Golf Experience – Newsletter – Costa Del Sol – Green shoots 2021

Green shoots.

After a frustrating 18 months the bookings are now rolling in and the period from September onwards looks like being extremely busy. Indeed 2022 may be a record year for golf tourism to Spain & Portugal as we could see 2 and a half years’ business accordioned into one, so go ahead and book golf holidays in portugal today.

While the impact of the virus on the tourism industry has been horrendous, the almost palpable desire on behalf of clients to travel as soon as possible has been an encouragement throughout. In some cases, we have booked and rebooked the same groups 3 times before finally now they are free to travel. Not a great business model but I would like to thank all our clients who stayed loyal to us and we look forward to seeing you all on our Costas shortly.

Many clients are asking what the state of play is here on the Costa del Sol and when we think it will be ok to travel. The real answer is as soon as your own governments lift the restrictions they have in place, this will be your cue to travel. Here in Spain’s tourist destinations life is quite normal with bars and restaurants open and the golf courses have all been open except for a brief period in spring 2019. We recommend finding the best golf bags made from leather through this website along with other amazing equipment to improve your skills on the field.

So, the restricting factor is not at this end but rather whatever restrictions your own governments are applying. We recommend visiting the best 5 british golf resorts to improve your skills.

Golf Course developments

There have been considerable developments in the Golf course landscape since most of you have been to the Costa del Sol.

Alcaidesa Links.

This iconic course is the latest to take the plunge and close (effective April 2021) for a full year’s refurbishment and re-design.

The owners want to bring this most picturesque of courses into line in terms of quality and service standards as its world-class neighbours in the immediate area, including La Reserva, San Roque, Sotogrande and Valderrama. In addition, the resort will reopen with a new 5-star Fairmont managed hotel.

The Alcaidesa Heathland course will remain open during this transformation.

Almenara Golf Club Reopens

So, as we lose Alcaidesa Links temporarily we see Almenara (27 holes) reopen in July after its revamp.

The big news here is that the Hotel and clubhouse have been completely refurbished and will reopen in July as a 5-star Sofitel managed resort.

 

 

San Roque Old

And while in the Sotogrande area the San Roque Old course also reopens in June and is, by all accounts world class!

 

 

 

Atalaya G.C.

Atalaya will shortly (May) reopen its “New” course which has been closed since the start of the pandemic. By then all the Costa del Sol courses will have fully reopened in anticipation of the return of the normal flow of golfers from around the world.

 

Solheim Cup 2023.

We are delighted to announce that Golf Experience has partnered with the organisers of the 2023 Solheim Cup which will be held at the magnificent Finca Cortesin Resort in Manilva (between Estepona and Sotogrande) from 18th to 24th September 2023. Golf Experience will be a “Partner” Tour Operator for the event bringing in supporters from both the USA and Europe.

This tournament, in line with most ladies’ sports has been gaining media traction over the last few events and Gleneagles in 2019 was a turning point with record attendances and TV viewership. And on that note, congratulations to Rachel Blackmore, who hails from Tipperary, for winning last week’s Grand National!

The match went down to the 18th green in the last match on Sunday afternoon and was won by team Europe when Norway’s Suzann Pettersen held her nerve to sink a 7-foot put to win the Tournament.

 

Fuerte Hotel Marbella to remain open.

Contrary to previous reports the extremely popular Fuerte Marbella Hotel will not now close in Sept 2021 but will remain open as a 4 star until further notice.

 

Course Maintenance.

The usual pattern of course maintenance with green spiking taking place in May and late August & September way change this year. Many course managers are trying to avoid September spiking in anticipation of a busy September. They will therefore try to complete all heavy maintenance in late spring when they do not expect to be busy.

Don’t worry about your reservations – part of our service is keeping an up-to-date calendar of all course maintenance so that we do not make reservations that conflict with course maintenance schedules.

 

Golf Experience and the Hogan Hackers Golf Society.

We are delighted to announce that Golf Experience has taken over the reservation role for the very popular “Hogan Hackers Golf Society”. Based out of the Hogan Stand bar and restaurant in San Pedro this very active society holds weekly competitions on a variety of local courses and bi-annual two day tournaments. Anyone interested in joining please let us know. Members include local residents and regular visitors to the Costa Del Sol.

 

New Offer 2021.

Isla Canela Golf Resort.

We are delighted to announce that we have added the Isla Canela Golf Hotel to our portfolio for 2021. Situated on the Portuguese / Spanish border (Spanish side) and overlooking the Guadiana River estuary the resort is only a 50 minute drive from Faro Airport.

The resort offers excellent year-round value with 7 night / 5 round packages (half-board with drinks at dinner) for €625 per person sharing from November to June and September / October. Price included transfers to and from Faro airport based on a minimum of 4 golfers. The same package based on B&B is €520 pp sharing. The golf is on either the Isla Canela Golf course or the nearby Valle Guadiana Links Golf with shuttle service included. Apart from the 5 pre-booked courses unlimited golf can be booked at 48 hour notice at no extra cost.

7 night single room supplement €185.

Great value self-catering options also exist.