Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Granada Golf Club is the newest 18-hole course built in Hot Springs Village. Opening in 2004, the course sits on a piece of land that offers dramatic elevation changes, which are evident from the first hole. We rank it the best golf course in HSV and one of the best golf courses you can play in Arkansas.
Granada ranks number 2 on Natural State Golf’s ranking of the best public golf courses in Arkansas.
Click here to view Natural State Golf’s ranking of the best public golf courses in Arkansas
The first hole is a medium-length par 5 that drops steeply down the hill to the landing area. The right side of the fairway provides a bank to funnel any tee shots lost to the right back to the fairway. The second shot leads the player dramatically back up the hill to a blind green site. The downhill opening tee shot is the first of several the player will face, including holes 4, 7, 10, 15, and 16. Approach shots playing up the hill to green sites is another common theme, as holes 1, 7, 12, 15, and 18 all follow suit.
Yardage and Tee Options:
The golf course stretches out to just over 7000 yards from the back tees. There are five sets of tees to choose from, with the shortest being the golds at around 5000 yards. Hot Springs Village has also recently added a set of kids or beginners tees that are much shorter and generally start in the fairway.
Favorite Golf Holes at Granada Golf Club
Number 4 offers one of the best views in HSV from the tee. The tee shot heads dramatically down the hill and on a dry day the pond next to the green can be in play as the ball will keep rolling down the hill and feeding toward the water. The green is close to 50 yards deep and a back pin presents a real challenge, as the green really narrows and there is a penalty area left and long of the green.
Number 11 is a par 3 that can play differently based on where the tees are placed since there are three options that drastically change the angle of approach into the green. The leftmost tee narrows the approach to the green while the rightmost tee widens the green. While the water is in play on the right and behind the green, the hill to the left of the green often creates difficulty for players who miss the green on that side because the green slopes away from the hill.
Number 17 is a challenging hole where the left side of the fairway is not visible from the tee, which produces the allusion that the fairway is tighter than it is. The green presents the greatest challenge on the hole as the right side of the green falls off drastically and the ball can run down into a hazard on a dry day. The length of the hole makes the green even more challenging since most players will have a longer club in hand for their approach to this challenging green. The player cannot just bail to the left of the green however because then the player will have the challenging task of stopping their shot on the green that is running way from them to the dropoff mentioned earlier. Par feels like a great accomplishment on this hole.
Possible improvements to Granada Golf Club:
The par 5’s on the back could be more interesting with the removal of a few trees. Number 12 is a quirky hole that requires the player to hit back and forth over the ravine if they lay up. The problem is that there is not a reasonable opportunity for most players to even attempt going for the green in two. To go for the green in two the player much either hit a tee shot to the left of the ravine but into an area less than ten yards wide to not have to hit a sweeping draw around the trees on the left side of the hole. Removing a few rows of trees would allow more opportunities for players to go for the green while still requiring them to execute a precise shot with a longer club.
Number 15 could also be improved by removing the trees in front of the green. The approach to the green is difficult enough because of the elevated, thin green. Most amateurs are going to be challenged enough trying to hit a fairway wood or hybrid high enough to account for the elevated green, but find taking on the trees in front of the green too is almost impossible.
Links:
HSV website for Granada https://www.explorethevillage.com/granada-golf-club