Golf Costa Adeje in Tenerife is one of the great designs created by Málaga’s Pepe Gancedo, known as the “Picasso of Golf”. Located beside the sea opposite La Gomera island – which on clear days seems to be just an arm’s length away – the course meanders through a former banana plantation, with the old stone walls that separate the farming terraces still preserved.

They are the most popular 27 holes of golf in Spain: an 18-hole, par-72 championship course; and another nine-hole, par-33 layout, Los Lagos.

The manager is Paul De Sterck.

- Your course has the highest number of rounds played in Spain…

- That could be so. I’m not sure but it’s possible.

- How many are we talking about?

- Last year (2014) there were about 80,000 rounds and this year (2015) we’ll surpass that figure.

- Is that not an excessive total?

- Well, we have 27 holes. It actually is a lot of work but we have a good team that streamlines play and players don’t lose balls on the course. There’s not a lot of water and we gain time because we’re very well organised.

It’s also an easy course to maintain; we have Paspalum grass, which handles the bad water (from a treatment plant, which is what we have here) very well, and it’s always green. The greens are Bermuda – I believe the only course in Spain using that grass. It’s a bit tougher but there are no spike marks. It handles the water we have, and the diseases, much better.

- The 27 holes were completed in two stages…

- Yes, first the championship course and then, much later, the other nine holes below, Los Lagos, which are slightly shorter, with more water and better for higher-handicap players or beginners.

- Do you believe this course is one of Pepe Gancedo’s best designs?

- I think so. That’s what the golfers also say. The estate was truly magnificent, with unbeatable views. You can see the sea from each hole, and there’s a lot of space and little construction within the course. In addition, we always have a breeze, which means we enjoy enviable temperatures.

- How would you describe the course?

- To be honest, I would say it’s a fun course; you don’t walk off the 18th frustrated, as happens at other courses. Not here: you finish your round with a relaxed feeling because you haven’t had a disaster.

It’s a very well-formed course, with few complications, very natural, built on old terraces dating to the banana plantation, and you can still see the separating walls.

- It’s an open course, with large greens?

- Yes, it is. The fairways are wide and the greens fast and precise. There are no breaks in all directions. They are fair and honest.

- If you have 80,000 rounds a year we imagine it’s because the average golfer like the course as it’s set up…

- That’s true, and it’s why most of our golfers keep coming back. Nearly half return every year. When they leave they make their bookings for the following year.

We offer the best golf possible: a perfect climate, a good course, excellent cuisine, tranquillity and good service. The prices are also moderate.

- Your position in the rankings is very high…

- On the Leading Golf Courses of the World list we are sixth in Spain, and it’s the clients who give us this ranking. It values design, maintenance, etc., but it’s our service that gives us particularly brilliant results.

Few courses can boast that they have La Gomera opposite, very close, the sea, the climate… It’s a real dream to play Golf Costa Adeje.