San Roque (New) - Southern Spain - Spain

We last played the New Course at San Roque about 5 years ago, loved the layout and felt that it was an ideal second course on the Estate to the well known Old Course.

But 5 years can be a long time in the life of a golf course. San Roque Old Course has been sensitively modernised at great expense, whereas I am led to understand the New Course has become the subject of protracted negotiation between the new owners and the Local Authority. The result is that this course has fallen into neglect, minimum routine maintenance is carried out but no more in my opinion. Fairways are uneven and scruffy, bunkers largely GUR and the greens run fast but the putts don’t run true on the pock-marked surfaces which are barely covered in grass in places.

Such a shame because in good times the New is a tough and exhilarating course with tight fairways, lots of bunkers and water hazards and some unusual and testing holes. At the moment I guess the very future of this golf course is in doubt, and unless matters are resolved soon I fear for the worst.

For the past ten days, we have heard about San Roque wherever we have played. Fast but fair greens, a gorgeous course and a beautiful new clubhouse were the common thoughts.

San Roque has benefited from very significant investment since its management was taken over in 2019.

We can testify to the magnificence of its clubhouse, having eaten there post-round and the practice facilities, part of the Jason Floyd Academy, bear comparison with its prestigious neighbours on the Costa Del Sol.

However, all of the talk had been about the Old course and, on the final day of our holiday, it was undergoing maintenance.

Therefore, noting its sister New course was no.32 in Spain on the top100golfcourses website, I believed it would be a more than adequate replacement.

I was wrong. It has become the Cinderella of the San Roque development – bags of potential but rather unloved.

Even the friendly staff seemed underwhelmed by the prospect of playing on it.

For starters we had the pick of tee-times – due on at 11.40am, we arrived 90 minutes early and were told we could play when we wanted either side of a party at 11am.

Meanwhile, the impressive new signage at San Roque pays little heed to the New course.

We struggled to find it and when we asked, we were simply told it was through the car park and across the road.

No starter’s hut or niceties here - it was a case of finding our own way and discovering a rather unkempt tee box and a presumption of the direction of the first hole.

Straightaway there are signs of neglect. Inconsistent fairways, raggedy bunker edges and greens which appear to have signs of disease.

The shame is that the course could be very special. Its bunkering is like none other I have experienced, its water features have great potential and the views are impressive even though we played it in ferocious wind and, in part, howling rain.

The daunting challenge of San Roque New is apparent on the par-five second. I counted 20 traps included one which runs down much of the right-hand side of the hole. The par-four third has even more.

The short 4th heralds ‘Seve’s Tee’ with a sign which points to a spot which appears to be its tip. Ours was significantly further forward but we still had bushes and a huge sand-trap to avoid.

However, after negotiating both, I discovered that the greatest danger is behind the target. Thus, after hitting a short chip too hard, my ball disappeared over the green and down into bushes never to be seen again.

Sloping fairways are one of the hallmarks of the course. Both Mrs W and I were driving well but often found the ball on the opposite site to its landing point.

Meanwhile, finding narrow entrances to greens such as the raised fifth was a huge challenge.

With a little love, the 7th could be a remarkable par-five with trees either side of an undulating fairway.

It leads down to a green between dunes and bunkers to the right and a lake, complete with fountain and huge sand trap with a tree in its centre, to the left.

Nowhere is the unique use of sand more evident than on the short eighth where the railway-sleeper-lined trap runs the entire length. We were both thrilled with par threes.

The eccentric use of sand takes another turn on the ninth which has tiered bunkering to the right of a green which has another lake to the left.

By comparison the opening holes of the back nine should be much more sedate but by now the wind and rain were so fierce we even contemplated giving up.

However, never-say-die spirit saw us on until the 18th which brings water back into the equation at the front right of a relatively small green.

I thought I had hit a perfect four-iron approach only to see the ball find the camber and roll into the murky depths.

And that was it. We dropped our clubs in the sparsely populated car park before returning to the swanky clubhouse where adverts to entice would-be members highlighted an eye-watering €23,000 joining fee as if it were a bargain.

Well, the folk of Sotogrande certainly aren’t short of a bob or two and the new investment might be all the lure they need.

However, if they were to play regular golf on the New course, it would need a heck of a lot of work to justify that price.

The San Roque club is currently experiencing what could best be described as a period of transition. The Old course and clubhouse were acquired by new investors in January 2019 and they’re now operated by Golf Estate, a golf management, development and marketing company. The New course, which is owned by the local authority, is leased by the club at the moment.

When I visited two weeks ago, the Old course looked like a battlefield, with the empty clubhouse just a pale imitation of the building it once was. When the extensive renovation work to both is completed later this year, San Roque is set to rise once again like a phoenix from the flames. In the meantime, members and visitors satisfy their golfing needs on the Perry Dye-designed New course.

I’d only ever played one Perry Dye layout before (Lykia Links in Turkey, which didn’t particularly impress me) so I was a little wary of what to expect here. Sure enough, there were a few things going on that surprised me (and had me wondering at the thought process that must have occurred when setting out some of the holes) but there’s nothing wrong with a few edgy design features, of course, as long as they work…

As early as the 3nd hole, the distinctive nature of the scooped mounding alongside the greenside bunkers really catches the eye and this theme is repeated at several other holes throughout the round. I’ve seen a very similar design trait at Courson, where Robert von Hagge designed the two 18-hole courses a decade earlier, but I doubt very much if Perry Dye took his inspiration from the other American architect’s project located almost 2,000 kilometres north of San Roque!

The long, skinny fairway waste bunker on the left side of the par four 5th (pictured above) was a bit of a head scratcher, as it constricted what was already a very tight approach into the green. This rather unconventional use of sand was nothing compared to the downhill par three 8th, measuring 206 metres from the back tee, where a long, narrow bunker runs from tee to green all the way at a lower level down the left side of the fairway, with wooden sleepers placed at an angle between the sand and the grass – it’s a totally bizarre set-up (pictured on the right) but what an interesting hazard from an architect who was obviously thinking out of the box when he designed the hole!

There are more mad moundings and whopping waste areas – even a couple of beach bunkers – to contend with on the back nine (along with a few tee box placements where the back markers are set at a substantially lower elevation than the others) but, despite the nonconformist nature of it all, the New course is actually rather an entertaining romp across a landscape that isn’t short of movement. You’ll be able to compare and contrast against the Old course when it returns at the end of this year. I suspect they’ll be like golfing chalk and cheese.

Jim McCann

The New course was in terrible condition. There were huge areas in the fairways with almost no grass. Some of the bunkers had new sand and some had none.

I understand this course has just been sold to someone interested in improving it, which is great as the layout is excellent. Would never return until I was convinced the conditions were improved.

Great holes especially on the back nine although a bit scruffy in places it was great value and an enjoyable 3 hour round

From the very back tees this course is an intimidating and stern test. The cork trees pinch into the fairways and the greens are parsimonious. It is easy to fall by the wayside here as an errant shot on the early holes can be callamitous. Never the less We really enjoyed the layout and the conditioning, I like Perry Dye courses, The other one I have played being Lykia links, Currently Turkey's number 1. There are echos here. in the shaping of the bunkers and the hazards. The Planting is exquisite. It is a really strong challenge throughout and although I understand what other reviewers have written about the middle stretch of holes running side by side they are different enough and super challenging holes so I enjoyed them none the less. I have not played the Old but I bet it is not as hard as this one. There are more than a few Wow moments here. The par 3 from Seves Tee requires a big carry over a nature reserve to a peninsular green 200 yds away. its a course that requires accuracy and length to make the most of the challenge from the back tees. Holiday Golf, it is not. Definitely one of my favourites on the Costa Dle Sol. Attached to a Really lovely club with welcoming and freindly members. JCB LAY

Technically, this place is a triumph of design and construction, in that the architect and JCB drivers have managed to sculpt a long and testing course in such a small piece of land. However, the end result doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts. The course feels artificial, is dominated by cart paths which are frequently in play, and many of the holes seem to merge into one as the same design features have been copied and pasted. On some holes I stepped on to the tee and found myself thinking: “haven’t we played this hole already?”It’s not a bad layout, I'm giving it 4 balls, but there are a lot of much better courses in the area, and it doesn’t come anywhere near to my top 20 in Spain.

The course maintenance could have been better but it could be excused by heavy rains in the preceding week. The accommodation at The Suites might have been 5-star in 1997 but now could be given 2 stars at most. Our room smelled of stale tobacco, the plaster was peeling off in places and the entire resort was in need of urgent repairs. I can recommend the nearby restaurant Bucintoro located in the San Roque Club Commercial Center.

Better than its older brother, San Roque New has been a nice surprise. Very enjoyable course with many challenging holes and with different difficulties. Water comes into play in several delicate holes while in others fairways are quite tiny. Unfortunately when we played (September 2014) maintenance was not so great and the course seemed a little "abandoned", which is not acceptable given the price paid.

Played this a few times over the last 5 yrs and never been disappointed. Venue, setting etc.... are all fantastic as you'd expect on the Sotogrande estate and clubhouse very unusual inside. Course always in great condition, even for Spain these greens are slick .... they are as quick as they look ! its good value for the price .... only downside is that it is perhaps a little too squeezed into a small plot of land and hence can at times feel a little too manufactured and manmade.