Pula has had quite a rough ride over the last 2 - 3 years. Following the Mallorca Classic in 2005 the management of the course were advised to make a number of changes to the layout. This resulted in large parts of the course being closed for almost a year. The course re-opened briefly in the summer of 2006, only to be closed shortly afterwards as more work needed to be undertaken.
The 2006 Mallorca Classic at Pula produced some surprising results, with many of the players scoring badly. Was this because they didn't expect the course to have been altered as much, and therefore didn't put in as much practice as they should have done, or was the course too difficult?
The 2006 Classic failed to change peoples views about this course. It was an average course, a little over-priced and therefore probably not worth the gamble.
Throughout 2007 the course was again closed. There was a brief time when the course was in a good condition, and the management ran a special offer which included free snacks during the round, but on the whole it was a quite and uneventful year for the course.
The 2007 Mallorca Classic came and went, but in spite of 1 day being rained off the scores were better this year.
One of our friends (Glenn Turner - The World Record Golf Tour holder) played the course in 2006 and again in 2007 and couldn't believe that it had improved so much - his estimation by at least 200%.
The fact that the course has been closed for the main part of two years has meant that there has been quite a flow of staff through the course, but the current manager of the pro-shop, Michael, speaks at least three different languages (English, German & Spanish) and is very helpful.
It is true that the Pro-Shop is dark and un-interesting, and that one of our clients compared the shower facilities to the worst school shower block that he had ever experienced - we believe him, we don't need to check those things out...however the course itself appears to be improving.
We met a group of our clients about to play the course last week, and were asked what we thought of it. It was a good job we were truthful! The course scored a 55% satisfaction rating by our clients in 2007, and was one of the lowest ranked courses on the island. We described it as inconsistent but improving. They knew that already, so our expectations and theirs were on a par.
Since then the clients have returned to the UK, and one of them who is a regular visitor to Mallorca has just switched a forthcoming reservation from anouther course to Pula.
Additionally Pula are following an aggressive marketing campaign through selected agents. Contact either www.simplymallorcagolf.com or www.golf-majorca.co.uk, and you will find that they have some of the biggest discounts available for this course, and many other golf courses in Majorca.
We're not confident enough to say that the course quality will be high for ever, but it is definitely worth the gamble of playing there now.
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