Golf Growth in Spain

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Attention golf course architects and others in the business. This was published in the NY Times on December 3. Here's an excerpt:

Since 1990, more than 200 championship-level courses have opened throughout the country, from the misty hills of Galicia to the marshlands of Cádiz and rugged cliffs of Alicante, according to a study by Aymerich, a golf management consulting company based in Madrid.

Golfers can now tee off on a fairway lined with cactus in the Arizona-like desert of Almería, on the Mediterranean, or try for a hole-in-one nearly 1,000 feet above the ocean on the volcanic island of Tenerife, off the African coast. So many greens dot Málaga province — 40 in a 62-mile stretch at last count — that the Costa del Sol has acquired a new nickname: the Costa del Golf.

“In Andalusia, it’s a war to attract the tourists,” said an Aymerich spokesman, Juan Muro Aguilar, describing competing specials on greens fees.

Another 300 courses are planned for construction across the country in the next decade. Should municipal authorities give them all the green light despite severe water shortages and slowly mounting pressure from the environmental ministry, Spain would have among the highest concentrations in Europe, about the same as Sweden or Germany and only less than Britain, according to Aymerich.

This is good news for the estimated 500,000 golfers, mostly German, British and Scandinavian, who haul their clubs to Spain each year, said Peter Walton, chief executive of the International Association of Golf Tour Operators.

It may also be an invitation to American players. A growing number of golf resorts are trying to lure the California or Florida faithful with packages that combine putt practice with culture, like a side trip to Seville or a sherry winery, Mr. Walton said.

But environmentalists in Spain are bristling. They say a drought-prone country should not use its scarce water supply — even recycled water from nearby homes, which many developers say they use — to keep so many fairways green.

Here's the link to the article. Registration required:

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/travel/03journeys.html?pagewanted=1&ref=travel

[Tom_Doak]

Man, they must be planning to host a lot of championships.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Of the 40 or so golf courses on the Costa del Golf, very few will excite anyone from here. In fairness the land is absolutely awful and it is very hard to create nice golf courses. The area has 1 great feature the sun. I was there yesterday it was 21C and its like that for most of the winter. Some of the courses are amongst the worst you will see and have houses encroaching stupidly close. They are not that full either, UK golfers are thinking more about the USA and Portugal and other places...id say there is a dip at the moment. There are some exceptions and Valderamma for instance is beautifully conditioned, but in the main the land parcels are just too hilly.

[Andrew Mitchell]

Of the 40 or so golf courses on the Costa del Golf, very few will excite anyone from here. In fairness the land is absolutely awful and it is very hard to create nice golf courses. The area has 1 great feature the sun. I was there yesterday it was 21C and its like that for most of the winter. Some of the courses are amongst the worst you will see and have houses encroaching stupidly close. They are not that full either, UK golfers are thinking more about the USA and Portugal and other places...id say there is a dip at the moment. There are some exceptions and Valderamma for instance is beautifully conditioned, but in the main the land parcels are just too hilly.

I'd agree with that Adrian. I was there in September and was severely disappointed with the standard and the condition of the courses.

[Andrew Mitchell]

I think a few years ago many Brits started to turn away from Spain.  Some have gone for the Algarve, some to USA and some have even taken up Italy.  Personally, I think Italy is going to become more popular for golf holidays unless the prices in Spain and the Algarve drop.  Folks recognize Italy's major attractions of food, wine and culture once the round is finished.  No other destination can compare if you are happy to play "nothing special" golf.

Ciao

Sean's phrase "nothing special" golf perfectly summed up my feelings following my trip to the Costa del Sol.  The group I went with have, in the main, had a golf trip every September for the last 20 years.  Over the years I've organised the majority of those trips which had invariably been to Scotland thus enabled me to maintain and nurture my love of links golf. I had foolishly assumed that the majority of the group thought alike but after some mutterings from a couple of them over the last two or three years about great golf in Spain with guaranteed sunshine we agreed to go if they organised it.

After four rounds on overwatered courses in poor condition, with spongy greens and large areas of GUR I was dreaming of returning to links turf in 2007. But no!  When I commented on the poor quality of the courses in comparison with Scotland the majority pronounced themselves satisfied as it was deemed more important that we played in shorts each day rather than jumpers and waterproofs and that the bars stayed open until 3am and had nightlife with which the likes of Dornoch, Nairn, St Andrews and North Berwick could not compare!

Rumour has it that in 2007 we're going to Majorca

[Marc Haring]

I was in Portugal a week or so ago. They don't seem to be able to handle rain over there. Despite torrential downpours they still found it necassary to water everything in the evenings. Wierd!!!

I think paspalum could be the way forward for many.

[James Edwards]

Every year I go to the costa del golf namely Puerto Banus in June with 11 other guys and we pay 640 british pounds and stay in the PYR apartments, 4 minutes walk from the port, where all the nightlife is... we hire 3 cars, 4 in each and we travel to play golf at midday every day... we finish at 430, few beers around the clubhouse, then back for an evening out... 6 courses for the last 10 years, we must have played 50 golf courses in the area now.. all within an hours drive...

I personally think its fantastic for what it is... and good enough quality for the bucks you pay... + you can dress in shorts, you can turn up hung over and the marshals and clubhouse staff always are happy, smiling and join in with the party as we sip our freshly squeezed orange juice and coffees before our tee times...

i can name enough in the area which are good enough... yes, no dr.mac examples, but plenty of wonderful views and elevation changes...

good golfing ///
james

[Adrian_Stiff]

After four rounds on overwatered courses in poor condition, with spongy greens and large areas of GUR I was dreaming of returning to links turf in 2007. But no!  When I commented on the poor quality of the courses in comparison with Scotland the majority pronounced themselves satisfied as it was deemed more important that we played in shorts each day rather than jumpers and waterproofs and that the bars stayed open until 3am and had nightlife with which the likes of Dornoch, Nairn, St Andrews and North Berwick could not compare!

Andrew; Sadly, the lovers of pure golf are a minority and the majority of golfers play in the sun, and want greens that hold hold their 3 woods, coupled with lots of water. I know Marc's done some pattern reasearch on golfers likes and dislikes for the UK.  Ive never seen much in the way of top soil down on the costa del sol, many seem watered so much a buggy would get stuck in the fairway in the summer.

[Marc Haring]

Every year I go to the costa del golf namely Puerto Banus in June with 11 other guys and we pay 640 british pounds and stay in the PYR apartments, 4 minutes walk from the port, where all the nightlife is... we hire 3 cars, 4 in each and we travel to play golf at midday every day... we finish at 430, few beers around the clubhouse, then back for an evening out... 6 courses for the last 10 years, we must have played 50 golf courses in the area now.. all within an hours drive...

I personally think its fantastic for what it is... and good enough quality for the bucks you pay... + you can dress in shorts, you can turn up hung over and the marshals and clubhouse staff always are happy, smiling and join in with the party as we sip our freshly squeezed orange juice and coffees before our tee times...

i can name enough in the area which are good enough... yes, no dr.mac examples, but plenty of wonderful views and elevation changes...

good golfing ///
james

The lap dancing clubs are of a quite staggering quality. Or so I've been told.

[Andrew Mitchell]

Andrew; Sadly, the lovers of pure golf are a minority and the majority of golfers play in the sun, and want greens that hold hold their 3 woods, coupled with lots of water. I know Marc's done some pattern reasearch on golfers likes and dislikes for the UK.  Ive never seen much in the way of top soil down on the costa del sol, many seem watered so much a buggy would get stuck in the fairway in the summer.

Adrian
The buggies were another source of discontent for me. I would rather walk in any case but two of the courses insisted we took buggies in view of the elevation changes -fair enough as there was a lot of climbing and descending involved. However they then said that you could not take the carts off the buggy paths in view of the condition of the fairways! On nearly every hole you had to walk across the fairway taking three or four clubs with you to play your shot - what a farce!

I agree that lovers of pure golf are in a minority - out of sixteen of us I think I was in a minority of two.

[Bill_McBride]

......and that the bars stayed open until 3am and had nightlife with which the likes of Dornoch, Nairn, St Andrews and North Berwick could not compare!

Truer words have seldom been spoken!  Is there anything more boring than an evening on the town in Scotland?  Luckily after 36 holes and a few pints there's no way one's likely to engage in any frivolity, but it would be nice to have the choice!  

[Bill_McBride]

......and that the bars stayed open until 3am and had nightlife with which the likes of Dornoch, Nairn, St Andrews and North Berwick could not compare!

Truer words have seldom been spoken!  Is there anything more boring than an evening on the town in Scotland?  Luckily after 36 holes and a few pints there's no way one's likely to engage in any frivolity, but it would be nice to have the choice!  

Bill

I seem to recall it being a bit of a struggle for you to last much past 10:00pm!  I would have thought Scotland was right up your alley.

Ciao

No need to get personal.    Perhaps it was the lack of stimulation!  

But you would have been proud of us at Beau Desert on arrival night after fruitlessly circling the same roundabouts for what seemed like hours.  The steward woke up and let us in the bar around 11 p.m., and we sat up with him and drank his whiskey and listened to his occasionally ribald tales of golf trips to Spain until maybe 1 a.m.  

So there!