Larrabea was founded on February 23rd, 1988. A group of local golf enthusiasts hired José (Pepe) Gancedo to design a golf course on a small property. The 18-hole golf course opened in 1991, keeping as a clubhouse the 19th-century house the property already had. Gancedo also kept many of the trees the property had, such as the 2 lines of trees (pines and two sequoias close to the clubhouse) that worked as the entrance to the house and are now to the right of the 9th fairway and to the left of the 18th fairway that run parallel.
Larrabea is a classic northern Spain course, a parkland course with a lot of trees, but most of them are just on the sides of the fairways separating the holes and are not really in play. It is a par-72 course with 2 loops that start and finish at the clubhouse, it has a classic layout with 2 par-3s, 2 par-5s and 5 par-4s in each nine. There are elevation changes throughout the whole course, but the slopes are mainly gentle.
What is not gentle is the first hole, a long par-4 with a tight tee shot. It is one of the hardest holes in the course. The first 4 holes (par-4, par-4, par-3 and par-5) are hard, but if you have a nice run on them you will enjoy the course. The par-5s in the first nine require longer tee shots than in the second nine where you can actually not use the driver from the tee and still make a par, if you know where to go.
Larrabea poses good strategic bunkering, which has been improved in the last two years with the some changes of the 7th, 8th and 13th holes, the trees will punish most bad tee shots, and there is water in play in two par-3s, the pond at the left in the first par-3 5th doesn’t seem dangerous but it makes you aim more to the right than what you would like to, then the approach shot if you end up out of the green runs towards the water. Gancedo made an interesting course that makes the player think, even in the easiest par-4 in the property (7th), being too far right will make your second shot uncomfortable so the local player will aim closer to the left bunkers, this is a common feature in some holes where being closer to the hazards will provide a better second shot.
The oak in front of the 8th green has been recently removed for maintenance and playability reasons. The same has happened with some of the trees on the 13th hole, a dog leg right hole that demanded a very good tee shot that could end blocked by a group of pines that started to make the hole quite unfair, only the tallest pine has been kept, making the hole quite strategic. The course is taking care of the trees and removing the bushes under them so that there are less lost balls and the speed of play is better kept.
Larrabea is one of the finest courses in the Basque Country, a good mix of strategic and penal holes which have been improved over time with some subtle changes from the original design. The club has a good golf academy with a nice par-3 course with six holes in which children can practice freely. This course is where the major champion Jon Rahm started playing and he’s still a member of the club.
