Emporda (Links)

Set in the green and pleasant lands of the Costa Brava to the north of Barcelona lies the Emporda Golf Club. It’s a fairly recent but very welcome addition to the handful of top-class golfing destinations in this area.

In 1989 a group of Catalan businessmen based in the Baix Emporda got together through their love of golf and decided to construct a top-quality venue. They purchased 125 hectares of land situated fairly centrally in the Costa Brava near the village of Gualta and within 2 years the first nine holes were open for play. The group put their faith for the design of the Emporda course in the hands of the well-known and trusted Texan architect Robert von Haage.

Now complete, Emporda offers four loops of nine holes (formerly called the Blue, Green, Yellow and Red) these loops have now been combined to create two courses called Forest and Links. Both courses offer a varied playing experience.

The Green was the first nine holes to be completed at Emporda and this has been combined with the Red – the most recent nine – to form the new Links course. Its treeless and barren appearance provides a stark reminder of the nature of British links courses. The rough is harsh, the bunkers many and the greens small, fast and subtly contoured. Unlike real links golf, water also plays a part in frustrating the golfer on a number of the holes on the Links course at Emporda.