Golf Experience would like to wish all our clients and their families a happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous 2007. We look forward to seeing you all back again on the Costa del Sol in the near future.
Cheaper Golf
The good news is that golf course directors have finally sat up and taken note of what has been obvious for some time – that they were pricing themselves out of the market. Perhaps it’s pride, or perhaps for legitimate marketing reasons , clubs may not want to appear to slash their prices but they are reintroducing value in other ways. A myriad of offers are now available to the Golf Tour Operators who should pass these on in the form of competitive packages.
The increase in quality new courses in the last 24 months has also been a driveing force in the trend to put downward pressure on prices. These include:
Santana Golf & Country Club
El Chaparral
Calanova Golf Club
La Cala Europa
Doña Julia Golf & Country Club
Sotogrande La Reserva
San Roque New
New courses opening soon.
An additional 18 holes (par 73) at Flamingos (Villa Padierna Golf)
An additional 18 holes at Alcaidesa
Finca El Cortesin Golf Club between Estepona and Casares (opening 2006)
Vale Romano Golf Course near Estepona Golf Club designed by Cabell Robinson (opening 2007)
Costa del Golf moves South.
With the development of the many new courses along the Costa del Sol it is fair to say that its centre of gravity is moving away from the Fuengirola / Mijas area down towards Estepona. This is just an observation which “trip planners” might take into account when deciding on locations for their group’s accommodation.
A couple of new hotels have opened in the Estepona area which is fast becoming a good alternative location with a lively port / marina and a fine cluster of courses within a 15 minute drive. The Estepona Palace on the town’s outskirts will now open all year round.
La Duquesa Golf Hotel.
The doors are soon to open at the totally renovated La Duquesa Golf Hotel situated between Estepona and Sotogrande. This is a great location for all types of golfers. The nearby port provides ample nightlife and it is within 15 minutes of the Sotogrande cluster of courses and has another 3 courses on its doorstep including the on-site La Duquesa course.
Club de Golf Finca Cortesín (Estepona)
This soon to open, Cabell Robinson designed ( La Reserva & Santana fame) is set to become a serious option for the discerning golfer. At nearly 7,000 meters it will be one of the longest courses in Europe. It is situated just south of Estepona before Estepona Golf Club.
Finca Cortesín will also boast a Jack Nicklaus Academy.
A welcome feature of the course will be its wide fairways and variety tee-boxes 40 meters in front of the championship tees. High Season green-fees will be €89.
Sounds good, but we will withhold judgement until we receive the invite to play it!
Calanova Golf Club
Located on the road between Cala de Mijas and La Cala this is an 18-hole, par 72, 5.866 metre long course.
The Greens have an average area above 500 sqm, which for those of you who don’t measure greens, is big!. Players will find them very exciting due to an extraordinary shaping work. This characteristic will allow a lot of pin positions, from the very simple to the most difficult ones.
There are a variety of fairway layouts . All of them are wide in the ball drop areas and clear, so that the player can see the obstacles before hitting the ball.
The Tees are spread in different platforms, providing the players the possibility of playing the course with a huge variety of distances. This number of platforms will ensure the excellent condition of tee-boxes throughout the year. From every single tee, players can visualise the shot which makes the flight of the ball spectacular.
There are extraordinary landscape views, including sea and La Cala de Mijas Mountains, in nearly every hole.
At the moment Calanova Golf Club has a 300 sqm temporary club house where you can find a pro shop, changing rooms with showers, reception and a restaurant with spectacular sea views from the terrace.
High season prices at €70 including a shared buggy are “reasonable”.
San Roque New comes of age
With the successful hosting of the Spanish Open earlier this year, the New course at San Roque has put all its teething problems behind it. The complete reseeding of greens and tee-boxes means that the unsightly brown greens during high season will be a thing of the past. In addition, the powers to be have seen fit to drop prices considerably making it very affordable – the high-season price is €89 down from a pre-open price of €135! Sense is beginning to prevail.
La Cala Rebranding.
Those of you who are familiar with La Cala North and South will have to learn their new names as follows:
- North becomes “America Course”
- South becomes “Asia Course”
- And the new Europe course stays unchanged!
Malaga Airport Chaos.
The chaos accompanying the rebuilding of Malaga Airport continues and will not let up until at least the autumn. Golf Experience clients can still avoid this with the excellent service (meet & greet) provided by Espacar whose depot at the entrance to the airport is a convenient drop off point when the car-park is closed, which is nearly always.
From time to time we get requests for packages for a variety of sports holidays in Andalucia ranging from skiing to tennis.
Apart from Golf, the Costa del Sol is probably one of the world’s finest year-round tennis destinations. Golf Experience has, in collaboration with Bel Air Tennis Club joined forced to offer a range of tennis packages to clients from Northern Europe.
Bel Air Tennis Club is one of the longest established clubs on the Costa having been founded in 1974. Managed by recently retired ATP Professional Sergio Gómez-Barrio Checa and his team of multi-lingual coaches, the club is renowned for its welcoming and friendly atmosphere where the ethos is one of player development and inclusiveness. Visitors are made to feel welcome in what is a very busy and cosmopolitan club environment.
The Club is set in an ideal location between Puerto Banus and Estepona near El Paraiso.
Packages include:
Accommodation (if required), from self-catering to 5 star hotel.
Transport (Self-drive or transfers)
Tennis:
Coaching
Court Rental
Tournaments organised for your group
Tournaments with Club members
Introduction to Paddle tennis (great fun alternative)
Other:
Excursions
So if you or any of your friends are involved in tennis and would consider a group tennis holiday on the Costa del Sol please contact us and we will be delighted to make you a proposal.