Major champion Louis Oosthuizen is co-designer of La Reserve Golf Links, the Indian Ocean’s only contemporary links experience, scheduled to open next year. As the new course comes to life, Louis offers his thoughts on this very special project so close to his heart.
My inspiration
I have a genuine passion for links golf and the way in which you have to strategically work your way around a golf course using a multitude of different shots.
Links golf challenges your mind, and your game.
It requires precision, creativity and patience but above all else, it’s the purest form of golf with nature consistently shaping the course you play. That makes it very special to me.
I love playing this type of golf and that is why La Reserve Golf Links is such a wonderful project to be at the heart of.
My love of links, the purest form of golf, will be experienced on every hole at La Reserve.
Golf aficionados looking for a links-style challenge with a difference will be captivated. It is going to be one of the world’s stand-out new golf courses, and I can’t wait to be one of the first to play it.
The experience
The thing that strikes you when you arrive at La Reserve Golf Links is the site itself. It’s truly spectacular.
The course sits beneath lush, nature-rich hillsides, running alongside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and slowly meanders its way from a dramatic first tee, with panoramic Indian Ocean vistas, down towards the coast.
It is going to be dramatic, it will be different and quite unique.
It’s a golf course where you will remember every hole you play, all framed by a link-style landscape of native grasses and a host of standout features including split fairways, shared greens, and even a pot bunker centrally located in the middle of one putting surface.
It’s designed to be strategically challenging, inspired by the old links courses of Scotland, the Home of Golf, but also great fun.
And golfers will definitely need to think very carefully to ensure success, and they will need to use every club in the bag, that’s a promise!
This is not a golf course where you will simply blast a driver off every Par 4 and Par 5 to a huge landing area, and then simply fire a short iron into a non-descript green for a birdie chance.
La Reserve will be a captivating sporting experience that rewards the brave and punishes the foolish. It will be unashamedly challenging.
There is also an emphasis given to playing the ball along the ground around our greens. It is how links golf was meant to be played.
Every hole will have a character of its own and shot-makers and lovers of the game are going to find it a terrific and fun experience, against a backdrop of tropical bays, sandy beaches and the ocean.
We have put a strong emphasis on our green complexes. Bunkers take inspiration from the great links courses of the world, there are rivetted pot bunkers aplenty, and there are many tightly-mown run off areas to catch errant short irons or wayward pitches.
Accuracy will be key from every tee, with fast-running landing areas and in-play sand traps lying in wait. Drama continues on our greens where bold breaks and subtle contours marry perfectly to test even the most proficient of putters.
The ultimate challenge
I wanted to create something very special for accomplished players that are keen to enjoy the ultimate La Reserve experience. Tackling the golf course from our back tees will not be for the faint-hearted.
We call them our ‘Louis Tees’ and they represent a championship test of the highest calibre, that you will never forget. They set you up for the ultimate round of golf, it’s an incredible challenge playing from the tips.
Visiting Tour Professionals will also experience the very same when the course hosts the AfrAsia Mauritius Open in 2023.
Our Golfers
I want Heritage Resort guests and our members to feel like they have experienced something very special when they play La Reserve Golf Links for the first time.
True links lovers may have chosen to walk our fairways to embrace every step of the way, but it will be equally fun to take a buggy in the heat of the day.
My hope is that guests come away from the 18th green truly inspired by the experience and the drama.
I’m confident La Reserve Golf Links will be the new standout golf course in the Indian Ocean, significantly adding to the reputation of Mauritius as a luxury global golf destination.
READ MORE: Why I Love Links Golf, by Louis Oosthuizen