Destination Golf Spain 2016 * | Page 57

Desert Springs Resort Almeria » Mojácar This new golf course, designed by Ramón Espinosa, opens up the eastern Almería region to Andalucía´s ongoing golf/tourism boom. Marina Golf covers 5,464 metres and has two distinct halves. The first, holes 1, 2 and 12 to 18 running parallel to the sea is flat and forgiving while the other half, holes 3 to 11, takes a detour behind a hill and follows more undulating terrain. There are three large lakes affecting ten holes. Spectacular views await the golfer on the 3rd tee with the par-5 hole dropping dramatically 65 metres towards a lake and green some 485 metres distant. Almeria » Alborán Alborán Golf, a fantastic golf course of 18 holes Championship, lies on the new residential and tourist resort of El Toyo, a new town area that offers different hotel chances at a few yards from the beach and immersed in a unique half-deserted environment, just five minutes away from the international airport. Alborán Golf, whose design was developed by the prestigious golf architect Ramon Espinosa, is located in front of the natural background of Cabo de Gata-Níjar and ten minutes from town center. Almeria » Desert Springs Inspired by the famous desert courses of Arizona & California, The Indiana course is built to full USGA specifications. A spectacular example of man’s creativity in harmony with nature; its emerald green fairways are set amongst massive rocky outcrops, arroyos and dry rivers. The contrast of the immaculate fairways and ‘desert springs’ with the arid landscape of cactus, rock and flowering desert, all framed within a panorama of landmark mountain ranges, is stunning at all times of year. Over 600.000 cacti and other desert plants grow progressively more dense and troubling, the further your shot is off the fairway, culminati ng in the dreaded ‘spiked lies’, so the course is both demanding and exhilarating and offers a variety of shot making challenges to test the skill level of every player, from the beginner to professional. The contrast of the immaculate fairways and ‘desert springs’ with the arid landscape of cactus, rock and flowering desert. 55