I played the course yesterday, and will be playing again tomorrow. I'll only report on the course as the clubhouse is a separate issue. Although there is a nice little proshop there run by Victoria.
First of all the negatives. The fairways are a bit patchy, and there are a number of bare patches in the rough. However this is why it is not open to the general public yet, which probably won't happen until later in the year. No problems to us owners though as it is free until at least July for us. Hire of a buggy is €20, and a trolley is €5. In short, it is not quite ready for the public but is very playable. Personally I don't think it should be publically available yet in case the patch areas give an initial bad impression which might be hard to change.
I remember playing Roda when it first opened about 3 years ago, and it was very similar in that it was also patchy etc, but now the fairways and greens there are superb, probably the best I've played in Spain.
Now the positives. I think it is a beautiful course. No disrepect to Roda which I think is a tremendous course, but I prefer the layout of Corvera. I played off the white stakes, which are about 6100 meters (approx 6800 yards). It doesn't play that long as you get great run on the balls.
As I said, the fairways/rough need to settle/thicken a bit, and as a result you can get a few patchy lies. But I thought the greens were top class. The course is a mix of long and short par 4s, nice par 3s and par 5s that are may or may not be on in 2 depending on the wind. There are 6 tees, which give a varying degree of difficulty depending on the player from long (Championship tees which were not out yesterday) to quite short.
Going through the course, the first is a straightforward (albeit tight enough) Par 4 opener before the second - a good par 3 of about 200 yards. The third is another par 4 which played very short as there was a big tailwind. You then cross the road into the centre lakes area. The 4th, 5th and sixth and fantastic holes around the lakes. The 6th (index 1) is particularly good, especially with the pin at the left hand side yesterday just over the water. Takes a brave second shot to have a go at it like that. You then cross the road again and play 7, 8 and 9, which fairly much go the opposite to 1,2,3. 7 is a good par 5, playing long yesterday as it was straight into the wind. 8 is an innocuous short par 3 - probably the least exciting hole on the course, and the 9th is a nice short par 4 which is on for a good drive if the wind is right.
Onto the back 9, the 10th is also a short par 4, albeit the dog leg and trees on the right come into play. The 11th is probably the best hole on the course. A beautiful par 5 with the lake the whole way up the right. A little hint, don't drive off the tee as I went straight into the lake, unless you are sure you can keep it left off the tee on a tight fairway. 12 and 13 are nice par 4s running opposite each other near the entrance to the resort - 12 is the index 2 and played very long and 13 is on for a big drive (again with a nice big wind behind). 14 is a nice par 5, not too long but plays uphill. 15 is a good par 3 of about 200 yards, with a nasty bunker on the right that very unsportingly plugged my tee shot. By the way, the bunkers have lovely white sand, but the ball can sink into them. 16 is a very good par 4. Not particularly on the eye maybe, but long and uphill - certainly into the wind anyway! 17 is another long par 3 which again was straight into the wind, before the 18th. It is a very nice finishing hole, but again like the 11th I'd advise caution off the tee as I drove into the hazard as the ball runs quite a lot because of the slope. If I had one disappointment, the area around the 18th green is possibly the most patchy on the course.
There is a local pro circuit in Murcia, and they gave the course a test run. After playing it they immediately dropped one of their courses for next year and have added Corvera. I take that as a huge positive. Also, I was in LA Golf in Los Alcazares where I was talking to the owner (Chris from Arizona - who used to be one of the club pros in Killarney where they are holding the Irish Open this year). Chris has played it a few times and really likes it, and has been trying to get a society out here to play it. By the way, I bought my son a junior set of clubs in LA Golf for €71, which were €180 in US Golf in the Nueva Condiminia.
In short, I loved it. And as a golfer, and with no disrespect meant to the people wanting a hotel, I believe the most important part of the resort is the course (plus the clubhouse which as I said is a separate issue and by all accounts may not be ready until the end of the year). We wemt to Roda for our lunch the other day, and the clubhouse is buzzing with people and the course is jam packed. It really has come on tremendously.
I'll give a review on the general Corvera resort and area when I get home, but I am having a wonderful time here in my apartment overlooking the 6th hole, beautifully furnished (thanks to Moira in superiorinteriors), and with a mix of nice and warm and cold and windy weather.