Golf in Spain

Iceman78

Just booked a golf trip to spain for june next year and we have 5 rounds booked for the week that we are away.

Staying down around marbella for the week and I would just be interested in any comments people would have on the 5 courses that are included in the deal. I have been told that we can get other courses if we would prefer.

The 5 that have been included at the moment are as follows:
Los Naranjos
Rio Real
El Paraiso
Santa Maria
Los Arqueros

ozymandias10

los Arqueros is a fine track very enjoyable......plenty to do in Marbella enjoy the golf and the sun, sea and sangria......

head to a little village up the mountains from Marbella called Benahavis...great bars tapas good restaurants off the tourist trail..great value and a real taste of southern spain

Marbella Club hotelgolf resort.....expensive but worth a visit..ring them as they might take ye on a given day..lady in pro shop used to work in ireland and has a soft spot for paddies might get ye a tee time

Monte Mayor Golf Club...excellent track....

Kopy

Try La Cala also,it has 3 courses and does great deals.
A real treat is Torrequebrada in Benalmadena a bit expensive but worth it !
they do a special which they don't advertise,if you book it to play after 4 pm they charge € 60 and you would easily get 18 holes in.

AldilaMan

I've played a good few tracks around Marbella and we nearly always stay in an apartment overlooking Los Arqueros. This is a great track but bring plenty of balls. Acccuracy off the tee is paramount so it amazes me to think it was designed by Seve Ballesteros. Rio Real is a fine track also but if you're hiring buggies you must stay on the buggy path and with very wide fairways you can have a long walk with 3 clubs in your hand.Most couses in spain allow 90 degrees onto the fairway but not here. Dont know too much about the other 3. One of my favourites is Marbella Club golf resort (dont mix this up with Marbella golf club). Its up in the mountains near Monte Mayor. It's a private club and very expensive but you could get good deals on spec and being June it's low season for Golf. This year I played a couple of new courses which I thought were excellent - El Chaperral (fast greens) and Mijas - Los Olivos - what I would call a great recreational track. You don't want the golf course to be too dificult if you're having a few beers away. Also Santana is another lovely track or of the La Cala trio probably the American course. Buggies are a must for all spanish courses but particularly in June. Bring plenty of suncream and enjoy it however you play.

Aldilaman

yaboya1

Played Rio Real a long time ago.
Don't remember an awful lot about the course except that it was a great track and probably the best of the 3 different courses we played that week.

Dero123

With echo the comment about Torrequebrada - great course fantastic little par 3 of about 90 yards on it that will wreck your head

Another one worth considerng wouldl be Parador de Malaga which is the course you fly over as you come into Malaga. It hosted European Tour event won by Oostheizen back in March

d2ww

Can't agree with Dero123 on Parador, it's quite a dull course. I would suggest Almenara down near Sotogrande, a lovely course with a good variety of holes. El Paraiso is good if you're a bit loose off the tee.

thewobbler

Avoid Chapparel. It's a gimmick course and mostly unpleasant.

Mijas Olivos is a decent track, but if you're going the whole way to Spain, you should treat yourself to better.

La Cala x3 is pretty good.

Bobby_Kennedy

I played Santa Maria back in 2002 and it was one of the weakest courses we played at the time. We were staying in Calahonda and played 5 or 6 courses around the area including La Cala, Alhuiran, Capobinio and a few others I can't remember the names of. We played two of the courses in La Cala and were impressed.

As far as I can remember Santa Maris had very tight fairways with houses/apartments on either side.

Out of interest, what kind of green fees are you paying. Looking to go for a sun golf holiday next April or May and trying to find the best value.

padywhack

Iceman78 wrote: »

Just booked a golf trip to spain for june next year and we have 5 rounds booked for the week that we are away.

Staying down around marbella for the week and I would just be interested in any comments people would have on the 5 courses that are included in the deal. I have been told that we can get other courses if we would prefer.

The 5 that have been included at the moment are as follows:
Los Naranjos
Rio Real
El Paraiso
Santa Maria
Los Arqueros

Los Naranjos is a pretty good course, although when we played there recently the greens were poor and we got no satisfaction when mentioned at the pro shop or in a subsequent email (no reply to the email). Pricey for the condition of the course.

Rio Real is a good track, couple of silly holes, but still good.

Los Arqueros is tight, very tight, so if you plan on losing balls, this is the place to play. Not the greatest and laid out of courses. Let this one out of you plans.

Try, 1) Santana and 2) Vale Romano.

Santana is a cracking course and well worth a visit. It's fair, challenging and very enjoyable

Valle Romano is just opened, played there last month and is a great challenge. Definitely pencilled in for our next visit.

Iceman78

Cheers for all the comments and ideas about other courses.

Have played most of the ones mentioned already as been over a few times.

Thinking of trying to play Santana instead of one of the courses that we have at the moment. I definitely want to play Los Naranjos and Rio Real but would anyone have any recommendations on one to drop from the 5 that i posted in my original mail.

The trip without flights is costing just over 500 euro for apt in puerto banus for the week with 5 games of golf(buggies included) and a rental car for the week.

AldilaMan

Drop Los Arqueros. I play it every year because we stay in an apartment on the course. While I love the challenge every time - the course always wins and takes a number of my balls with it. Cheap ultras are the order of the day here so keep your Pro V1's for the more open courses like Rio Real and Santana.

Iceman78

Thanks for input aldila.

If the course is a good challenge, i would like to play it though as it makes things more interesting playing courses where you can lose a few balls rather than open courses every day.

I play off 5 so i dont mind a tight enough course so im hoping it will ruin some other cards though!!

Dublin Spur

I've played a few down there. my favourites would be

1. Torrequebrada
2. Monte Mayor
3. Atalaya (Old)
4. Los Naranjos
5. Atalaya (New)

Monte Mayor is a real hidden gem

davo10

Played most of courses there, Santana is one of my favourites but for the challenge Monte Mayor is hard to beat, not for the feint hearted though, you cannot walk this course and accuracy off the tee is a must.

243Xpress

San Roque down near Gibralter.Bit of a drive from Purto Banus but Quality.Played there 2years ago and loved it.