More resorts along the Spanish Costas
Around this time last year, we published an article entitled Resort Golf in the Spanish Costas, where we featured some of the top golf facilities located along the east and south coast of mainland Spain. We’ve decided to revisit this geographical area again, starting with Peralada on the Costa Brava and finishing with La Hacienda Alcaidesa on the Costa del Sol. In between those two resorts, we’ll highlight several others that are worth consideration as affordable stay and play golfing options.
Peralada
We begin with Golf Peralada in the province of Girona, near the border with France in the northeast corner of Spain. The 18-hole layout here is an early 1990s creation from Jordi Soler i Peix, with holes routed around the hotel and a few small clusters of residential housing. Extending to just over 6,000 metres from the back tees, this par 71 layout is laid out as two returning nines, each of which end with approach shots to water-protected greens. There’s also a 9-hole pitch and putt course beside the driving range, with holes measuring between 53 and 108 metres.
The hotel comprises 54 guest rooms (32-35 square metres) and 10 suites which vary in size – from a Garden Suite at 45 square metres to the Presidential Suite at 90 square metres. One and a half kilometres from the club, next to the 14th century Castell de Peralada, you’ll find the Peralada Wine Spa with its range of treatments and massages. Close by, the new Peralada Winery merits a visit to find out of it fulfils its stated aim to “provide visitors with a unique and sensory experience”.
El Prat
Positioned 30 kilometres north of Barcelona city centre, Real Club de Golf El Prat moved to its current premises at the end of the 1990s when expansion plans for the airport resulted in the club losing its former Javier Arana-designed layout. A total of forty-five holes were fashioned here by Greg Norman’s design firm, with the Pink (Bosque and Arriba nines) and Yellow (Piscina and Abajo nines) promoted as the two premier 18-hole configurations.
Accommodation is supplied by Hotel La Mola, which is set in the nearby Sant Llorenç del Munt nature reserve. There are 185 guest rooms in the hotel and 22 fully equipped meeting rooms. For big events, the adjacent 17th-century Mas Bonvilar manor house can be used as a reception hall for up to 700 people. There’s also a buggy shuttle available between the clubhouse and the hotel.
El Saler
Another Javier Arana design that thankfully still survives is the architect’s masterpiece at Parador de El Saler in the Albufera Nature Park to the south of Valencia. Unveiled in the late 1960s, the course weaves in and out of a pine forest beside the Playa de la Devesa, where tree-lined inland holes alternate with links holes next to the sandy strand that runs along the coast. Many agree that it’s one of the best golfing layouts on the continent of Europe.
The on-site Parador hotel extends over two floors to 63 spacious and comfortable air-conditioned rooms, along with a couple of suites. Guests can also enjoy the relaxing spa with treatment room, an outdoor swimming pool and a grass soccer field. For large events, the "Vela Latina" convention room can hold gatherings of up to 400 people.
La Finca
Situated around 150 kilometres south of El Saler as the crow flies, the 18-hole layout at the La Finca Resort on the Costa Blanca is an early new millennium offering from Pepe Gancedo, who journalist Peter Dobereiner once dubbed “the Picasso of golf” for his artful design work. Set out as two returning nines, the course extends to 6,400 metres from the back tees, with water coming into play at holes 5 to 7 on the outward half then at holes 16 and 17 on the inward half.
There are 120 modern guest rooms within the La Finca Hotel and they’re a mix of 74 deluxe rooms, 20 Club View rooms and 20 recently refurbished Club Superior rooms, together with six Junior and Royal Suites (each with a generous 58 square metre configuration). The Spa offers guests the use of a wonderful water circuit, outdoor pool and a range of beauty treatments and massages.
La Quinta
We move now to the south coast of Spain and the Costa del Sol, where La Quinta Golf & Country Club first appeared in the late 1980s with an 18-hole layout that has since been extended to twenty-seven holes. It lies just off the AP-7 main highway, in the Benahavis golf valley between the Sierra Blanc mountains and Puerto Banus on the Mediterranean coast, with the A and C loops regarded as the 18-hole layout of first choice.
The on-site Westin hotel affords 170 accommodation options, consisting of 163 guest rooms, three Junior Suites, three Executive Suites, and the Presidential Suite. Each Classic Room has either a king-size bed or two twin beds, with a Deluxe Room having a larger living area. Executive Suites can connect to a Deluxe Room, while the Presidential Suite has a 155 square metre terrace with an outdoor jacuzzi.
Villa Padierna
Venue for the LET’s season-ending Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de España a few months ago, Villa Padierna Golf Club is a 54-hole complex with three 18-hole layouts: the original Flamingos course (unveiled in 2001), the championship-standard Alferini course (inaugurated in 2007 and host to a recent LET professional ladies’ event), and the par 63 Tramores course, with ten par threes and only one par five on the scorecard.
The Villa Padierna Palace hotel provides 132 guest rooms in total, split between Superior and Deluxe Rooms (19-42 square metres), Suites (43-250 square metres) and Villas (one of which in the past hosted First Lady Michelle Obama and is spread across three storeys). The Antanara Spa retreat has 10 treatment rooms, saunas, heated swimming pool, cold plunge pool and a floatarium.
Alcaidesa
Head half an hour along the AP-7 from Villa Padierna towards Gibraltar and you’ll arrive at La Hacienda Alcaidesa Links Golf Resort in San Roque, one of 28 golf facilities in membership of the prestigious European Tour Destinations network. Both the Links and Heathland 18-hole layouts were designed by Dave Thomas but it’s the recent extensive renovation conducted by former Nicklaus Design architect Kurtis Bowman – with every single hole substantially remodelled – that has elevated this course into the upper echelons of golf in Spain.
At the moment, the main accommodation provider for the resort is the nearby all-inclusive 4-star Aldiana Costa del Sol hotel which has 334 guest rooms assigned across different buildings of up to three floors, from family rooms to superior suites with 80 square metres of living space and a separate living room. The hotel’s spacious spa also contains saunas, a whirlpool, and a large indoor pool.
Additionally, the new Fairmont La Hacienda Hotel is due to open by Easter 2024, offering more than 300 guest rooms and suites either within the hotel or in the accompanying villas. This complex will also feature five restaurants and bars (including a pool bar and a beach restaurant) along with a spa, swimming pools and fitness centre.
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Jim McCann
Editor
Top 100 Golf Courses