Saurines de la Torre Golf Club

That's March's weekend in Spain finally sorted. 3 games at La Manga but had to select another course for 4th round as all golf courses block booked on the Saturday. We selected Saurines de la Torre Golf Club. Opened October 2010 so little on-line. A Jack Nicklaus desert course but plays more like a links apparently. What reviews I could find were good.

Anyone played it? Any views? Also, any tips for La Manga Resort.

I have played Saurines a few times.

Of the Nicklaus Designed courses in the area you have picked the one with the fewest bunkers.

The course is excellent as long as you keep it out of the boondai.

You can play from the desert, its not classified as a bunker, so you can ground your club.

The fairways look long & thin, but once you've played it its actually a lot wider than you think.

When playing don't believe the markers, they are all short of the mark so club up.

Get a buggy, it looks relatively flat, but there are many humps & hollows that will take it out of your legs. Also there are long walks between green & tee.

The one negative about the place is there are no bar facilities there at the moment. Though I am led to believe this will be sorted in the Spring.

If you wish a hole by hole summary, I can supply this. Though it is my summary not the official one.

You can get more info on the following website:
http://golf.marmenorresort.com/en/campo/index/id/3/detalle/2

Enjoy.

Setup,

Thanks for the feedback. I had read about "the fewest bunkers" but guess there are plenty of other hazards.

We'll be sure to top up with drinks before we start. The guys are not lovers of buggies and we only play 1 game / day so we'll probably walk it, but thanks for the warning.

I can't advise on Saurines, but I have been to La Manga plenty of times. The courses at La Manga are North, West and South. The North and South radiate from the clubhouse, just at the back of the hotel. The North is pretty much everyone's favourite, being long enough, but not too long, testing enough but no too testing, and fair too. It goes in two loops of nine on the north side of the hotel, and across the road. There are a couple of really steep climbs, to the 2nd and 11th tees, but apart from that it undulates but not too much. Fine to walk or carry or your bag.

The South is newer, and it's been revamped a couple of times in the last 10 years or so. It's longer than the north, and more challenging. There are a lot of par 4s of 450+ yards, and quite a few long carries over water and barrancas. It's playable, and fun too, but depending on the handicaps of your pals, you might find it quite hard. If you are 14+ handicaps, then it'll be quite a test. The last hole is spectacular - a long downhill par 5 back to the hotel.

The west course is a couple of minutes away up the road. It has its own clubhouse, and it's totally different to the other two - shorter, much tighter with tree lined fairways. You need to play it more than once to be able to figure out where to hit it.

The La Manga resort is pretty good, although it tends to be quiet up until May. There are a few bars dotted around, and a few restaurants - Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and there's a supermarket if you are doing your own cooking. You can walk around if you are staying near the hotel, otherwise it's a car drive down from the villas on the other side of the road. There's a big swimming pool at the tennis centre.

The par 47 course is the really good fun. It's essentially a putting green that's about 200 yards long, with rocks and small bunkers dotted about. You pitch onto it at the ends, and putt on the middle holes. Anywhere near par is a very good score. Reputedly it was Seve's favourite course, I think you need to chip and putt like he could to do good. There's a massive practice ground at La Manga - it used to be a cricket field - you buy ball tokens and belt balls to your heart's content into the middle. There's also a good practice bunker and putting green too, close by.

George1507,

Thanks.

We are playing all three courses once. The local pro has already warned us that the west course is a bit of a guess the first time round.

We went to La Torres last year and that was a ghost town end of March so even if La Manga is quite till May it will be bussier by comparison.

Looks like I'll be in trouible on the south. The other 3 guys all hit it long (handicaps 1, 7 and 9) so they insist we play off the back tees. I'm a very short hitting 5 handicapper these days and would probably prefer middle tees on a longer course. Holes 450+ yards are now 3 shots so I'd better clean the drip on the 3 wood before I go.

Why not tell them Winkle size is not related to the tee you play and to accomodate you in playing the middle tee. It is not like they are really low anyway.

McLaren,

Your probably right. I think I'll take your advise.

The 7 and 9 handicappers are pretty wild so the middle tees would benefit them. The 1 handicapper would prefer the back tees though and if I had his game I'd be the same.

Perhaps middle tees for one of the four rounds is a fair compromise all round.

Handicap 5? You'll be fine. The south course is the hardest test, but if you can get it anywhere near the green then chipping and putting isn't too hard. The greens are quite big and fairly easy to chip onto. As a shorter hitter, if you keep it straight you'll have a much better chance than someone hitting it further but not straight. On the South course they'll be collecting balls from back gardens, bushes, lakes and barrancas while you watch from the fairway.

I hope you have a great time.

Saurines looks a bit bleak, but then the photos on the website setup provided were probably taken when the course first opened.

We went to La Torre in 2009. I found it pretty average but I really liked El Valle and Hacienda Riquelme. Major downside was the place was a total ghost town.

You can't really go wrong with La Manga, everything is on your doorstep and it is set up for British golfing groups. The three courses provide something for everyone:
South - long but generally wide open and flat
West - short hilly and tight
North - somewhere in between, so most people's favourite

The only problem I have with La Manga is the apres golf. It's in the middle of nowhere so you are reliant on the resort for entertainment, which means a chinese restaurant and an Irish pub with sky sports... so you are not really getting any flavour of being abroad.

That's a bit unfair Raycastle. There are at least 10 restaurants at La Manga, a few more very close by, and several bars.

If you go to the Mar Menor then you can have anything you get at Torremelinos except for drunken Brits. Drunken spaniards, French, Germans, Swedes, Dutch, but no Brits.

La Cala looks like the resort for 2013. How does La Cala stack-up against La Torre and La Manga?

I am off to La Manga on the 23d of February, never played it before so very much looking forward to it!

Redgrave,

Appears we have made a good choice. Enjoy the holiday. Don't take too many divots out the fairways though as we are there a few weeks after you guys. Some feedback once you get back would be great.

Out of interest which travel agent did you use. We got quotes from GolfBreaks and YourGolfTravel. Prices were almost identical but selected GolfBreaks as they were a bit better at replying to e-mails.

We used YourGolfTravel this time, we have also used Costa Less Golf and Elite Golf Services in the past. The latter two also organise competitions but we decided to just enjoy the golf and playing against each other this time.

ScottieD18 wrote:La Cala looks like the resort for 2013. How does La Cala stack-up against La Torre and La Manga?

If you're looking for Apres-golf, La Cala is well away from any nightlife. Way up in the mountains.

We're off to Roda in May. We can take an early evening 30 min stroll down to Los Alcazares, and a quick taxi back at 1, 2 or 3 in the morning.

George1507 wrote:That's a bit unfair Raycastle. There are at least 10 restaurants at La Manga, a few more very close by, and several bars.

If you go to the Mar Menor then you can have anything you get at Torremelinos except for drunken Brits. Drunken spaniards, French, Germans, Swedes, Dutch, but no Brits.

Sorry George, but I beg to differ. La Manga is just Torremolinos for people with a bigger budget. There may be 10 restaurants and bars on the resort, but none of them are representative of Spain. The eating options are reminiscent of an out of town leisure park, featuring old orleans, pizza hut and chiquitos. There was one Spanish restaurant when I went, a "tapas" bar which was quite frankly awful.

I'm sounding a bit harsh here, which wasn't my original intention. I had a good time at La Manga, it was great for a short golfing break with your mates. It does what it says on the tin, and I'm sure Scottie / Redrage you guys will enjoy yourselves. It's just that it's not really Spain. You won't meet a single Spanish person while you are there, other than the taxi driver who drops you off from the airport.

SetupDeterminesTheMotion wrote:

If you're looking for Apres-golf, La Cala is well away from any nightlife. Way up in the mountains.

Thanks for this. I thought La Cala was pretty close to some nightlife (15 min taxi) and was on our shortlist for this year.

Decent night life used to be a primary consideration but every year it gets less and less important. Sounds like I'm getting old

I don't mean on the La Manga resort, I mean the spanish seaside town which is about a 10 minute drive away. It's a typical Spanish sun holiday resort built around that thin sliver of land that separates the Mar Menor from the Mediterranean. There are tall hotels, apartments, fish and chip shops, bars, loads of drunk people, and a kiss me quick atmosphere. It's like a lot of Spanish resorts.

The golf resort at La Manga - the place Brits mean when they say La Manga is really nice in comparison. There are some theme type restaurants, but some authentic ones too.

raycastleunited wrote:

Thanks for this. I thought La Cala was pretty close to some nightlife (15 min taxi) and was on our shortlist for this year.

Decent night life used to be a primary consideration but every year it gets less and less important. Sounds like I'm getting old

It is about a 15 min taxi. It was on our shortlist too but some of the other players have played the courses before and aren't so keen on at least one of them.

I've played all the courses at La Cala, they are all tough.

The 5th on the North course, (the name has been changed), over the ravine is great risk & reward. The 1st on the North from the high tee, is awe inspiring as it takes ages for your ball to reach terra firma.

The golf courses are amazing. I wouldn't fancy walking any of them as there are many steep gradients.

I didn't realise a 15 min taxi ride was close to nightlife ?
In that case La Torre & El Valle are a 15 min taxi ride to nightlife.

Here is a satellite view of Saurines de La Torre.

http://binged.it/yDiaey

SetUp,

Cheers. Already sent to the guys.

The satellite picture was taken in 2010 so its a lot greener now.

If you want a bit of Spain at La Manga take a taxi up to Cartagena and the fishing villages,Quite interesting history about the mining in the area.Old mineshafts everywhere Lassie would love it