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Mallorca’s Canyamel Golf Club: A Popular Course With
Ordinary Golfers
By Habeeb Salloum
 It was pouring rain when we stopped at Canyamel Golf Club on Mallorca’s northeast coast some 90 km (56 mi) from Palma,
the Island’s capital. Soon I was sipping on a drink in the club as I surveyed
the glittering green course before me, appearing even greener in the pouring
rain. It was an introduction to Canyamel, one of the best known among the 21
golf courses on Mallorca – the Balearics’ major island.
Inaugurated in 1989, Canyamel Golf Club
was designed by Pepe Gancedo, a well-known designer of golf clubs. After
exploring the picturesque countryside around Canyamel, he found that the natural
terrain was ideal for a golf course. Interrupting the natural features as little
as possible, he designed the course while taking into account many of the
existing landscape features.
 Set in an unspoilt part of Mallorca with
the mountains making a spectacular backdrop, the course fits well into a small
valley. Developed on barren land, Canyamel has made a considerable impact on
improving its surrounding landscape. Being close to the sea, some parts of the
course offer stunning views of the Mediterranean and on a clear day golfers can
see the Island of Menorca in the far distance.
A well cared for 18-hole course,
Canyamel includes beautifully kept greens with mixed vegetation that provides
attractive scenery around the course. These include almond, carob, fig, giant
palms, pines and wild olives as well as vines which climb up from the gully
which runs past the 10th, 11th and 12th holes. All of this creates a scenic
course – making it a real stroll through nature. Many of the old stonewalls and
other landmarks in and around the course are still there. One of the most famous
of these is a stone house in the middle of the 9th fairway.
 The course is of average difficulty.
Many of the fairways are wide, giving high handicap players a chance to make
amends for wayward tee shots. Some of the holes are quite easy; others need a
complex strategy. Trees and strategically placed bunkers offer the necessary
degree of difficulty and these demand a constant struggle by the players to get
the best out of their games.
For some golfers, the first nine holes
are somewhat difficult. However, the second nine holes are longer and flatter -
making for an excellent and challenging round of golf. Senior players are
allowed to play on the fairway with golf carts. However, other players are not
allowed this privilege. As for the golfers, at Canyamel, they comprise a variety
of people of different nationalities with the majority being German.
 The course is open all year round, but
the peak period is between October and May. The club’s facilities are numerous.
Canyamel offers: a double driving range for 40 people, 2 putting greens, a
pitching green, a practice bunker and a fleet of 35 golf carts. Also, golfers
will find in the Club House a restaurant, showers and lockers and, for their
leisure, a lounge with video.
The PGA has classified Canyamel Golf
Course as an ideal course for playing an Open event. Yet, the club as it has
from the beginning caters to all. Canyamel is not a snobbish course. It is a
place where ordinary golfers can enjoy the game amid nature’s beauty. There is
no better description of this beauty than what Pepe Gancedo wrote once the golf
course was finished:
“The marvel of its vegetation, the giant
hundred-year-old palm trees, the fig trees, so dramatic in winter that turn to
joy in summer dressed in Adam and Eve’s clothes, the almonds with their four
seasonal aspects, the pines, the round and perfect strawberry tree at the 15th
hole, the wild olives and their civilised children, the monumental olives, the
three different greens of the long suffering carob trees…”
 Before we departed, when one of our
group complimented the always-smiling Avril Cruz Marsh, Sales Director of
Canyamel Golf, on her attractive personality, her smile broadened, “ That’s why
they call me a Cheshire Cat. Strangely! I come from Cheshire England.”
As we drove away, I remarked, “It must
be easy for her to sell her product. Her seductive club and her personality
combine well together.”
For Further Information, Contact:
Canyamel Golf
Adva. d'Es Cap Vermell,s/n - 07589 Capdepera, Mallorca
Tel: 971 84 13 13 - 971 84 13 27
Fax: 971 84 1314.
E-mail:
casaclub@canyamelgolf.com
Website: http://www.canyamelgolf.com
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