Golf Holidays in Spain - What are the best Resorts

Four of us went to La Torres Golf Resort, Murcia, in March this year. We plated El Valle, La Torres and Hancienda Riquelme courses. Accomodation in the main resort was to a high standard but a bit of a ghost town with probably less then 5% occupancy. All three courses were great, but El Valle stood out and La Torres felt a little tired compared to the others. In summary an enjoyable long weekend and not too expensive.

Anyway. We are planning a return trip to Spain for next year. The range of handicaps is from 1 to 9 so we are looking for reasonably challanging courses which are fun to play.

I would welcome any recommendation and any resorts / courses to avoid.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Scottie

have you definitely decided on Spain? There are quite a few other good options these days. How long are you going for and what is your total budget?

If you are returning to the Murcia area, you should try Roda golf, as it's a superb locale & nearer the town of Los Alcazares. You an walk to several local pubs & restaurants in 20 mins. Roda is a nice course, in the area you could play Mar Menor & Torre Pacheco. I would avoid La Serena, its looking very tired at the moment.

I agree with your assessment regarding El Valle, definitely a favourite of mine.

Drive4show,

Spain is not a definite, but given we are planing a 4 or 5 day trip and flying from Scotland we don't want to spend too much travelling and the flights to Spain work well. We considered Portugal but the view was an increased risk of getting poorer weather and the perception is that Spain is better value. Hard enough to four people to agree the weekend, airport and resort in spain without futher complicating things. The money isn't a big issue but getting value for money to a Scotsman is always important! Last year the cost was £410 a head for flights, hire car, accomodation and four games of golf.

What did you have in mind?

Scottie - played those courses in Oct 2009 and agree totally with your views. Have just posted on the other thread, where other posters were bizarrely commenting that La Torre was tough.

Main issue with the location for me was that it was a ghost town.

We went to La Manga last year and although everything is on the resort, we found it to be a bit isolated... it's just German and British tourists and you wouldn't know you were in Spain. They have tried to address this by building a mock Spanish pueblo street with a pretend tapas bar, but this just looks fake and makes it worse in my view. If I want fake I'll just go to the US.

Does anyone have any experience of Sotogrande?

Just booked a trip there for October. We are staying at Hotel Almenara and playing Almenara, San Roque New and Finca Cortesin. Wanted to get on Valderrama but it will be closed for the Andalucia Open.

Any views welcome. Cheers.

Setup,

I'll check out those options - thanks.

The worste part of living in La Torres was finding a decent place to eat in the evenings. We went to one of the costal towns the first evening and took about one hour to find a place. We went to Murcia the second night and had the same problem and ended up with fast food.

Scottie

Turkey offers some very good value. Most of the golf hotels are all inclusive and high quality. Many have their own course(s) but you can play the other courses for a green fee.

I was also thinking of Myrtle Beach in the States but a long way to go for that length of time. I'm off there in just over a fortnight. Two of us have paid a total of £1250 each for two weeks inc flights, 4* hotel, car and 9 rounds of golf each. Works out at pretty good value as food is cheap when you get over there.

If you are looking for challenge and value I would recommend Jerez area. Montecastillo, Arcos Gardens, Costa Ballena, Sherry, Sanlucar are all great championship courses. An hour up the road is Seville, where you can get on Real Sevilla for less than 100 euros.

It's a bit off the beaten track but Ryanair fly direct to Jerez from Stansted. Jerez and Sevilla also have decent nightlife and you can get proper Spanish food and drink.

Raycastleunited,

Sounds interesting. Do you know if these courses can be booked as a package?

ScottieD18 wrote:Setup,

I'll check out those options - thanks.

The worst part of living in La Torres was finding a decent place to eat in the evenings. We went to one of the coastal towns the first evening and took about one hour to find a place. We went to Murcia the second night and had the same problem and ended up with fast food.

I agree you feel like a prisoner out at La Torre. However less than half a mile from La Torre there is an Industrial Estate that has a bar & several restaurants on it.
An easy walk to but only a 10€ taxi trip back. You could have also went into Los Alcazares (the coastal town) & looked for Mercadona Plaza, there are several good bars & restaurants there. Or even going to Roldan, if you go out the back gate at La Torre, its about a mile on the right. Some bars & restaurants there too.

Going to Murcia is one h*ll of a long trip, for a burger!!

Setup,

You obviously had more success finding restaurants than we did. Thanks for the tips as going back to La Torre is one of the options as the courses were great (especially El Valle as stated earlier).

We luck out in the weather which is probably hit or miss in late March so we saw the courses at their best, They were closing El Valle the day we left to core the greens so lucked out again.

We did deserve a bit of luck as the trip was originally booked for 2010 but the ash cloud meant the trip was delayed for 1 year. We did manage to get the flight and hire car money back from the providers and the travel company / golf course honoured the booking for the following year. All very professionally done to be honest (except for Ryanair which required several e-mail reminders before handing back the money for flights). We re-booked with Easyjet to a nice payback.

I organise our lads trip away each year.

In the past we have stuck with britain, did Chester this year, but next year will be the 10th year we do it and I have been toying with the idea of Turkey, on recommendation from the old man.

Anyone any experience of Turkey, and or suggestions of where to stay (group of 12 lads) and play etc?

Whats wrong with the UK?

Nothing is wrong with it, except maybe the weather?

One of the guys got a quote for La Manga Las Lomas Village. Golf courses are North, South and West.

Has anyone got any good or bad comments, in particular the quality and condition of these courses.

Thanks again.

ScottieD18 wrote:Raycastleunited,

Sounds interesting. Do you know if these courses can be booked as a package?

Try the usual suspects: golfbreaks and yourgolftravel definitely sell stay and play at Montecastillo. If you all play to a decent standard you will enjoy Montecastillo... some cracking driving holes with intimidating carries off the tee.

Also, you can buy a "chequebook" from Atlantee for 5 discounted rounds at a variety of courses. You don't need a chequebook each, i.e. if there are 4 of you and you are playing 4 rounds, you just buy 3 cheque books (15 vouchers) and then pay 1 green fee on the cheapest course. You need to contact the courses to book tee times, easy enough to do via email / phone, and I actually find this preferable then getting a travel agent to do this as you find out the better tee times... chat to the starter and he won't put you out directly behind that society of beginners from Russia. By cutting out the middle man you can also make some savings.

ScottieD18 wrote:One of the guys got a quote for La Manga Las Lomas Village. Golf courses are North, South and West.

Has anyone got any good or bad comments, in particular the quality and condition of these courses.

Thanks again.

Went there last October. South is the championship course, flat but lots of water and a good test. Was in great condition. North also in great condition, very similar to the South (they share the same piece of land) just a little bit shorter. West is the marmite course, set up in the hills it isn't built to the same high specifications as the North and South in terms of greens, conditioning etc, but is very challenging due to its tightness and changes in elevation.

Accommodation in Las Lomas perfectly acceptable, but like La Torre the place is a bit isolated. There was an Irish pub showing premiership football, I think there is a curry house too. You are unlikely to hear a word of Spanish spoken while there.

drive4show wrote:Scottie

Turkey offers some very good value. Most of the golf hotels are all inclusive and high quality. Many have their own course(s) but you can play the other courses for a green fee.

D4S - I've heard Turkey is good, but everything seems to be geared towards 7 nights minimum. None of my mates have a licence for that length of trip, (let alone 2 weeks in the US!) have you seen anyone offering short breaks to Turkey?

Going back to Spain Saturday 24th for a weeks golf. We're playing the La Cala Resort. 5 minutes up the mountain from the coast. 3 cracking courses as it's Spains biggest golf resort. The courses: Asian, Americas and European all supply some great golf. Also another dozen quality courses on the doorstep

Doc, I have heard great things about La Cala, but what is the cost like when you ge there?

When comparing, Turkey the offer of all inclusive seems good?

JD...Plenty of all inclusive offers to be had in Puerto Banus after your days golf at La Cala!...

ray

checkout turkishgolf.com there are quite a few options on there.

Funnily enough, the reason I choose the States was because Spain/Turkey appears to be geared up to short breaks and this is our main holiday of the year so we wanted a two week break.

ScottieD18 wrote:One of the guys got a quote for La Manga Las Lomas Village. Golf courses are North, South and West.

Has anyone got any good or bad comments, in particular the quality and condition of these courses.

Thanks again.

I've been to La Manga quite a few times. The golf courses are usually in pretty good condition. I've stayed in most areas of the resort - La Quinta, Las Lomas, some private houses etc etc. Generally the best idea for a break that is golf intensive is to stay in the hotel, because you can walk to the clubhouse for the North & South courses. The West is a bit further away, but you can get a mini bus to the clubhouse there.

The North course is most people's favourite. It's tricky without being fiddly, and long enough without being an ordeal. There's some water, but not too much. The South is newer, longer and is probably a bit too hard for players with double digit handicaps. There are a lot of long par 4s, and a few holes with barrancas in front of the greens, so long carries. The West is a fun course, not as good as the other two, but enjoyable nonetheless.

George1507,

Thanks for the advise.

JDandfries wrote:Doc, I have heard great things about La Cala, but what is the cost like when you ge there?

When comparing, Turkey the offer of all inclusive seems good?

JD there are some good deals to be had through Supertravel Golf, and the courses are brilliant. 30-minutes from Malaga, and only 20-minutes from Puerto Banus if you fancy posing around. Theres also plenty of places down down the mountain on the coast, but the resort itself has plenty going on, bars, sports bars, eateries etc if you fancy a night at home. You can also do it yourself on-line direct and get accomodation. Theres also at least 40 courses in the area all within 40-minutes.

I have also heard some great things about the all inclusive deals for golf resorts in the belek area of Turkey. Probably cheaper than Spain, it's just a longer flight and believe that you need to stay on the resort at night. I'm actually thinking about going next year

Doc wrote:

JDandfries wrote:Doc, I have heard great things about La Cala, but what is the cost like when you ge there?

When comparing, Turkey the offer of all inclusive seems good?

JD there are some good deals to be had through Supertravel Golf, and the courses are brilliant. 30-minutes from Malaga, and only 20-minutes from Puerto Banus if you fancy posing around. Theres also plenty of places down down the mountain on the coast, but the resort itself has plenty going on, bars, sports bars, eateries etc if you fancy a night at home. You can also do it yourself on-line direct and get accomodation. Theres also at least 40 courses in the area all within 40-minutes.

I have also heard some great things about the all inclusive deals for golf resorts in the belek area of Turkey. Probably cheaper than Spain, it's just a longer flight and believe that you need to stay on the resort at night. I'm actually thinking about going next year

I went to La Cala 2 years ago. The courses were really impressive, as was the resort (and the weather). The only blemish was the need to get cabs into town each evening (Fuengirola), we were being charged anything between 30-40euros per cab, each way. Not cheap really, and there wasn't a great deal to do within walking distance (one bar about 15mins walk down the road if i remember rightly).

I wouldn't let that put you off though, the golf and resort makes up for it.

Turkey - a report, Hi Gents, I have read the golf forums on here since its inception and have always found the topics to be interesting with some good comments from knowledgeable golfers, I therefore have decided to get more active and post, with this being my first.
I have been golfing in Turkey for the last two years and can highly recommend it and rate it a far better than any experiance i have had in Spain. The courses are presented in amazing condition throughout the year. I have stayed in Belek on both occasions and have played The Gloria new and Old (superb tree lined tracks - New ideal for all handicaps, Old for the lower or straighter hitter), Noblis, good track but just below standard of the Gloria and finally the Cornelia Faldo (excelent test of golf, lots of doglegs and memorable holes).
I can highly recommend either the Gloria Golf Hotel or this year stayed at the Susesi Luxury Resort, both all inclusive, premium brand drinks (Baileys, Becks, Miller, Gordans Gin etc..).
Going with a large group of lads again next year. The area has i think now 13 quality courses all within a 5Km stretch of ideal golfing land. Some very good deals around late this/early next year through yourgolftravel or billyana golf website. You will not be dissapointed if you choose this option. Any other questions then drop me a line.

Having had two golfing holidays in Belek I would very much agree with the report given by matelot golfer.

The only major downside to Turkey, and it has been mentioned on here before, is that the evenings tend to be a little quiet. Everything revolves around the hotels and if you do venture out there isn't much going on unless you head for Antalya which is best part of an hour away in a taxi.

That's all fine if you are happy with a meal and a few drinks in the hotel but if you are with a large group of lads who like a bit of nightlife they may be a bit disappointed.

Yes, bluecoverman you are spot on in with the 'nightlife' aspects although i did find there where alot of single 'yummy-mummies' around the resorts!!. I would put it like this, if you are more concerned about playing quality courses then I would choose Belek. If it is golf with plenty of nightlife then go to Majorca. Unfortunately the course in Majorca are neither of the same standard, quality or FFM. I guess it boils down to what is more important to you personally.

matelot golfer wrote:Yes, bluecoverman you are spot on in with the 'nightlife' aspects although i did find there where alot of single 'yummy-mummies' around the resorts!!. I would put it like this, if you are more concerned about playing quality courses then I would choose Belek. If it is golf with plenty of nightlife then go to Majorca. Unfortunately the course in Majorca are neither of the same standard, quality or FFM. I guess it boils down to what is more important to you personally.

That'll be the yummy mummy's then

Thanks Drive, now you have blown my 'cryptic' message my wife will not now let me go to turkey next year!!

matelot golfer wrote:Thanks Drive, now you have blown my 'cryptic' message my wife will not now let me go to turkey next year!!

That reminds when we had booked a boys only golf break to the Costa De Sol, staying in a hotel in Fuengirola. Before the trip one of the lads wives, in her wisdom, decided to have a look at the hotel details on the net and clicked on the page showing previous guests reviews. A fella there had written something along the lines of:-

"Hotel was fine and the food was pretty good. Rooms were fairly spacious and nice and clean. The staff were generally friendly and helpful. Only problem was that every time you stepped out of the hotel front door you were pounced upon by prostitutes from the brothel directly opposite"!!!

She was not a happy girl and much reassuring was required before he was allowed to confirm his place on the trip!

I'm over in Spain in the morning for a weeks golf in the sun. Playing all 3 La Cala courses, starting with the Asia course on Sunday, America's Monday and Europa Tuesday. Great courses these.

Have rounds booked at Cabopina and Marbella Golf and Country Club - has anyone played these 2 tracks ?

Played both: Cabopina didn't like, Marbella much more playable.

Haven't played Cabopina. Played Marbella three times, always enjoyable. Have a good week

All,

Thanks again for the comments / advice. Given we committed to flights to/from Murcia we have decided to play at La Manga rather then return to La Torre (no other viable resort within driving distance).

I feel comfortable with our choice given the good reports form you guys. Last weekend in March 2012 so all down to the weather now!

Scottie make sure you book flights asap as the cost next year could be huge. £10 for a pee, £10 for a coffee, carry on luggage charged at £40, suitcases £20 per kilograme above 10kg's, golf bags £100 and you have to load them and get them off the plane yourself, airport tax £200, fuel surcharge £300, cabin lights £10 per passenger. Not bad really for a £20 budget flight

Doc,

We almost got stung in March this year. Went with Easyjet. The allowance for golf clubs was 12kg but fortunately we had pre-booked one case between four of us so no cost for the split over. I recall it was £80 to take the clubs but keeping the clubs and golf carry bag < 12kg was a big push. One of the guys had splashed out on a sturdy / solid golf carry bag and there was no way he could keep within 12kg.

This year we are flying with Jet2 and they golf club allowance is 20kg.

For those going on their first foreign trip please read the carrier's small print before booking. Note that it is not often too easy to find. A complete rip-off given the cost for clubs.

I'm flying with Delta to the States next week, they allow one bag per passenger for free. Last year we managed to get both lots of our stuff into one large suitcase so they accepted one golf bag for free and only charged for the remaining one ($50 each way, about £30).

Really annoys me when airlines do this, I'd rather just pay a bit more for my ticket and know where I stand.

" Really annoys me when airlines do this, I'd rather just pay a bit more for my ticket and know where I stand"

D4S its a long way to stand mate, just to save £20

No it's a bit of a joke really and even though the government have had a go at Robber Air (Ryan) about their credit and debit card charges, they still persist. So you book the wife, and 2 kids onto a flight, but are charged not one credit/debit card charge, but 8. one for each person going out and again on the return. So a whacking great mark up for actually paying for something well in advance of actually using it. I remember flying to Dublin a couple of years ago. The company purchased the return tickets for 8 of us. We arried at check-in and were told that we should have confirmed our tickets on-line before arriving at the airport, so that we had to pay an extra £40 each for them doing it. Fuming we stumped up and went over to Dublin. Coming back we were charged £40 each again, because we hadn't checked-in on-line, even though we paid earlier to have it done. Dublin flights are expensive anyway, but to have to pay an extra £640 was rip-off.

Did anyone see the Hale and Pace sketch about Yorkshire Airlines. The pilot sat drinking a pint of Tetleys, passengers playing darts, fish and chips and mushy peas served in paper, by an hostess in a pinney and curlers in her hair. I bet low cost airlines got their ideas from here

Doc

Wasn't it Ryanair that looked into the possibility of passengers squatting against some sort of support, essentially standing on short haul flights?

drive4show wrote:Doc

Wasn't it Ryanair that looked into the possibility of passengers squatting against some sort of support, essentially standing on short haul flights?

Yep thats them mate, and looking at charging for taking a squat too, something to do wuth balance transfer and weight distribution, means using more fuel when people move around. What a lood of bollix and how that guy doesn't get lynched I'll never know. No wonder he's got the only airline that made a profit last year. I remember the days of BA when customer service meant more than anything to them. The new guy in charge at BA was the finance director from Ryan Air, so knows the scams. BA always allowed free sports equipment on their flights, so golfers didn't mind paying a bit more, because they got more and had free golf bags etc. BA now charge just like low cost boys.

I have stayed in NH hotel Sotogrande. Great hotel, large rooms, own terrace with golf course views and good restaurant. The weather in Andalusia is great all year round; we were there in February and had some days around 22-23 degrees.

Off to murcia on Sunday for a weeks golfing, cant wait.

Raycastleunited. We have a place in Jerez but I have hardly played over there as generally not been there with golfers. I have played Montecastillo and Sherry and liked both but preferred Sherry. I think that Sherry was €20 cheaper swung it.

I am out with a couple of friends next week and only have time to play one course and wondered which you would recommend. Costa Ballena has Q school rounds this year so I figure that it should be in good nick.

We are playing off 10-13.

289,

If I could only play one round, it would be Montecastillo. Always great conditioning (been there 5 times now - last time was April this year) and love the challenge.

2nd choice would be Arcos Gardens, mainly for the great views. Then 3rd Costa Ballena only because it is a little flat.

After that 4th Sanlucar, 5th Sherry, 6th Montenmedio, 7th El Puerto, 8th Novo Sancti Petri.

They have used Arcos, Costa Ballena and Sherry for Q school in recent years. All are good fun in my opinion and always seem to be in top notch condition. Of the 8 courses mentioned above, the only course in poor condition was Novo Sancti Petri, and that was due to over-watering.

Thanks Raycastle.

We found Montecastillo nice but weren't sure it was worth the extra over Sherry. Also it was early morning and the bunkers were compacted wet sand, I guess from the sprinklers. I guess we shouldn't have been in them!

Maybe as I stuck myself in one on the 18th having to chip out towards the water needing an up and down to win (and failed) makes this stick out!!!

Doc wrote: I remember the days of BA when customer service meant more than anything to them. The new guy in charge at BA was the finance director from Ryan Air, so knows the scams. BA always allowed free sports equipment on their flights, so golfers didn't mind paying a bit more, because they got more and had free golf bags etc. BA now charge just like low cost boys.

Doc, that is not right. BA do NOT charge extra for clubs if it is within your luggage allowance.
I remember when Ryanair charged £18 / €25 each way. Now it is up to £40, BA is looking better value.

raycastleunited wrote:

Doc wrote: I remember the days of BA when customer service meant more than anything to them. The new guy in charge at BA was the finance director from Ryan Air, so knows the scams. BA always allowed free sports equipment on their flights, so golfers didn't mind paying a bit more, because they got more and had free golf bags etc. BA now charge just like low cost boys.

Doc, that is not right. BA do NOT charge extra for clubs if it is within your luggage allowance.
I remember when Ryanair charged £18 / €25 each way. Now it is up to £40, BA is looking better value.

Also "The new guy in charge at BA was the finance director from Ryan Air," Come on mate you've just made that up. You know that's not true.