The Marbella Golf and Country Club

18-hole par 72 course

The more sporty members of marbellas.com donned their Pringle v-necks last week to play a round at Marbella Golf, before hitting the Club House for one too many celebratory gin and tonics.

Impressive entrance

Home to one of the Coast’s most prestigious golf courses, Marbella Golf & Country Club is where the energetic elite come to polish up on their ball skills on the 18-hole par 72 course. Stretching some 6,000-metres, the championship course was designed by renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr, and epitomizes all that is great about the Coast’s most popular sport. The course itself, which opened in 1994, is sympathetic to the lay of the land and is built to provide a testing - but no less enjoyable - game to golfers of all standards. Every hole has been imaginatively designed with several lakes scattered across the back nine providing golfers with the necessary challenge to up their game. With gently undulating fairways, olive groves and raised greens protected by bunkers, the course looks damn gorgeous, too. Generally speaking, the sand traps, although prevalent, are well maintained and not too difficult to negotiate - in the areas of the indigenous cork oaks, the rough is quite forgiving but if you find the thick gauze off the tee it will be a definite reload. The views towards the Mediterranean – which ca be seen from every hole - and along the coast are quite breathtaking and make it all worthwhile.

Marbella Golf 's spectacular clubhouse

As if that wasn’t enough, Marbella Golf also comprises the fantastic El Olivo restaurant in what is possibly the most impressive Club House in the area. Other facilities include tennis courts, a well-stocked pro shop and a number of private members amenities. There’s no better place to try out your shiny new Nike CCi irons. Game on!

Try these holes for size - if you think you’re hard enough!
4th
The par 4 tee on the fourth hole is positioned next to an old ruin, which is typical of the rustic feel of the course.

Teeing off on the fourth hole

Players have two options when considering how to play this hole; the first is the tiger line, possibly using a 3-wood shooting straight for the green, which requires both cutthroat precision and distance. With too much club, the ball will finish over the green and a fading ball to the right will find the gauze bush ravine; the second, perhaps safer, option is to hit a mid-iron where there is a plateau to the left of the green. An accurate lob-wedge is then needed to get the ball safely over the olive tress and onto the green.

6th

Cork Oaks lining the fairways

If you have survived the 4th take it easy on the 5th because the next hole is the stroke index 1, par 5. Position is the key, there are no prizes for a long drive here.

The three shots to the green are like puddle jumping - short drive to be short of the river, another short iron to go over the river and land short of the lake and a tidy wedge to take you onto the green. Make sure you thrust your wedge between the water hazards.

14th

With a view to the elevated green and a shimmering lake and beautifully designed houses on the left, the par 5 tee on the 14th hole is one of Marbella Golf’s most scenic – just don’t let its beauty distract you from the game at hand. There’s a rough on the right, so be wary of wayward shots - nevertheless, it’s easy to get out of with enough carry. Be sure to shoot straight and with precision and you won’t have too many problems negotiating this hole.

Residents looking for sandwiches on the 14th!

Watch out for the friendly ducks that approach players here - if your sandwiches have gone a little curly in the heat they will be most appreciative of a snack!

So there you have it, Marbella Golf & Country Club – the perfect day out for diehard golfers, and offering plenty of other things for those who prefer to sit and look pretty.

Contact Marbella Golf on:-
Tel: 0034 952 830 500
www.marbellagolf.com