Golf Travel
Spain – Homeland of the NCAA Women’s Golf Champion leaders As Azahara Munoz and Carlotta Ciganda, led the ASU team to its NCAA championship and Maria Hernandez of Purdue became the individual NCAA champion, we toured their country’s region of Andalucia, Spain playing the very courses they played as juniors to become the successful collegiate golfers they are. Everywhere we went, people recognized their names just as well as their famous countrymen, Ballesteros and Danny & Alice Scott Garcia. You may never have thought of Spain as a golfing destination , but we discovered that it is a beautiful place to play. We flew from New York City to Malaga Spain, via Madrid. It is a small airport, fairly easy to maneuver and the rental car company had us quickly on the road to our timeshare where we met a couple from England at the pool, had a nice dinner with them and called it an early night. Rising too early for anything to be open locally, we set off for Gibraltar. The higher we drove, the more dangerous it felt as dawn approached. The sun had risen as we reached the top. We snapped pictures by the cannon, admiring the multiple coasts and countries’ view, The old town of Mijas was the next destination up the coast. Paved with cobblestone streets on a mountainside, it has a magnificent view of the sea and terrific shops to explore. We were drawn by a sign on the road above, for the golf course Alhaurin, and were happy to play it as it was different than any other. A natural mountain setting with a distant old castle, reminds you of Don Quixote with only a few new townhomes, pleasantly placed in groupings distant enough from immediate fairways. Pines mix with figs and olive trees. Flowers were in abundance and ranged from the sweet Alhaurin Golf Club smelling honeysuckles to Queen Annes’ lace the size of dinner plates. Metric conversion is tricky when you are trying to focus on the rest of golfing details. Tee boxes note the difference in yards, but in the fairway, a GPS unit is desirable. A visit to Valderrama is first class from the moment you pass through the gate until you load the clubs back in your car. The course is lined with a lush forest of trees that was unexpected after touring much of southern Spain. The signature hole is number 4. Robert Trent Jones calls this one of his favorite par 5’s in the world. The 11th green offers an ocean view to the east and the rock of Gibraltar to the west. Valderrama is home to the Volvo Classic as well as the 1997 Ryder Cup. It’s a peaceful course with the only sound being the wind through the trees. Todo es tranquilo. Returning to Matalascenas , via Tarifa, we discovered a very turquoise sea. We zoomed through Cadiz, Europe’s oldest inhabited city, way too fast, marveling at the architecture and so many students on View From The Rock! mopeds. We will definitely return to spend more time there as well as in Jerez where we arrived too late for the sherry tours and in the middle of the bull fight, but had a great dinner with Flamenco costumes surrounding us. As we left the city, we discovered why so many gals had their authentic dresses as the horse fair was in full swing. If we had do-overs, we would have spent the night, bought the attire and joined in. Nuevo Portil , en route to the Portugal border, is Plaza of Seville a course with long blue winged birds, a crazy cart path with crazy buggies to match. The first green is surrounded by a wet cattail marsh. It’s a gated course and between holes, we somehow managed to get locked out. Other golfers came to our rescue. Houses and apartments line the fairway purchased by mostly Canadians, Swiss and other Europeans. Hole 16 from the tips offers no visible fairway, but the fragrance of honey suckle calms the nerves. We crossed over to Portugal, where huge storks nest on the light posts. We stopped at various sea ports to shop for linens and eat the seafood. Losing our way on the dark ride home, we spotted an old eighth century castle in Las Nieblas, Spain. We returned the next day for a tour and were thoroughly amazed by the low ceilinged, gruesome torture chambers. We traveled to Torre Molinos the last day to be close to the Malaga airport where 3 hours is recommended for a sure departure. It turned into another delightful opportunity to soak up the Spanish sun on a 17th Hole Valderrama different beach just a short walk down a zillion steps from the city. The central part is a shopping mecca, especially if you love high fashion purses at low prices. In between the shops are restaurants where, in the evening you can sit and watch the locals promenade with family, friends and dogs. We had a room across from a local tavern that called to us for a night cap. There was nothing touristy about it. We had oysters on the half shell and our last Spanish wine before our journey home. We could have stayed a month or more. We believe the native golf gals will always be happy to return home, believe that we will revisit and believe that Don Quixote must be real after all!
16 / New England Golf Monthly
My Heart Will Rest at Ballybunion Old By Matthew E. Adams
Ballybunion Old, an apt moniker, indeed For this masterpiece was not built, not shaped, never put to seed It is as God left it, a natural beauty, something to amaze, Deep valleys, plummeting cliffs and heather shrouded dunes, bathed in ethereal haze Upon the First Tee, heart racing and senses acute and ablaze, Remiss the ball sliced too soon, for awaits an eternal entombed gaze To each, these links whisper an individual refrain Of humor, perspective and joy, in sunshine or in rain For here, one’s soul is set free to soar, Like a spinning orb of light chasing an elusive score Starting down wind, to each a snickering grin, But upon the Seventh Tee, reality sets in Hard by the Atlantic, a ferocious tempus gale, A low drive, squarely struck, is rapture to prevail Imagination is perhaps the most important club of all, For links golf is quirky and sincere, a maiden siren’s call The Eleventh Hole, the “best in the world,” so Tom did decide, While the Fifteenth awaits another to abide The Sixteenth is soaring and majestic, surely not the least, The Seventeenth awaits, an ancient Celtic feast Embraced by dunes, the Eighteenth offers the putt one will sink, Moments aloft from the Guinness one will drink Thank you, Ballybunion Old for memories never forgotten, For here my heart will rest, a links-love begotten