It was 1975 when Marbella’s fourth club was inaugurated. Over time the municipality would end up with the highest number of golf courses in Spain (currently 15).

It was in the privileged natural setting of Marbella’s Golf Valley – just five minutes from Puerto Banús, and blessed with a microclimate thanks to its protection from northerly winds beneath the iconic La Concha peak – that Spain’s most renowned golf course designer, Javier Arana, created one of his enduring masterpieces: Aloha Golf.

The outstanding Basque designer’s imprint was not only reflected in this superb layout but also in the choice of trees and plants that populate the course, the aim being for golfers to be able to enjoy flowering species at any time of the year.

Aloha is clearly a course where you can luxuriate in both a magnificent golfing challenge and the vistas and fragrances of its lush natural surroundings.

The course has hosted three Andalucian Opens on the European Tour and a Spanish Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.

Held in 2007, the first Andalucian Open was won by Englishman Lee Westwood with a 20-under total of 268. Along the way, he set a new course record of 64, and his victory marked the end of a long winless drought and a pivotal moment in his career, which culminated in his rise to number one in the world rankings two years after his Aloha triumph, dethroning Tiger Woods himself from top spot.

In 2008, France’s Thomas Levet won at Aloha in a play-off against Oliver Fisher after both had finished on 272. The third Andalucian Open at Aloha, in 2012, was won by another Frenchman, Julien Quesne, with a total of 271. The Spanish Women’s Open held last year at Aloha was won for the first time by a Spaniard and, even better still for local fans, Marbella-born Azahara Muñoz, who carded a 10-under 278 and beat American Beth Allen by one shot.

Major Improvements

As part of its ongoing commitment to showcasing the course in perfect condition at all times, in recent years Aloha has been undertaking the required investments to achieve that objective. The course has recently been re-opened after remaining closed for three months to accommodate a major renovation project.

Club manager Juan Álvarez explains what this entailed. “Basically, the main work involved improvements to the irrigation system, through a perfect triangulation of new sprinklers, each one of them individually controlled, to achieve perfect irrigation coverage. From the point of view of agronomic management of the course, this provides us with a very, very good tool to ensure it is in fantastic condition.”

“Thanks to this new irrigation system, we will be able to improve the course maintenance, playability and appearance, and lead to energy and water savings, and all of that so that members can enjoy the course in excellent condition throughout the year, which is our objective.”

Without a doubt, this important work carried out by all those involved with the golf course maintenance, headed by Ángel Chacón, and the programs implemented by Troon together with the improvements carried out, will represent a top-level step up in quality for Aloha.

Additional Initiatives

In addition to the improvements in the irrigation system mentioned above, other initiatives were undertaken at this historic Costa del Sol course during the three months it was closed. “We have renovated all the tee platforms, we have carried out some intensive work spiking or eliminating organic material on the greens, and we have repaired some areas on the pathways. In short, work that has resulted in improvements to both the aesthetics and the playability of the course,” says Álvarez, who is especially well versed in this area thanks to his background as an agronomist.

“We have also,” he adds, “carried out a major project to recuperate the Bermuda in the rough areas, and we then completed an intensive schedule of maintenance work on the rest of the course, on the fairways, green fringes, bunkers… And in addition we have renewed the equipment fleet.”

Thanks to these initiatives, “we have a solid foundation in order to offer our members a course in excellent maintenance condition because, as far as the design is concerned, being an Arana course says it all.”

Aloha Golf is one of the Costa del Sol courses with the most impressively lush, varied and attractive tree vegetation, a wonderful garden setting that can be enjoyed visually as golfers play a round – together with stunning sea views. An inventory is being completed of all the examples so the club can catalogue its natural wealth. “It was something that was necessary, because we have a great variety of species: pine, carob, olive, palm, araucaria... The Aloha flora is without a doubt extremely rich and varied.”

Easy Bogey, Tough Par

As far as the actual layout is concerned, Álvarez describes the course illustratively as, “easy bogey, tough par, which means mid-handicap players can enjoy it. It’s not a course where you lose balls, and the design is a great help to average players, but in the end Arana managed to ensure that good players would find it difficult to achieve a good result. So the course is very well designed, and also great fun to play: people say it is a classic course that you can play every day and never be bored – there is always something new.”

When it comes to highlighting specific holes on the parkland-style course, a par-72 extending 6,293 metres, Álvarez mentions the par-threes – “very good and challenging” – although if he had to highlight just the one hole at Aloha Golf it would be the 18th (a par-four, 410 metres from the white and 380 metres from the yellow markers). “As the final hole, and even if it weren’t, it is a hole that has something really special: it’s not difficult and it’s not easy; you don’t make a birdie easily and you can end up with some drama if you hit your ball into the water on the left… In fact, in the Spanish Ladies Open, with Azahara Muñoz and Beth Allen playing for the title, the American hit into the water on the 18th.”

Vibrant Social Life

Aloha Golf, whose president is lawyer Rafael Fontán, has 1,200 members, with the main nationalities British, Scandinavian and Spanish, although there are citizens from a diverse range of other countries. The club is known for its lively and intense social life. “There is always a good atmosphere. We have been closed for three months for the renovations, and obviously you notice this a little, but the practice area and par-three course have been open, so members have still kept on coming here.”

Álvarez notes that one of the many aspects that helps keep the club’s social life active is the great quality of its restaurant, run by Fermín Muñoz.