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Pictures (click on an image to see a larger size)
2nd Hole, par 5 - A correctly placed second shot will give you a short
pitch to the pin. It will also open the view of adjacent ruins and
medieval
castle behind the lake.
4th Hole, par 4 - Having successfully negotiated a difficult drive,
the
golfer is faced with this approach shot to the green.
5th Hole, par 3 - A lot of water and more ruins in view on this tee.
9th Hole, par 5 - The green is reachable from here if you can move
the
ball around, to the green hidden behind the trees.
11th Hole, par 3 - You may not believe in ghosts, but if you happen
to
slice your ball into the hazard, you can at least say that the old
Duke may
have put a jinx on your swing.
18th, par 5 - A large two tiered green in front of the nineteenth hole.
Alluring Lakes Golf Club is situated in one of the post-communist
countries. The property was originally owned by Duke Dragomir IV of
Carpatia. This well known rogue fell hopelessly in love with
the game of
golf, while visiting Scotland early this century. It was the turning
point in
his life - abandoning other earthly pleasures, he thereafter spent
all his
time on the golf course he had built on his estate. This is where he
also
met his death of a heart attack, after slicing his ball three times
into the
water hazard off the eleventh tee.
After the second World War and the subsequent communist takeover, the
Government seized the property to convert it into a Cultural Center.
The
Chateau and the Mansion became a home to Government sponsored
poets and writers and while the Marxist literature flourished, the
golf
course languished.
When the totalitarian regime finally came to an end, a consortium of
local
luminaries had bought the land. Their intention was to turn the
dilapidated course into a championship venue. They brought down Jack
Nicklaus as a consultant, but the above mentioned had abruptly
terminated the negotiations and hurriedly left the place, without offering
any explanation. The rumours persist that while sleeping at the Mansion,
Jack was confronted by the ghost of old Duke, who noisily objected
to
any changes being made to his beloved course.
After this blunder, no golf architect of a repute would understandably
touch the job. The consortium had no other choice but to eventually
employ Voyen Koreis, a mid handicap golfer and freelance artist, who
had offered his services. The present Alluring Lakes Version Two is
the
result of his loving labour.
The embittered ghost of old Duke had apparently left the Mansion, to
take
residence within the walls of an old castle on Isle of the Damned,
on the
lake behind the eleventh green. Some golfers swear that they have seen
a
shadowy figure lurking around the tee area, others insist that their
sliced
tee shot on the same hole was somehow invoked by this discarnate entity!
