I recently had the pleasure of a sponsored round at Randpark Golf Club for a Rotary golf day. I was really impressed with the main buildings as well as the hotel, which of course is where the Brazilian team stayed during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The golf course was in a very good condition, with beautiful fairways and greens which I thought were fairly true. The bunkers were likewise in a good condition, but what really horrified me were the practice facilities. The practice facilities seem to be about 30 years older than the rest of the development and apart from just looking old, and to be honest, rundown, the mats on which you are forced to hit were also of poor quality. Most top golf courses of course allow you to practice off grass before your round, so it is bad enough that one had to use mats here in the first place, but far worse that they were in a terrible condition. I can only assume that the practice range is privately owned and obviously not profitable enough to justify expensive renovations, but it really does drag down the rest of what is otherwise a fine golf club.