Despite all the economic doom and gloom regarding the European economy and in particular that of Spain, the Andalucian Tourism sector is having a bumper year. Arrivals at Malaga Airport which has just opened its second runway and a new terminal are up 12% year on year to July.

As the saying goes “it’s an ill wind that blows no good”. The Arab Spring has given a great boost to tourist arrivals in Spain. The tourism sector in Egypt and Tunisia, two competitor destinations, have been all but wiped out for this year resulting in substantial gains for Spanish tourism.

This has resulted in a firming of prices for hotel rooms and other components of a golf holiday. It can come as something of a surprise to clients from the UK and Ireland who increasingly expect Spain to be slashing prices in the same way it is happening locally due to the recession.

There may well be a recession in Spain but Tourism is experiencing something of a micro boom.

The second runway will effectively double the capacity of the airport and ensure future growth. €550 million has been spent on the project, part of a ten year €1.6 billion investment in the airport as a whole.

The new runway is 2,750m long and has an additional 340m which can be used to help in take offs. It means it can be used by all the latest generation planes which are heavier and larger. The runway is 45 m wide with an extra 7 metre margin on each side.

The runway asphalt is 32 cms deep so it can support the weight of the planes. (Just as well!)

A new 4.1 km tunnel had to be built for the local train line to go under the new runway.

An additional capacity for 27 stationary planes is also part of the project.

The new runway completes the latest phase of development at Malaga Airport following on from the opening of the new Terminal building in 2011.

Malaga Airport’s new terminal building.

During the summer the affable Scot, Derek Brown has retired from his position as Director of Golf at Valderrama. Anyone who has ever played Valderrama will know Derek. He had an amazing ability to make visitors from around the globe feel welcome.

No matter where your home club was Derek knew someone from it. He would always put visitors at ease in what can be a daunting environment. Derek has been replaced by Javier Reviriego who previously held the same position at Finca Cortesin.

Derek Brown Javier Reviriego

We wish them both well and are delighted to be able to say that Derek will be staying on the Costa and his days in “golf” are long from over.

Watch this space.

Contry to recent rumor Valderama Golf Club has not been purchased by a company associated with Greg Norman.

Built in 1976 by Robert Trent Jones the very popular Mijas Los Lagos will close for the entire 2012 Season. During the 12 months, Los Lagos will be completely rebuilt with all new greens and fairways and will have a new irrigation system installed.

However there are no plans to redesign the course. So if you are planning to include Mijas in your 2012 trip it will have to be Los Olivos which will remain open throughout the year.

In order to clarify the procedure for returning cars rented through us with Espacar we would ask you to note the following instructions.

1. Passing the Sam Miguel brewery on the left you arrive at the main roundabout before the airport.
2. You will see the terminal building in front of you.
3. Follow sign for airport and “Salida” (salida / exit)
4. Stay on the right hand lane and do not follow Car-Rental returns signs.
5. This will take you to the new Terminal 3 and its drop off zone. It’s preferable to drop any passengers here along with all luggage.
6. Continue to follow “Salida” signs in the left hand lane which will take you away from the terminal.
7. With the old main Terminal on your right hand side the short-term car park (called Parking Express) entrance will be on your left at 50m from the Terminal 3. DO NOT ENTER HERE.
8. Continue to exit away from the airport and the main Public Parking (P-1) entrance is on the left hand side.
9. Enter here please and you will be on the 2nd floor. Inside 40m on the right is the ramp to level 3.
10. Drive up to the 3rd floor and park here.
11. Please double check that you have taken all personal belongings (apartment keys on key-ring, passport, mobiles, CD’s in player, sunglasses etc).
12. Leave the window open enough to throw in the key having locked the car beforehand.
13. Leave the parking ticket visible so that the Espacar representative can find it.Bon Voyage and safe onward journey and we hope you will use Espacar services again in the near future.

Espacar offer GPS Rental

For an additional 5€ a day you can have a sweet Spanish voice (in English) guide you through the intricacies of the Andalucian motorway system. In fact the Costa del Sol is a relatively easy place to navigate however some of the urban areas can be a labyrinth.

The powers to be have had great fun changing speed limits on the Costa recently.

First they reduced the toll road limit from 120 to 110KM and 4 months later reversed the decision back to 120KM. Each change cost 250,000€ which the region can ill afford.

Then, and more importantly they reduced the limit on the coast road (N340 / A7) from 100 to 80km. The cynical would say the thinking was to create a wider gap with the toll road hence making it more beneficial to use the toll and more revenue for the authorities.

More troubling is that more and more clients are beginning to receive an unpleasant holiday snap shot of themselves behind the wheel of their rented car with a demand for payment of a fine (Multa) from the Guardia Civil. Whereas previously few if any fines were sent on to holiday makers they certainly now are. Whether or not there is any follow up over and above posting the fine we can’t actually say. We do know of a few clients who have coughed up the money – mostly in fear of being pulled aside at the airport on a future trip. While this is highly unlikely we have no inner knowledge of these matters.

Our only advice is to slow down. In fact in Spain all fixed speed cameras are signalled 500m in advance so really only the careless get caught!!

Good story if true!!!!

Lee Trevino – a true story. One day, shortly after joining the PGA tour in 1965, Lee Trevino, a professional golfer and married man, was at his home in Dallas, Texas mowing his front lawn, as he always did.

A lady driving by in a big, shiny Cadillac stopped in front of his house, lowered the window and asked, “Excuse me, do you speak English?”

Lee responded, “Yes ma’am, I do”.

The lady then asked, “What do you charge to do yard work ?”

Lee said, “Well, the lady in this house lets me sleep with her”.

The lady hurriedly put the car into gear and sped off.

We have put our neck on the line once too often in relation to predicting a date for the opening of this much awaited relief tunnel. The word now is “sometime in 2012”. It would seem to be about 95% finished but nobody (neither locally or the central Government in Madrid)  has the money to finance the remaining 5%. We can now say with certainty that it will open when it opens and not a day before.

San Pedro Tunnel Works a basket “mañana” case!

San Roque Suites have recently reopened their refurbished accommodation at the San Roque Resort. The tastefully decorated Suites (one and 2 bedrooms) were originally built to house the Ryder Cup Teams in 1997. Indeed today the suites carry the names of the team members who occupied them during the Ryder Cup.

In addition to a magnificent pool facility,  the resort boasts 3 restaurants – the Golf Club Clubhouse, Tango’s (Spanish Cuisine) and the world class Japanese Kamakura restaurant.

For golfers looking for comfortable accommodation in the midst of what is probably Europe’s finest cluster of quality golf courses (Valderrama, Sotogrande, San Roque, La Reserva & Finca Cortesin are all only a short drive) this is the place for you.

Please consult us for excellent rates.

Congratulations to the European Ladies Team who won the Solheim Cup in Dramatic fashion and in dramatic weather at Kileen Castle in Co. Meath, Ireland.

Much to the disappointment of Spain, France has been chosen to host the 2018 Ryder Cup. A yet to be built course at The French Federation’s Golf National at Les Yvlines on the outskirts of Paris will be the venue.

Many of you will be familiar with one of our favourite hotels the H10Andalucia Plaza Hotel and Casino in Puerto Banus. This year the property has become an “Adult Only” hotel.

Foyer – H10 Andalucia Plaza Hotel

For golfers looking for something more than Golf, Sun and Sangria we have designed a range of golf packages based on the various Cultural Capitals of Andalucia.

Arriving and Departing from Malaga, Seville or Gibraltar airports the standard itinerary is as follows.

Day 1

Arrive Malaga Airport and continue to Antequera. Overnight at the 5 star Hotel Convent La Magdalena

Day 2

Play Antequera Golf and continue to Granada.

Day 3

Visit the Alhambra – overnight at the Parador Hotel within the walls of the Alhambra.

Day 4

Play Granada Club de Golf and continue to Cordoba – overnight at the Vincci Hotel Cordoba.

Cordoba’s Mosque

Day 5

Morning visit the magnificent Cordoba Mosque and afternoon continue to Seville. Overnight at Hotel Vincci (5 star)

Day 6

Play Real Club de Golf, Seville. Afternoon visit Seville’s Cathedral and city centre. Overnight and Seville

Real Club de Golf,  Seville

Day 7

Drive to San Roque playing Montecastillo or Arcos Gardens en route or San Roque on arrival. Overnight at San Roque Suites.

Day 8

Return to Malaga or Gibraltar Airport for return flight

For prices and availability contact Golf Experience.

• Daren Clarke for getting away with speeding in his Mercedes between Belfast and Killarney to take part in the Irish Open. Luckily he had the Claret Jug on the passenger seat and the “Garda” let him off with a caution and a photo!

• European ladies for winning the Solheim Cup
• Great Britain & Ireland for winning the Seve Ballesteros Trophy in France
• The Dubs for getting the monkey off their back
• Wicklow for winning the All-Ireland Football final. Gender & category irrelevant. We won and that’s all the matters!
• Northern Irish golfers for winning everything worth winning
• Welsh rugby team for beating Ireland in the RWC
• Ireland for beating Australia in the RWC
• Malaga FC for finding a wealthy buyer and soaring up La Liga – why not take in a match when next on the Costa!

However the industry is resilient if only because you the traveller love to do just that – travel.

The last 10 days have been a very stressful period with staff working flat out to cope with the problems faced by our clients. We were busy repatriating golfers overland to Ireland, UK, Norway and France. Others choose to sit tight and see the storm out. These were accommodated and taken care of and most actually enjoyed the prolonged period and some fine weather.

We had numerous cancellations over the last 10 days. Our policy has been to refund all money or to reschedule if clients could arrange new dates. Many of these groups were able to roll-over the booking to future dates. Others cancelled and rebooked immediately when the skies suddenly reopened on Monday 19th April. Most of our suppliers, the hotels, golf courses and transport companies all cooperated and in the spirit of a real disaster “played ball” by ignoring the usual stringent cancellation policies. For this we would like to thank them.

Serious questions will have to be asked about the events and the management of the crisis. The politicians, aviation experts, air traffic controllers and meteorologists all seemed to have been a little at sea in coordinating a response.

I personally feel that the travelling public owe a debt of gratitude to British Airways CEO, Willie Walsh, who single handedly seems to have convinced the other sector decision makers that enough was enough and to allow planes to fly again. Walsh, a former pilot himself had the authority and credibility to bang heads together and get things moving.

We are not so impressed by the policy of the other infamous Irish aviator Michael O’Leary whose Ryanair simply issued a statement that they were closed for business until whenever the dust settled. And when it did that they would only refund passengers the amount of their tickets in total defiance of the EU charter on Air travel. Mr O’Leary needs to realise that with flying passengers on return tickets comes responsibilities and consequences and if he needs to factor this into his pricing policy so be it.

Valle Romano Golf Club in Estepona has now opened and we are delighted to say that it lives up to the hype. This Cabell Robinson (Finca Cortesin & La Reserva) designed course is setting the standard in terms of service and value for money. It is a very open course measuring 6000m off the yellows and is relatively flat although buggies are recommended due to the distances between greens and tees.

The greens are very large and undulating and the club house is among the most impressive on the Costa del Sol.

We have a great “opening” offer of €55 up to the end of September so we would highly recommend you including Valle Romano in your itinerary – you won’t be disappointed.

Terminal 3 Now Open

Note that you will now be arriving into the new terminal at Malaga Airport. If you have rented a car with us, the Espacar representative will meet you as you enter the arrivals hall. Do not go to the car-hire desk area. Unlike in the past he will not have your name on display but will have an Espacar logo.

Look for the Espacar Logo

If you do not see him immediately wait with the other car hire reps as he is probably out taking care of another client and will return very shortly..

The Espacar Team

We reiterate our call for clients to book their car-rentals for peak periods early this year. The shortage of cars will remain a feature throughout the year so for summer, Easter and all school breaks contact us as soon as possible. We recommend as usual our preferred partner “Espacar” at Malaga and Gibraltar airport.

Valle Romano Golf Course

Estepona

Designed by Cabell B. Robinson.

Opened in 2010.

Par 72. 6000 metres from yellows.

This course has been designed to be part of the European Tour. Its fairways can adapt to players of all levels and it has large greens. The course is located in the flattest part of the complex and goes from an elevation of 116 to one of 50.

One of the design objectives was to create a course that could be enjoyed by all golfers, from the lowest handicap to the highest. To achieve this, an average of 5 tee platforms have been constructed per hole and the greens are large (with an average size of 500 m2, although the largest reaches 1.000 m2). The greens, with their gentle but long slopes and large number of flag positions, are designed so that each hole on the course can be easy or very difficult.

See a Map of Golf Courses on the Costa Del Sol

See a List of Golf Courses on the Costa Del Sol

Over the years we have considered sending clients across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangiers and beyond and feel that the time is now right.

Morocco’s infrastructure has improved immensely in resent years with billions being spent improving the motor and rail network as well as a much improved air access with low cost carriers such as Easyjet and Ryanair who now serve Casablanca, Marrakesh, Tangiers and Agadier in the south.

We are approaching the market from two different angles:

Firstly as an add-on to a Costa del Sol trip.

Clients from the UK can fly into Malaga and out of Casablanca with Easyjet for example. Having crossed the Straits of Gibraltar by fast ferry (50 minutes) the journey-time to Rabat is 2 hours and 20 minutes on an international standard motorway.

By spending your last night in the capital Rabat you can play both courses at the magnificent Dar el Salam Club just outside Rabat. These Robert Trent Jones designed courses (45 holes) host the annual King-Hassan Trophy which will be a PGA European tour event this year.Previous winners include Payne Steward, Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomery.

Secondly we have a selection of Morocco only packages based in Marrakech, combining Marrakech with El Jadida and Rabat. These will mean taking direct flights from the UK to Morocco without a stay in Spain.

Caddies are an integral part of the Moroccan Experience.

Morocco has for a long time been the reserve of a francophone golfer.

However its golfing secret is fast escaping and we would love to show you this completely different and world class golfing experience.

Alcohol is freely available and while pub-crawls may not be the order of the day there are plenty of suitable watering holes and night-clubs to satisfy even the most demanding revelers.

For those with a sense of adventure and appreciation for an authentic and different golfing experience we would say that Morocco is definitely for you and that you won’t be disappointed.

Courses designed by Robert Trent Jones ( Dar Es Salam, Palmeraie in Marrakech ) and Cabell B. Robinson (Royal Fes, El Jadida, Amelkis in Marrakech, The Dunes Golf Club) are among the selection of world class course on offer. Some of Morocco’s courses date back to the 1920’s when French ruling classes indulged in the sport.

In recent years the royal family became the main patron of the sport.

The courses are unspoilt by real-estate and by European standards are excellent value. The top tier courses cost €50 including a caddie.

For more details on our exciting Morocco Golf Packages contact us on info@golfexperience.net

Don’t you just love this photo?

Valle Romano Golf Club in Estepona was due to open in November as we have come to expect with openings it has been delayed for a few months. We will keep you posted as this promises to be a top 10 contender on the Costa.

Golf Experience is particularly pleased with our special “golfers” rates at the excellent H10 Andalucia Plaza & Casino in Puerto Banus and its sister hotel the H10Estepona Palace.

We strongly recommend value and quality conscious clients to take the half-board options at either of these excellent properties. For clients venturing to Gran Canaria we are also offering the 5 star H10Playa Meloneras Palace – contact us for details.

H10 Andalucia Plaza Hotel & Casino – Puerto Banus

H10 Estepona Palace

H10 Playa Meloneras Palace

Situated in Meloneras, in the south of Gran Canaria, the H10 Playa Meloneras Palace is located on a quiet area in front of the sea and next to the Golf Meloneras. The thoughtful landscaping, and its cosy interior design make it a particularly charming hotel. Allow yourself be pampered at the Meloneras Wellness health and beauty centre.

The shortage of cars will remain a feature throughout the year so for summer, Easter and all school breaks contact us as soon as possible.

We recommend as usual our preferred partner “Espacar” at Malaga and Gibraltar airports.

For those who want the absolute cheapest car and especially at other main airports on the Iberian Peninsula and indeed anywhere in Europe, Golf Experience has teamed up with CarTrawler who will find you the cheapest deal around.

We knew that this first year would not be easy, but thanks to the efforts of all the Finca Cortesín staff their resort has been unanimously praised by players, press and public.

The weather was wonderful during the four-day tournament and the large number of fans that visited Finca Cortesín really enjoyed watching some of today’s golf stars. Of course, we are already working to improve the presentation and the organization for the 2010 tournament.

Here are some of the comments made by players about Finca Cortesín during the week:

Paul Casey: “This tournament is fantastic. Finca Cortesín is a wonderful place and it is one of the best hotels in which I have ever been in my life, it’s truly impressive. The golf course is in magnificent condition”

Angel Cabrera: “the best of this course are the Greens, they are truly spectacular”

Lee Westwood: “the Finca Cortesín golf course is fantastic, perfect for Match Play, a course for long hitters, I suppose in any course, you have an advantage if you hit it long but at Finca Cortesin you must also hit it very straight. The par 5′s are just reachable same as a couple of the Par 4′s. The course is in perfect condition, and the greens are immaculate. It’s a course that I really like”

Sergio Garcia: “the Greens are impressive, they have nothing to envy Augusta”

If you wish to view some tournament videos, please visit:
www.youtube.com/volvoworldmatchplay

The travel section of www.pgatour.com has selected Finca Cortesín Golf Club as October Course of the Month and has published an extensive article and review of the layouts main features.

We highly recommend reading it because it highlights several technical aspects of our course and compares it to some of the best creations of Robert Trent Jones.

It also refers to the hotel, it states it should really be “6 stars” and ranks it as the “best of the Costa del Sol”

You can see the full article if you click on the link below

www.pgatour.com

The Costa del Sol has for years attracted not just golfers but every other sport imaginable to train in our excellent year round climate.

Apart from having a 3000m ski resort 2 hours from Malaga Airport the Costa de Sol is temporary home to scores of football (all forms thereof), tennis, hockey etc. teams during their off-season.

Purely from client demand Golf Experience has this year organized training camps for Gaelic Football, Tennis and Rugby clubs from Ireland and the UK and a hockey club from Holland. Golfing clients who are also involved in other sports have asked us to organize football warm-weather training camps and we have been delighted to oblige.

So positive has been the feedback that we have decided to actively develop this side of our business.

Our roots are in the G.A.A. and we know a thing or two about the club scene in Ireland.

The season can be long and demanding so why not kick-start it with an invaluable bonding trip to train in Spain’s sunshine coast.

Apart from training you can play golf on one of the 50 courses on this sun-drenched part of Europe or enjoy any of the many other sporting activities on the Costa del Sol.

We provide accommodation, transport, world-class training facilities and can even organise a challenge match with the local GAA Club “Costa Gaels” who are the current Spanish Champions.

Since our inception in 1989 we have catered for GAA, Rugby, Hockey, Soccer and Golf teams to the Costa del Sol. So whether you are a men’s, ladies, mixed or even a veterans team we would love to have the opportunity to put in place a memorable trip for your club.