Mar Menor - Southern Spain - Spain

Located near Torre Pacheco in Murcia, the course at Mar Menor Village Golf exhibits something of a split personality as Dave Thomas set out the front nine and Nicklaus Design completed the back nine. Water comes into play at three consecutive holes on each nine: 3 to 5 on the outward half and 13 to 15 on the inward half.

The course is one of six operating within the IRM Golf Experience consortium, with each of these Nicklaus Design l8-hole layouts in the Murcia region offering golfers discounted green fee deals. Alhama’s the IRM flagship track, ably supported by La Torre, Saurines, Hacienda Raquelme, El Valle and, of course, Mar Menor.

Chris Ahern, PGA professional at Mar Menor, was kind enough to provide us with the following comments:

The toughest hole at Mar Menor Golf is the 3rd, a par four rated stroke index 1. From the tee, two fairway bunkers to the left must be avoided. There’s a big lake to the right and short of the green that comes into play for the second shot so the only bale out spot is short and left of the green. There’s also a greenside bunker short of the green which challenges players that attack the flag with their approach.

There are two contenders for “signature hole” on the scorecard, the first of which is the par five 4th, measuring 455m for men and 420m for ladies. This is probably the easiest par five on the course but it looks very pretty as you play up towards the entrance to the hotel. The major trouble at this hole is a hidden lake that lies short and left of the green.