NetJets US Autumn 2023

“
José
The Olympic Course is more polished in style and
full of spectacular vistas across the Bay of Navarino,
while the Hills Course offers more of a rural feel.
María Olazábal, course designer
HIGH LIFE
Costa Navarino’s
Hills Course.
JACOB SJÖMAN
either fly their second shots over a meandering rock-lined
ditch that crosses the fairway short of the green or to lay up.
For its part, the par-72, 6,836-yard Hills Course, is no
pushover. Far from it. Playing through mature mountainside
vegetation (think garrigue shrubland, autochthonous trees,
ancient rock walls, and sheer ravines that carve deep into
the Kinigou Hills), the course features large green complexes,
with tightly mown rollaway areas inset by bunkers surrounded
by spongey Bermuda grass overseeded with rye that are
a challenge for even single-figure handicaps. The putting
surfaces are equally devilish and boast significant contouring
and subtle breaks that often require a second look.
Five tee locations on each hole (one less than on the Olympic
Course) enable all skill levels and age groups to both enjoy the
round and to challenge themselves. Case in point the 4th: The
first of four par-5s, this tricky 517-yard long specimen requires
precision from a semi-blind tee shot that leads to a wide but
shallow green that is positioned perpendicular to the line of
play and perfectly framed by long views.
The experience, which is rustic, playing sometimes around
ancient rocky farming boundary walls, offers a good balance
and variety, from doglegs to uphill and downhill holes, long
par-5s, short par-4s and challenging par-3s. The 8th is a
perfect example: A demanding 432-yard par-4 with fairway
that is beyond a wooded canyon—find it and you’ll have a long
iron approach into a green that slopes from front left to back
right. The 9th is another downhiller with a split fairway short
of the green while the 557-yard 11th is a brutal, gently sloping
uphill par-5 with a ravine cutting into the fairway on the left
and a lone tree that protects the right—the second shot is
challenged by shallow bunkers.
The challenges aren’t limited to the two courses. Should your
game need a post-round tune-up, there is an expansive golf
academy on-site that rivals anything on Tour. Most 36-a-daytypes,
however, will head back to their quarters and, having
had a dip in their own pool or one of the many beach clubs,
decide which of the more than 30 dining venues they will avail
for dinner and postprandials.
The resort writ large also includes a Mouratoglou Tennis
Center, an NBA Basketball School, opportunities for myriad of
other sporting activities, and several public open spaces or, in
ancient Greek, agora, where restaurants and bars complement
boutiques, piazzas, and the like. Add the tasteful addition of
the waterside Mandarin Oriental and the buzzy allure of the W
hotel, complete with its chillout DJ, and golfers as well as other
holidaymakers won’t be short of options: After all, that’s one of
Costa Navarino’s major draws.
NetJets
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