Parador Málaga del Golf

The oldest course on the Costa Del Sol, Real Club de Campo Málaga’s fairways were first laid out sometime after the formation of Málaga Golf Club in 1926 by none other than Harry Colt. Tom Simpson, who also added another nine holes, restored Colt’s 9-hole course in the early 1960s.

Thanks largely to the financial clout of Paradores Turismo de España, the hotel offshoot of Spanish Tourism, the course has been preserved as something of a golfing historical monument and with such an architectural pedigree, you might expect Real Club de Campo Málaga to be a Costa classic but unfortunately, it falls a little bit short of the mark, largely due to its deadpan flatness.

Not that it is without a fair degree of charm – if only it were located further along the coast, rather than directly under the roaring flight path of Málaga Airport next door. Still, the sandy soil on this stretch of land by the Mediterranean give the fairways a links-like feel in places, even if eucalyptus, palm and pine trees define many of them.

Real Club de Campo Málaga has hosted several PGA European Tour events, including the Open de Andalucia in 2010 and 2011 (won by Louis Oosthuizen and Paul Lawrie respectively), but no professional tournament has been staged here since the airport opened in 2011. It’s now almost impossible to play golf (unless wearing ear defenders) due to the deafening roar of departing planes.

The layout is a favourite course of locally born Miguel Ángel Jiménez ( click here to read the story), who holds the course record, but it’s unlikely that many tour professionals will choose to play here these days – unless the airport is closed.

The outward and inward halves both contain sequences of strong holes (and the heavily bunkered 12th is one of the best par fives in all of Spain) but more discerning observers feel that if some improvements were made to the last three or four holes on each nine, it would propel Málaga up the rankings.