Málaga’s Guadalhorce Golf Club is, without a doubt, enjoying the best moment of its 26-year history.
The course was designed at the end of the 1980s by Finnish architect Kosti Kuronen, who outlined its layout on an old farming plot located next to the river that gives it its name.
The first nine holes are typical parkland, winding through gentle hills, with little vegetation and no lakes. The second nine, on the other hand, are more undulating, with more inclines and water coming into play on several holes.
A few years ago Miguel Ángel Jiménez redesigned the whole course, thus making it the great Málaga-born player’s only 18-hole layout on the Costa del Sol.
“We are in the best moment of our history,” says club manager Salvador Álvarez, “for one very simple reason, because when the club was built it wasn’t ‘finished’ as planned, neither the course nor the clubhouse – a ramshackle old 18th century house. They had to adapt it to the budget, and did what they could.
“In latter years, thanks to the efforts of members, the board of directors and the staff, we’ve been putting it in order and doing what couldn’t be done at the start, so that’s why we are at an optimum moment. If we compare photos from 1990 with those of now we can appreciate the huge difference to the course. What’s happened is that we are reaching this ‘sweet point’ at a time when, due to the passage of time, we have to start modifying and renovating things… We’ve managed to reach – in many aspects – a very high level, especially after the structural reform carried out by Miguel Ángel Jiménez a few years ago.
“It could be said that, if there were a ranking of clubs, Guadalhorce Golf Club has boosted its standing.”
