Laguna Landing

The back-nine heads back inland and is every bit as memorable. The 10th calls for an aggressive drive over a sand hill to leave an approach to a stream-fronted green, while the bunkerless 11th is a short yet potentially lethal par-3 with a narrow putting surface that is protected by giant boulders on two sides. The fun continues throughout, reaching a crescendo at the 16th, with its plateau green and sharp fall-off, the 17th, where the ideal drive must challenge the out-of-bounds down the right, and the mighty par-5 closing hole, where sandy splashes punctuate the landing areas and green complex.

Call me old-fashioned but it's refreshing to note that Laguna Lang Co, even from the back tees, measures less than 7,000 yards and plays to a par of 71. Having been fed on what feels like a never-ending diet of lengthy "championship" tracks, all with a standard par of 72, across the border in mainland China, playing a brand-new (indeed, yet-to-be-opened) course that has been designed for the able amateur, rather than the mega-hitting tour pro, is a joy. It's not that distance isn't rewarded – certainly the longer player will, as is right, hold the advantage at the 15th and 18th, the two longest holes on the course – but that isn't the only way to play here. Strategic acumen over the bomb and gouge approach can prevail. Once the course has fully grown in and the final sculpting of the bunkers is complete, Laguna Lang Co, if its owners ever felt the need, could easily host elite tournament play. One thinks that the wind that rips in off the ocean and swirls around the property, combined with the course's fast-running and contoured greens would combat any really low scoring.

Faldo has done what every architect sets out to do but precious few really achieve – produce a world-class course that can be enjoyed by all but still presents a challenge to those in the very top echelons of the game.