Guadalhorce Golf Club celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013. Set up with the idea of attracting Málaga golfers discontented with the Parador, the club has moved on from its original plan to become, in addition, one of the most popular courses among European golfers visiting the Costa del Sol.

Designed by Finland’s Kosti Kuronen, the course underwent a major remodelling a few years ago by Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who gave it his own personal touch. The manager is Salvador Alvarez, who has been closely associated with the club, and the golf industry in general, for 21 years.

- How has the club evolved over the years? How did the idea come about to set up the club?

- Even though work began on the course a quarter-century ago, it opened for play in 1990. It was a completely Málaga-orientated project, very complicated at the start, begun by a group of members from the Parador, most of them long-time federation members and with very low handicaps. They had their disagreements with the policy being followed at the time by that club and decided to build a course for Málaga golfers, with fees that were not individual, but for families. The initiative was led by Ángel de la Riva with 10 other people… They were the ones who found the farmland plot, owned by the Larios family, with a 18th century farmhouse that, of course, needed to be renovated.

They also purchased another adjacent plot to provide more space and be able to undertake the project they had in mind. At first, it was only proposed to build nine holes because there weren’t enough funds for more, but in the end they found a group of Finns prepared to take part and they were able to complete 18 holes.

With the crisis in the 1990s, the Finnish partners struggled to sell their package of shares and that created tensions at the club. Finally, in 2000, agreement was reached to buy their share. That’s why I believe you could say that it was at that time when Guadalhorce was truly born as a Málaga course.

Today, the club has 650 members, a total that has been growing and improving gradually. Since then we haven’t stopped doing things: over these years we’ve planted 8,000 trees and completed a re-design of the course by our honorary member Miguel Ángel Jiménez. That was eight years ago and, as a course is a living organism, we’ve continued to carry out renovations and continual improvements.

Guadalhorce is a non-profit-making club and all extra revenue we invest in the course and the club to provide better service for our members.

Our idea is that members can come here with their children, and to that end we have a team of instructors who look after them and teach them to play golf, so their parents don’t have to worry about them while they’re at the club.

These members’ children have been and remain a point of reference within the world of golf. The club has, for example, produced Pablo Martín, whom we offer our encouragement to return to battle (the three-time European Tour champion has struggled with his game over the past two seasons), and a whole generation of golfers who have reached scratch or plus-one. Also from here is José María Zamora, now a tournament director with the European Tour and for many years the club champion.

In short, Guadalhorce was set up in a traditional spirit, with people who had excellent career paths in the world of golf, and that was apparent from the start because we soon gained prestige and vintage character which, at other clubs, would have taken much longer to achieve.

- Describe the course for us...

- First of all, I would highlight the fact that Guadalhorce is a course with enormous greens, tough but with very fine breaks, albeit sometimes hard to read. Reaching the green might be easy but taking two putts is not so much.

The first nine holes are a little steeper, more typical English parkland, although we only have two light inclines on the fairways of the first and fifth holes. The others are gentle hills and stream beds.

The sixth tee is spectacular as it’s raised and has the whole fairway below it, which encourages you to hit your drive with everything you have.

The second nine, the lower part of the course, is flatter, with longer holes. On the 15th, for example, it is hard to reach the green in two.

Westerly and easterly winds – the most predominant – have a significant effect on this part of the layout, and can change the course completely. On this second nine, also without any houses, like on the front nine, there are quite a few lakes and hardly any out of bounds. There are even two holes that run parallel to the river, which is considered to be a water hazard. The 17th, re-designed by Miguel Ángel Jiménez, is spectacular. The green has been converted into an isthmus surrounded by water, with access by a small corridor. The 18th, with the clubhouse at the back, is also stunning.

And, in spite of the changes made by Miguel – the course is now more technical – we haven’t noticed any major differences in general results compared with those achieved with the previous design.

It’s an enjoyable and pleasant course to play, and we don’t make it too punishing, although we have the opportunity of toughening it up with high rough, pin positions, etc. At the moment we are revamping bunkers, completing major work on the paths and improving the clubhouse.

- One of the other main features of Guadalhorce is the clubhouse service...

- Yes. Over the past 20 years we have had a great franchisee for the restaurant, Doña Francisquita, who has unfortunately now left us, and we have a tender out to sign up a new one. At the moment, we’re trying a chain called Matahambres, and we like them a lot because they’ve provided a line of catering adapted for us.

As for the club’s services, I would like to highlight Iván Hurtado’s IH school, which Pablo Martín wants to become associated with, setting up a top-level training centre, with a fitting area, approach area, bunkers of different depths, its own putting green, swing analysis, etc.