He has designed courses in Spain including Costa Esuri (Huelva), Valle del Este (Almería) and Tecina in La Gomera, and now he is completing nine holes at Isla Margarita (Venezuela). He has other pending projects in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) and Lima (Peru). As a golf club manager, he spent 10 years at Islantilla (Huelva), “where we also carried out the construction and part of the design”, and three other years at La Quinta (Marbella). And he’s still only around 50!

- 1 Is it possible to make a living as a golf course designer in these current times?

–As just a “pure” designer, and in Spain, it’s now very difficult. Unless you had projects signed off before...

- 2 As a designer do you have any idol? Are you a fan of anyone? What have been your influences?

- Of the older ones, above all I liked (Alister) MacKenzie; and, of the modern ones, Tom Fazio, for his concept of design, and perhaps (Jack) Nicklaus for his professionalism.

- 3 What is the current situation with golf in Spain?

– In these times of crisis you have to be realistic: we have more offer than demand. The situation is not good, even though it’s recovering.

- 4 So do you believe it will take a long time to get out of this situation, or are we on that path already?

- I believe that the good courses, those that offer a good relationship between quality and price, will come out of recession soon. For the others, things remain bad.

–5 You have been “chef” (golf course manager) before “monk”… would you say that golf courses market themselves well?

-Definitely no

- 6 What do you believe needs to be done to attract more golfers to Andalucía… tug them by the ears?

- First, we need a medium and long-term strategy, and to avoid messing things up by offering discounts that knock down prices. We have to provide more quality for the price that people pay, and seek new markets: this is the only way to compete.

- 7 Are other destinations better than ours? Turkey, Portugal…?

- They are different. Turkey is a very small destination, with a lot of quality and a magnificent relationship between quality and price, but limited. We don’t need to worry if we take into account the volume they can cater for. And Portugal, which is our main competitor, has always been there. In our home environment, no one can put us in the shade. Italy seems to be waking up a bit, but I don’t see any others that could replace us. For longer journeys, Florida remains the key, and there are new destinations in Asia.

- 8 Have too many courses been built in Andalucía?

- Too many bad courses have been built, and few good ones.

- 9 Do golfers seek only good prices or also quality?

- I believe the British seek quality, and other markets, with less of a golf culture, go for price.

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