While other clubs were deeply concerned about the effects of the crisis and made tough and painful adjustments in an effort to balance their accounts and adapt to the new situation, in 2012 Mijas Golf undertook a major investment to completely renovate Los Lagos – the Costa del Sol complex’s flagship course.

They drained the many lakes that give the course its name (due to the silt accumulated over 40 years they were barely 30 centimetres deep, compared with two and a half metres originally); the fairways, tees and greens were improved, following recommendations by the USGA (United States Greenkeepers Association); and they installed a new drainage network and the full Links irrigation programme (by US company Toro) – the first course to do so on the Costa del Sol.

In short, the course was adapted to new international specifications, and all without changing the original design by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Sr., also responsible for Mijas Golf’s other layout, Los Olivos.

For decades, both layouts were standard-bearers for golf tourism in Andalucía, and made decisive contributions to the creation and consolidation of the Costa del Sol’s first-rate image.

 

Now, Mijas Golf, under the management of Lorenzo Pérez Cortés, is once again in a superb state, and set to return to its place among the most highly rated golf resorts in Europe. In fact, visitor figures demonstrate that their efforts have been – and continue to be – very positive.

“The truth is, we are having a magnificent year,” says Francisco Tirado, the club’s greenkeeper, who is supervising the new gardening and renovation work being carried out in various parts of Mijas Golf, and which involves the pitching and putting green, as well as the landscaping that frames the two courses. Some of the approach areas in front of the greens are also being tidied up.

As for decorative landscaping, they are applying “xeriscaping”, a kind of gardening that combines extensive surfaces of small stones with plants that require minimal irrigation, which results in great savings with water and also requires less maintenance.

“It’s all very environmentally friendly,” says Tirado. “We are going to install this landscaping around the greens, on parts of the fairways that come less into play, on tee areas… bit by bit.

“What we want to do,” he continues, “is slightly follow the US course model, with very well defined fairways, little rough and the rest all plants. That’s our objective and I believe Los Lagos will be like that in two or three years at the most.”

The plan for this year and next at Los Lagos is to remodel the areas in front of the greens that didn’t end up in a particularly good state following the major project of 2012, and apply xeriscaping to specific decorative areas of the layout.

Once all the work at Los Lagos is finished, a start will be made on gradual improvements to Los Olivos, according to the Mijas Golf greenkeeper. In any event, small projects are already being carried out on the latter course, involving some bunkers and tees.