News and Views from the sunny Costa Del Sol Golf

The end of another interesting year in the Golf Industry on the Costa del Sol. All things considered the sector had a very successful season helped by ideal weather conditions.

In fact the only refunded green-fees since April 2013 due to bad weather was as a result of the storm that belted the UK and Ireland early in the year resulting in cancelled flights!
The little rain we did get came at a very opportune time and some green-keepers have decided to forgo maintenance work for September.

FC Barcelona & Malaga FC matches & golf

For groups of Golfers staying either in Barcelona / Girona or the Costa del Sol areas who are interested in seeing La Liga games featuring Barcelona or Malaga FC, we can arrange match tickets if given enough advance notice. However, note that matches tend to be played late on Sunday evenings.

Hats off to Miguel Ángel Jiménez for winning the 2014 Spanish Open at the PGA Catalunya course in Girona. Rumour has it that the course is positioning itself to bid for a really big international Golf Tournament in 2022! No marks for guessing what that might be. Will the 2014 European Ryder Cup team have a quinquagenarian in their team?

Rental Properties – Costa del Sol.

Resulting from continued lobbying from the hotel sector the Andalucian Government is set to introduce strict legislation governing the private rental sector. The hotel sector feel they are facing unfair competition from private owners who rent and do their business below the radar.

The new legislation will require those who wish to rent their properties to obtain a licence from the local authority. This means that the property would be subject to inspection and other controls. This will be easier said than done!

Valderrama GC

Valderrama reopens its door on June 30^th following an extended period of closure to allow for the installation of a new drainage system. As ever it will be in pristine condition when it reopens.

Rio Real Golf Club now allowing buggies on fairways.

As from March this year buggies can be driven on fairways at Río Real (weather permitting).

Sotogrande La Reserva hosts European Tour Event.

Sotogrande La Reserva hosted the NH Collection PGA Tour Event in April.

A new tournament, the NH Collection Open, was played at La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf from April 3rd-6th.

The €600,000 event which was dual-ranking, meaning the field comprised players from The European Tour and the Challenge Tour, and prize money will count towards The Race to Dubai, the Challenge Tour Rankings and Ryder Cup qualification.

The field consisted of 144 professionals; four places were allocated to tournament invitations, four to Spanish professionals and the balance of the field split equally between The European and Challenge Tour categories. The event was won by Italy’s Marco CRESPI (10 under).

Works completed at El Paraiso GC

El Paraiso has a fabulous all new First green and a very nice new practice putting green.

Also the 15^th fairway which had been problematic has been partially re-sodded and a very nice job has also been completed on the 7^th tee-box.

Espacar – Car Hire.

As the summer high season is almost upon us we would remind clients to book their cars as soon as you know your dates to avoid disappointment. Already certain categories of cars are sold out.

As previously explained, Espacar has taken over a Nissan dealership on the Costa del Sol so expect to see some new Nissan cars in the fleet. These include the very suitable Nissan NV200 which is great for larger families or 4 – 6 golfers.

We don’t aim to be the cheapest for car hire – just the best. As the frequent renters know there is more to renting a car than price and in any event the cheapest can often end up more expensive when all the hidden extras are included. Goldcar Rentals are now charging an €8 supplement to be fast-tracked which is a terrible admission that their queues are unreasonable.

In addition to serving Malaga and Gibraltar Airports, we can also supply cars at Malaga Train Station where an increasing number of clients are arriving.

Ronda Rock & Roll –  really…

This impressive picture was taken on the much travelled San Pedro to Ronda road on a Sunday in March following some localised heavy rain. Nobody was injured!

Crowne Plaza Hotel becomes Senator Hotel

and a selection of shots from around the hotel and its rooms.

What was the Crowne Plaza hotel across the road from our offices in Benahavis has been sold and is now the somewhat erroneously names Senator Banus Spa Hotel.

It is being positioned more as a 5 star Spa “Adult Only” hotel. We sincerely hope the new owners can make a go of it as its past has been far from successful.

Las Dunas Healthhouse.

Also the Old 5 star Las Dunas hotel further down towards Estepona has reopened after a few years of closure but as a “Health care resort”. It is no longer a hotel.

More Staff – New Offices.

Due to our continued growth we will be moving a softly hit sand-iron distance (that’s 40m for me) to a bright new and modern office above our long-term neighbours at Golfriend´s.

Many of you will be aware of Golfriend´s who stock the most complete range of top golf brands anywhere in Andalucia. From July 15^th we will operate from a new brighter, bigger and hopefully less porous office above Golfriends.

New Staff Members.

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Madeleine Lovett as Reservations Manager at Golf Experience. Madeleine who hails from Tipperary has many years of experience in the hospitality and service sector.

Golf Experience Host 40 Italian Golfers for 4th Year running

Some Testimonials!

The original Italian!

Seamus,

Con la presente voglio ringraziarti,a nome di tutti i giocatori della quarta edizione della Rydens Cup,per la professionalita’ ed efficienza dimostrata da Golf Experience per organizzare il ns. Torneo.

Arrivederci al prossimo anno dunque!
Un caro saluto, Giovanni Bentini
Bentini Group from Faenza – Italy

…and the translation:

Dear Seamus,
With this notice I want to thank you, on behalf of all the competitors of the 4th edition of the Ryden’s Cup, for the professional and efficient assistance that Golf Experience has given to our tournament.

Looking forward to the next year we send you our best regards.
Giovanni Bentini.
Caro Seamus

Comic Corner

This month’s video pick – the Golf Magician. If you only have time for one look at this – some of the biggest names on the European Tour meet their match!

More light relief.

Rory Carey (R.I.P.)

Rory Carey who co-founded Golf Experience in 1989 died suddenly on April 27^th at his home in Estepona.

The expat and business communities in the area were shocked at the untimely passing of Rory who, to use that cliché, was a “Larger than life” character. Himself an avid golfer, the gregarious Rory had been captain at the local Atalaya Golf Club and was a member of The Heritage Club in Ireland.

Many of you will have known Rory who also ran a successful Real Estate agency here in Benavista but was probably best known for his Irish pubs which carried his name in Benavista and La Duquesa.

For many of our clients, late night sessions in “Rory’s” was very much a part of the overall “Golf Experience”.

His other passion was the bag-pipes of which he was an accomplishedplayer.  Rory would often have Benavista vibrating to the sound of his pipes on a Friday night. In a fitting send off at San Pedro Church the piercing yet melodic sound of bag-pipes ushered Rory on to his resting place. He will be sadly missed.