COSTA DEL GOLF

LIVING THE DREAM

One of the great attractions of living on the Costa del Sol is that you can enjoy all of your favourite leisure pursuits and lifestyle indulgences. You love the beach? You’re in luck. The picturesque coastline is dotted with stunning frontline Mediterranean-style townhouses and apartment complexes. You prefer the tranquility of a more exclusive setting? Again, the Coast is full of gated and secure residential estates with outstanding contemporary villas – from the coastal area into the nearby mountains and rustic hinterland. Or perhaps you’re a golfer? If so, you are in the best place possible. The “Costa del Golf” is Europe’s premier golf resort for holidaymakers and residential-tourists, with more than 70 top courses whose fairways and surrounding avenues are lined with magnificent homes for golfers to buy, either for personal use or for investment purposes – for example, renting to other visiting golfers. The golfing community on the Costa del Sol – both resident and visiting – also reflects the area’s wonderfully multinational demographic, a veritable melting pot of golfers of all cultural backgrounds, ages, gender and playing ability. The ambience at golf clubs is both socially enriching and highly active – providing golfers with a home away from home.

All courses on the Costa del Sol have property developments either incorporated as part of the golf complex itself, or nearby and within easy walking distance. They range from luxurious mansions lining the fairways and sumptuous villas strategically dotted around the course to spacious townhouses and high-end apartment buildings in the outlying streets – offering residents both privacy and superb views overlooking the course.

YEAR-ROUND GOLF The Costa del Sol is one of the few places in Europe where golfers can play 365 days a year. When courses are closed in Finland and other northern countries because of inclement winter weather, those on Spain’s sunny southern coast remain open and fully playable. The Coast’s superb golf courses are complemented by other first-class club amenities including state-ofthe-art driving ranges and academies, clubhouses with elegant bar, lounge and dining areas, and comfortable changing rooms and (in some cases) gym and spa services.

TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS Málaga-Costa del Sol International Airport is one of Europe’s key transport hubs, with convenient daily connections to Finland and other European countries, and regular services linking other overseas destinations. On arrival, golfers will also find excellent road connections, highlighted by a dual-carriageway coastal highway as well as a separate tollway from Fuengirola – starting 20 kilometres from the airport (which is serviced by all the major car rental companies) – to Sotogrande. There are also convenient, well-maintained and regularly upgraded road connections from the coast to all the area’s golf courses, especially those located in the increasingly popular “Golden Triangle” area encompassing Marbella, Estepona and Benahavís.

DIVERSE LOCATIONS In 1997, in the lead-up to the Ryder Cup at Valderrama, new road signs started to appear along the coast: “Costa del Sol – Costa del Golf”. The slogan might have been coined by local tourism authorities but it was not just a clever marketing ploy. The Costa del Sol can, genuinely without any semblance of exaggeration, be described as such. Today, the Coast’s 70-plus golf courses are the highest number of any similar area in Andalucía, Spain or indeed Europe. They are distributed along 120 kilometres of coastline from the eastern border of Málaga province with Granada to Sotogrande in the west, just over the border into Cádiz province and the Campo de Gibraltar area. Marbella alone has 15, the most of any municipality in Spain, followed by the neighbouring municipalities of Mijas and Benahavis (the latter also having the highest number of courses per capita in Spain). Many have been designed by some of the most renowned names in golf, including legendary golf course architects Robert Trent Jones (Valderrama, Los Naranjos, Las Brisas, Marbella Golf & Country Club and Mijas Golf) and Spain’s own Javier Arana (Guadalmina, Río Real and Aloha), as well as star players Severiano Ballesteros (Los Arqueros) and Gary Player (El Paraiso). STELLAR HISTORY It’s not just about quantity, however. Since Royal Sotogrande was the venue for the 1966 Spanish Open, the Costa del Sol has hosted dozens of European Tour and Ladies European Tour events. Iconic golfing moments over the past six decades have included World Cups at Las Brisas (1973 and 1989), two World Golf Championships and 16 Volvo Masters at Royal Valderrama, and three World Matchplay Championships at Finca Cortesín (in Casares municipality, west of Estepona). To date, the Costa del Sol’s most globally significant golfing showpiece was the 1997 Ryder Cup, when captain Seve Ballesteros led his European team to a riveting victory against the Americans at Valderrama, the first time the event had been held outside the UK or the US. History will also be made in 2023, when Finca Cortesín hosts the Solheim Cup, which pits Europe’s top women players against their American counterparts, for the first time in Spain. In the meantime, after the Aramco Team Series held at La Reserva de Sotogrande in August this year, the Ladies European Tour returns to the Coast from 25 to 28 November with the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, following the Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters from 14 to 17 October at Valderrama on the men’s European Tour.