On the official website of Golf Costa Adeje, where the European Tour begins a two-week stint with the Tenerife Open, you can watch a live webcam which overlooks the 18th green. It's not quite , nevertheless it allows for a distant glimpse into the preparation which goes on at a professional golf tournament, before the sharper focus of television cameras arrives.
But does it also offer a glimpse into the future? Should the palm trees which have been bent over sideways send us off in a certain direction, clinging to the promise of 'carnage', the word one player chose to describe conditions on Monday?
If it does, and the strong wind holds, then Golf Costa Adeje may yet provide a genuine test. If it does not — and the forecast says it will drop considerably — then the 22-under-par winning score from the Open de Espana played here in 2003 may be short of what's required now, 18 years later, even though the par has been reduced by a single stroke to 71.
Canter has grown into the player he was always meant to be since last summer, contending on several occasions including in a high-class DP World Tour Championship where he played in the final group on Sunday. Along the way he demonstrated that he's among the finest drivers of a ball you'll see, and when the putter behaves he's a seriously dangerous player.
Low-scoring conditions, the like of which he took advantage of with a 12-under opening round in Italy before losing out by a single stroke, are ideal, and while I would be a little worried by anything approaching strong winds, if the forecast is correct he should have everything in his favour.
Like Canter, he was a regular contender under low-scoring conditions last summer, producing some exceptional putting numbers along the way which, married with his long driving, made for a serious combination. It's that ability to light up the greens which suggests we needn't read too much into last week's effort, as he sat 15th through 54 holes but couldn't get the putts to drop and backtracked on Sunday.
Seventh in birdie average among this field last season, Burmester's ability to take apart the longer holes is underlined by the fact he also ranked third in par-five scoring, and having struck the ball really well in Gran Canaria he looks to be a good week on the greens away from contending again.
His form in Portugal and the Middle East should correlate nicely and he looks a good each-way option in the expectation that he makes a heck of a lot of birdies, and perhaps the odd eagle. The last player to win here made five of them and still only edged it in a play-off, underlining what we should expect.
Lombard caught the eye a fortnight ago in Austria, but with the strokes-gained data there not at all reliable, I wanted to see more before chancing him. Then, in Gran Canaria, he produced another performance of equal encouragement, and it's two weeks running now he's been right on the fringes at halfway.
Perhaps not surprisingly to anyone who has followed the career of this big but wayward talent, Lombard stumbled at the weekend and his driving remains a major concern. However, I return to that Schwartzel line for encouragement: "Generally speaking I didn't play very well. I didn't drive very well and missed a lot of fairways. But you can get away with it on this course."
If Lombard can avoid those off-the-tee errors which can ruin scorecards, the rest of his game looks in good shape. He in fact led the field in approach play in Gran Canaria, putted really well in Austria, and he's returned to the circuit following his wedding in April with something of a spring in his step.
"Love the way the game feels again!" was his takeaway last week, and as a former runner-up in Sicily who has two top-10s in the Irish Open and was once runner-up in the Amateur Championship at Portrush, coastal golf has long appeared to be right up his street, not least because he has a bullet two-iron in his arsenal.
Seeing Higgo storm to success can only spur on a South African player who emerged on the scene with equal fanfare, and he's another whose birdie average stats last year (14th among this field) further highlight the potential for some low scoring.
Lombard has always had that in him, and if he can avoid the big numbers then a title bid is well within his capabilities.
Also second in Mauritius and fourth in Qatar, to go with a near-miss at Green Eagle in Germany where there are also five par-fives to go at, conditions look set to be ideal and I like his pedigree in what's a weak event.
It might also be worth noting that when he produced a similar display in last summer's Austrian Open, he won on his next start a fortnight later, and it's just possible history repeats in time for his title defence at the Belfry.
Again, those birdie average stats are considered important, Paratore ranking 13th overall and fourth among this field last year, and with the course thoroughly exposed should the weather turn I'd rather chance a classy player whose form is up-and-down and be compensated by a big price.
Mansell simply looks a player of enormous potential to me and his long-game has been particularly impressive, enough to rank 18th and sixth off the tee over the last fortnight, and 20th and 19th with his approach shots. Again that first set of figures comes with an asterisk but having watched plenty of him in Austria, there's no doubt he was hitting it well and missed a number of good chances.
Putting has been a problem, but he could pick up cheap birdies without making much around here and if a breeze does arrive to make things tougher, the way he's striking the ball can only be a positive.
Second in the Challenge de Espana in November before a bright start in the Grand Final, I am adamant that he's one of the best young players around and chances are he's going off at much shorter prices come the end of the season. That might not be worth much, but for now it's very much worth speculating.
One of the best putters in the field, Caldwell improved markedly for easier conditions last week, making 21 birdies and very few mistakes on his way to a decent share of 21st.
Last year, he followed something similar with back-to-back top-10 finishes in shootouts at Fairmont St Andrews and in Italy, a lucrative fortnight powered by the putter, and it wouldn't surprise me were he to do something similar if Golf Costa Adeje plays as expected.
As with all my selections, there's some wind insurance there and Caldwell, a former Walker Cup partner of friend and compatriot Rory McIlroy, is worth a small bet in the hope he lights up the greens as we know he can.
Posted at 2000 BST on 26/04/21
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