Santa Clara Golf: Welcome mat always in evidence

For those who enjoy playing on a delightfully maintained golf course, while also savouring an extra degree of comfort, Santa Clara Golf is the venue to head for. Situated behind the Costa del Sol hospital on the N340, Santa Clara was designed by Enrique Canales and since it opened in 2001 has gained an enviable reputation for looking after its guests from the moment of arrival.

I enjoyed the “welcome mat” experience as soon as I drove through the guarded entrance into the car park. There a buggy awaited and whisked me, together with my golf clubs, to the very imposing clubhouse.

The caddy master is located in a well-stocked professional’s shop where you can find the best clothing, such as Golfino or Emporio Armani, and on the afternoon of my visit a smiling caddy master was checking-in visiting golfers. Her fingers flew over the computer keyboard as she registered me in a most courteous manner and I was on my way in jig time. The buggy allocated was sparkling clean and came complete with the card, a quality questionnaire, a pencil and its own “on-board ball and club washer”.

When the clock on the first tee moved to my exact start time the starter, having thoughtfully checked that I had a card of the course, invited me to drive off. Standing on the tee, under the gaze of two palm trees, as tall and erect as guardsmen, there is a marvellous feeling of freedom, no doubt created by the fairways of the first, ninth, 10th and 18th, which run parallel and seem to offer a massive target for the opening drive. Care must be taken to avoid a sizeable olive tree in the middle of the fairway about 100 metres from the green while, just before the putting surface, a bush-type tree also comes into the reckoning. The apron on the left of the large green is closely mown and tends to gather golf balls down into a waiting bunker.

The par-3 second measures 157 metres (all measurements from yellow tees) and has a river bed, with just a trickle of water, running up the left; not the tee on which a quick hook should be produced. The green is shallow but wide and a ball running over the back will find safe haven.

The par-4 third measures just 224 metres and dog-legs 90 degrees to the right. While a medium iron, wafted out onto the fairway, followed by a pitch will be sufficient for the average player the longer hitter will be tempted to “have a go”. When the hole is played the traditional way there is a big bunker to the right of the green and the long hitters should remember that, for them, that bunker will guard the front. Despite the fact that some players will enjoy the challenge of having a whack at the green it is a somewhat disappointing hole. PS: remember to ring the bell to warn the long hitters.

An attractive pagoda-style bridge over the earlier mentioned river gives access to the next tee, a par-4 lined on both sides with palms, and an odd banana tree, while the river bed continues meandering up the left. About 100 metres from the green the hazard eats into the fairway, making the landing area considerably narrower. The narrow but long putting surface is well bunkered on the left while the opposite side is severely banked.

The 307-metre par-4 fifth is played from an elevated tee into a valley sprinkled with trees. The fairway then rises up sharply to an elevated green over which five gnarled old trees stand guard. Sufficient club to get the ball into the heart of the green is imperative; otherwise it is sure to tumble back down into the valley from whence it came. The two-tiered green slopes from back to front while danger lurks in the front right-hand corner, where a ball will disappear into a tangle of waiting bushes.

The par-3 sixth measures 142 metres and the tee shot across a valley must carry directly onto the green. I was told this hole had been modified in order to increase security and speed up the game. The result is a nice middle range hole where a big green protected by sand and grass bunkers awaits my ball.

On the day of my visit the bougainvillea draped over the bridge behind the seventh tee was not quite in bloom but was sure to be a blaze of colour before long. The fairway speeds uphill in a series of steps and a drive not finding refuge on one of the plateaux will run the risk of tumbling all the way back down to the tee, and maybe beyond. About 100 metres short of the green on the right a huge rock, with a palm on top, creates an interesting feature but less so if your golf ball happens to ricochet off it. The putting surface is shallow but wide and banked at the back.

A tunnel (with interior lighting, no less) brings me to the eighth where timber steps, made from railway sleepers, form a pathway up to the tee. There are more leading to the back marker and the climb is worth it, if only to savour for a moment the staggering view of the coastline and a sparkling Mediterranean in the background. Trees conceal the landing area, on this par-5 measuring 498 metres, and the bunker in the far distance should be taken as the line. The fairway swings around to the right and, with the normal amateur shot being a slice, the shape of the hole is perfect. Hillocks and trees are scattered hither and thither on the fairway as it meanders downwards for something over 200 metres, from which point it plunges down onto another plateau. If the second shot is sliced it may well carry the buggy path and wind up buried in dense bushes. One hundred metres from the green, the fairway heads downwards again until it reaches the putting surface, which is 37 metres in length. An approach shot hooked outside the bunkers on the left of the green will see the ball bound downwards and finish on the ninth fairway, from where escape will be difficult. This is an exciting hole which requires concentration throughout.

The final hole on the outward journey runs parallel, but in the opposite direction, to the first with the green tucked in a corner beside the clubhouse. Trees on the left half of the fairway tend to narrow the target area as it moves gently to the left on its approach to the green. Also on that side, tree branches overhang the heart-shaped putting surface.

A generous fairway awaits the tee shot on the par-5 10th, which is separated from the first by the buggy path. Danger lies in the shape of a river, which commences its journey about 250 metres from the tee on the left and then swings across the fairway about 100 metres from the green. Care should be taken with the second shot as the carry across the hazard is considerably wider than it appears from a distance. The final section of fairway rises up to a green where steep banking helps to run the ball back onto the putting surface.

The fairway of the short par-4 11th (269 metres) travels so sharply uphill the flag on the green in the distance appears to be fluttering against the skyline. The immense putting surface slopes considerably from back to front and is well bunkered.

The first indication of how high I had climbed (in my buggy!) came when, standing on the 12th tee, I realised that I was on the same level as the third floor of the nearby hospital. A plaque on the tee celebrated the fact that the following three holes are known as, “Santa Clara Golf Corner”, which only indicated to me that certain calamity lay in store. The fairway gallops downwards in a series of steps, with a boundary fence on the left, until eventually it plunges down to the green, on the right of which lie a series of attractive water features.

The par-3 13th is yet another long one (182 metres) and a lake guards the front of a shallow but wide green framed with palms.

The par-5 14th offers a generous landing area but the scrubland on the left is not very inviting. The final section of the fairway consists of a series of humps and hollows, after which it rises up to its destination. The shallow but wide green is triangular in shape (well almost) and is guarded on the front by a lethal looking bunker.

The next hole is located on a different parcel of land and to get to it I travelled out through a gate, up a road, around a round-a-bout and in through another gate, all the time taking care in case of traffic. A par-3 measuring 165 metres, the main difficulty will be in club selection. Provided the green is not missed on the right, or over the back, it presents little danger.

Standing on the 16th tee the eye is immediately caught by the river bed in front and on the left but, assuming that can be dismissed from the mind, the challenge is relatively simple. (May the Golfing Gods forgive me!)

The par-4 17th measures 309 metres and is shaped like a boomerang. The fairway slopes from right to left as it turns in the same direction, first of all gradually and then sharply, as it rises up to an elevated green bunkered on the left.

There is quite a journey to the final tee but the hole is a delightful creation. The drive must fly out through an avenue of trees, and carry a river bed, before it reaches the safety of the fairway. The trees on the right are close enough to cause serious problems to a drawn drive so a fade is the preferred, or maybe only, option. A lake, with fountains splashing water high into the air, surrounds both the back and sides of the green while three palms stand rigidly to attention as if on guard duty. Should an approach shot splash into a watery grave there is a drop zone which requires a delicate pitch back over the water. Not for me, thank you! Behind the dropping area timber seating has been provided, where those who have already come to grief in the water may sit and take solace as countless others suffer a similar fate.

So came to an end my round at Santa Clara Golf and the final hole is an impressive picture which will live long in the memory. Other mental pictures retained will be of an immaculately presented golf course with top-class greens. On the negative side I felt that the par-3s were a shade too long; with just one measuring marginally less than 142 metres they offered little respite.

After a shower I adjourned to the upstairs restaurant and enjoyed a club sandwich served by a very professional and attentive waiter. Santa Clara is a top-class facility where the services offered, from the moment of arrival, are faultless and the 10-minute tee time intervals allow play to move at a continuous and comfortable pace.

Santa Clara was once included among those golf clubs considered expensive, but it changed the commercial policy by adapting its rates to the market and thus achieved an excellent quality for money ratio, where the golfer can enjoy added comfort and the sheer bliss of playing this interesting and well-managed golf course.

Santa Clara Golf Marbella