Do the golf gods live in Cyprus?

Translated by AI

In Cyprus, with Aphrodite’s help, we can indulge our love of golf. They don’t have many courses, but enough to entertain those of us who don’t need a new course every day.

Cyprus is known as the home of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. But she’s not alone. In recent years she has been joined by a golf god or two. No, I’m not talking about Sir Nick Faldo, although many would say he wouldn’t mind (and perhaps believes he already has) a kind of godlike status in the golf world.

I’m talking about the golf gods we thank every time we stand on a green fairway looking out over a blue sea, whatever the weather back home in our little corner at the top of Europe.

And in recent years Cyprus has made a good start on becoming a fully fledged golf destination. OK, it’s not exactly Belek, with only four courses on the Greek Cypriot side. But the island still has enough courses for a week’s vacation to include one course of very high quality, a fun and beautiful resort course, and a couple of more ordinary courses for variety.

Golf in Cyprus

The four courses are Eléa (eleaestate.com), which opened in 2010, Cabell Robinson’s Aphrodite Hills (aphroditehills.com), and finally Secret Valley and Minthis Hills.

Let’s be clear from the start: golf in Cyprus isn’t for everyone. If you’re looking for a place with lots of different courses, where you can play a new championship course every day, you won’t feel you’ve arrived in golf heaven in Cyprus.

But not all golfers are alike. Some don’t play every day on vacation, while others are happy to play one world-class course several times during a trip. And there’s something relaxingly genuine about a vacation in Cyprus, where there actually are local Cypriots wherever you go.

When can we play Cyprus again?

There’s no doubt that Faldo’s Eléa (6,194 meters, or 6,774 yards, from the black tees) is the best Cyprus has to offer. Most golfers will feel they’ve left unfinished business if they play Eléa only once. Faldo has created a course full of strategic choices, and as you walk off the 18th green it’s easy to glance longingly back at the first tee.

What kind of course is Eléa? It doesn’t really qualify as a links, although some elements have a links feel. Nor is Eléa a parkland or a seaside course.

“Eléa is just Eléa. You can’t put it in a box,” says director of golf Ross Robertson.

Already on the first green it’s obvious there will be a handful of three-putts during the round. The greens are both fast and undulating. Some of the most memorable holes are the 9th (a relatively short par five), where you have several options as you try to reach a green guarded by water, and the 17th, called “Bobby Jones,” which is simply unforgettable. It’s a par four for men but a par five for women. The second shot looks impossibly long, over a sea of rough. In reality it’s something of an optical illusion, and those who get it wrong on their first round at Eléa often want another crack at this hole.

Meze

But before round number two, we seek out one of the many cozy meze restaurants in Paphos, where you can drown your sorrows in Cypriot wine. Paphos is a charming town, and you’ll find small restaurants serving food the true Cypriot way: the waiters bring small dishes in a steady stream until everyone is full and then some. Even restaurants serving Asian, Mexican or other cuisines get the Cypriot treatment, with everything served as one small dish after another.

Eléa works with the Amathus Beach Hotel (amathus-hotels.com/paphos), which offers packages including accommodation and green fees.

The gods must be crazy

“If the gods played golf, this would be their temple.” That’s the slogan of Aphrodite Hills, half an hour’s drive from Paphos, not far from the famous Aphrodite’s Rock. But how do we know the gods DON’T play golf?

Aphrodite’s Rock is said to help a childless woman become pregnant if she swims around it. Nothing is said about what you have to do to get the gods’ help in sinking a putt, but it surely can’t hurt to walk around the golf cart a couple of times before the round.

Cabell Robinson designed Aphrodite Hills (6,299 meters, or 6,889 yards) 20 years ago, a course played on both sides of a deep ravine. Because of the terrain, carts are mandatory, since on several holes it’s a long (and often steep) way up or down to the next tee. Aphrodite Hills has now also started building a second course.

Aphrodite Hills is a fun challenge for a day in a golf cart, and even if many of us would rather walk a golf course, all the driving pays off when you look out over the Mediterranean from the 8th green.

The 7th is the signature hole, a nerve-racking par three over a deep ravine. If the drive down the narrow, steep path to the 7th tee doesn’t get your pulse racing, the tee shot over the ravine may well play tricks on your nerves. The hole is 210 meters (230 yards) from the back tee and 128 meters (140 yards) from the yellow. Women are encouraged to play it from the blue tee (94 meters, or 103 yards), which is still on the far side of the ravine. Few will find it much fun to drive all the way up to the red tee, where all the danger has vanished and you get away with a 75-meter (82-yard) tee shot to the middle of the green.

When you land safely on this green, you can truly thank the golf gods.

This article by Kaia Means was originally published in Norwegian on our sister site Golfjournalen.no. It has been translated by AI.