OPEN FOR PLAY
Open for Play - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Open for Play | |||||
| By: Jim Bruce, Issue 44 – Spring 2010 | |||||
| (Navarino, Greece) | |||||
| IN A COUNTRY WITH ONLY SIX GOLF COURSES AND JUST 1,200 REGISTERED PLAYERS, IT SEEMS A VERY BOLD VENTURE FOR A GREEK SHIPPING TYCOON TO WANT TO PUT GREECE ON THE INTERNATIONAL GOLFING MAP. JIM BRUCE VISITS GREECE’S FIRST SIGNATURE GOLF COURSE AT A NEW FIVE-STAR RESORT FRONTING THE IONIAN SEA. | |||||
| Vassilis Constantakopoulos, a rags-to-riches former seaman and a keen golfer, known affectionately as The Captain, plans to open four luxury golf resorts in his d1.2 billion(A$1.73 billion) tourism project, Costa Navarino, in the Messinia region of the southern Peloponnese, where he was born 75 years ago. His first golf course, The Dunes, opened in May this year at the inaugural resort, Navarino Dunes, which cost 400 million euros (A$577 million) to build and includes two five-star hotel complexes on a 130-acre beachfront site overlooking the Ionian Sea. The Dunes is Greece’s first signature golf course and was designed by former two-time US Masters champion and Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer, who this year also added the British Senior Open and US Senior Open titles to his collection of trophies. This 18-hole championship course has wide fairways, steep-faced pot bunkers and large, undulating greens, giving it a Scottish links-style feel. The front nine holes have spectacular sea views, while the back nine venture into olive and fruit groves. The course was maintained for a year before opening and, being located in one of the hottest parts of Greece, is irrigated by two giant water reservoirs that Mr. Contantakopoulos’ development company, Temes, had specially built a few miles from the resort, along with highly-treated waste water from the hotel complexes. The par-72 course has attracted international attention, and has featured in several leading golf magazines and has been lauded as one of the best at a resort complex. Each hole has multiple tees, so players can select their own course length from 5,000 metres to 6,200 metres. When I inspected the course on a hot sunny day, I spotted only two visitors playing a round, but the Dunes has welcomed a steady flow of golfers, mainly from central Europe but also from the UK and the US. At the time of my visit, the resort’s director of golf, Harry Zervos, was expecting the first players from Australia – mostly Greek-Australians from Sydney and Melbourne. He said: “Unfortunately, golf is not very popular in Greece yet, but most of the players in Greece have visited our course in the short time we have been operating.” The green fees are quite steep – d85 a round (A$122) for hotel guests and d95 (A$137) for non-guests, but the course, with its 3,500 square metre clubhouse and facilities, is superb. It also has very attentive staff – one worker driving a golf cart around the course even stopped to ask if I wanted a cold drink as I admired the spectacular sea views from the second hole. Mr. Zervos told me players have found the 11th hole the most challenging on the course. He said: “It is a great par 4, against the wind most of the time. There is a water hazard along the right-hand side of the fairway, and even if you find the fairway with the tee shot you are faced with a long iron shot into the wind in order to find the green. The green is slightly elevated and quite big, so two puts for par is always a challenge.” Mr. Zervos added that most players have commented on the superb condition of the course. “The design of the course is fantastic and the fact you have great views of the Ionian Sea on one side and mountains with olive tree plantations on the other makes it unique. We let the course grow in and mature before opening in May – and this has really paid off.” In a massive project, 6,000 olive trees were transplanted from the reservoirs area to the new resort, with many planted on the golf course – and some of the trees are hundreds of years old. The Dunes also has a full-size driving range and short-game practice area with the largest green in Europe, along with a fully-equipped shop and scoring and tournament services for 10 to 140 players. During my visit, the course was hosting a three-day Nick Faldo tournament for young golfers from around the world. The clubhouse has a lovely bar and restaurant, the Flame, which overlooks the 18th green and has mountain and valley views, and a British couple were enjoying a cold beer after playing on the course when I dropped in. During my visit, my partner and I stayed at the Romanos, one of the two five-star hotel complexes at Navarino Dunes. The other is the Westin, and both are operated by the Starwood hotel group. For “golf widows” or “widowers” the resort has a massive 4,000 square metre spa, the Anazoe, offering specialist treatments based on ancient Greek practices, such as an olive oil nourishing facial. There is also a fully-equipped gym, with indoor pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. We dined at Eleon restaurant, which serves Greek food with a twist, and at the larger Pero buffet restaurant, which serves international meals and breakfasts with a huge selection of food. We had a very spacious, villa-style room with its own terrace and infinity pool, with room rates of around d500 (A$722) a night. The two hotel complexes together have almost 700 rooms and both have a presidential suite. We inspected the magnificent Koroni presidential suite at Romanos – a huge, seven-bedroom villa with its own kitchen, office, pool, dining room, bar and spa treatment room. A Saudi princess recently stayed there for 10 nights. The resort’s PR would not reveal the cost of the stay but the suite reportedly costs d10,000 (A$14,440) a night. However, the princess kept her costs down a little … by bringing her own chef with her. | |||||
| DETAILS | |||||
| GETTING THERE | |||||
| Eighteen international airlines operate between Australia and Athens, with Thai Airways having the most one-stop flights. Aegean Airlines operates daily connecting flights from Athens to Kalamata International Airport. Navarino Dunes is a 45-minute drive from Kalamata airport, and the resort arranges transfers by car, bus or limousine, or you can hire a car at the airport. | |||||
| STAY | |||||
| Navarino Dunes resort and Costa Navarino, Messinia, southern Peloponnese, Greece. Rates: Navarino Dunes resort standard room in low season costs from A$332 a night and in the peak season it’s from A$446 a night. Website: www.costanavarino.com | |||||
| GOLF COURSE DETAILS | |||||
| Founded: May 2010. Type: Links style. Designer: Bernhard Langer. Championship length: 6,176 metres. Par: 72. European course rating: 73.9 (men’s white tees). | |||||
| WHEN TO GO | |||||
| The best time to visit Navarino Dunes is in September when the resort is less crowded as most Greeks take holidays in August. The waters of the Ionian Sea are still very warm, which makes swimming off the beach a treat. The prices for accommodation are also lower in September than during the height of summer. The Navarino Dunes resort is open from early April to late October, although there are plans to make the Westin hotel part of the resort an all-year-round operation, possibly from 2011. The Romanos hotel part of the resort will stay closed over the winter months of November to March. | |||||
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