a brand new state-of-the-art Efficiency Centre opened in January below the watchful eye of Tim Cutshall – a person who has constructed a fame as the perfect within the enterprise for designing hi- specification instructing amenities.
Apes Hill’s world-class Efficiency Centre opened in January
(Picture credit score: Apes Hill)
In the meantime, a brief par-three course can be prepared for play later this yr, together with an island-style nineteenth gap – superb for settling scores left over out of your spherical on the championship structure – whereas a contemporary and up to date clubhouse is near completion.
Keep-and-play villa leases can be obtainable from late 2023. The resort, when full, may also embody a brand new racquet centre with conventional and padel courts, a well being membership, spa and jogging and nature trails.
However at Apes Hill’s coronary heart lies Kirby’s Caribbean Masterpiece. It’s laborious to think about a finer spot for a spherical of golf.
