In the last two years the Cadiz club of La Estancia has undergone a spectacular metamorphosis that has radically transformed it. In spite of its magnificent design it was a great unknown that had a not too positive image. Now it has taken a 180-degree turn and, after the improvements it needed, it has become a course that is undoubtedly a reference in the area.
Now it is worth to be visited and play its new streets.
In 2009 the course, which until then had belonged to the Meliá group, changed ownership, “and from the very first moment,” says Carlos de Avilés, its director, “our approach was to define the positioning we wanted to give it. We wanted to become a quality course and we are achieving it”.
Despite the crisis situation, the new owners decided to make an important economic effort to become a reference in terms of quality of services and quality of play. “We wanted to position ourselves -the director continues- in a medium-high standing segment and to achieve this we did not hesitate to make the necessary improvements”.
The priority was to completely change the vegetation layer of the course, because the Dutch designer, perhaps poorly advised, decided to plant a series of grass varieties that did not adapt very well to the climate and water of the area.
“Once we started this work,” continues Carlos de Avilés, “we discovered many other things that we had not seen; for example, an antiquated irrigation network, that fewer sprinklers had been installed than were foreseen in the plans, 1,200 instead of 2,000, and that therefore there were large areas without the necessary irrigation coverage, that the water provided by the treatment plant contained a lot of salinity, and that the entire lower area of the field had been a saline three or four centuries ago, so the soil was contaminated. Because of all this, the work we had planned to do in one year had to be done in two years so as not to have to close the course”.
“Fortunately, all this has been solved. On the fairways we have introduced a very resistant variety of grass, Paspalum Vaginatum, which allows irrigation with brackish water, and on the greens, which are very large, the irrigation system has been reinforced to cover the entire surface.”
Improvements and tweaks have also been made to the design to give more distance to the course and make it more competitive, varied and fun. “We have added two new lakes, added five tees and planted more than a thousand trees,” said the director.
The course has gone from a distance of 6,257 meters to 6,390 from white. The holes that have been enlarged are two, four, six and twelve.
“At the moment,” assures the director of La Estancia, “the course is in optimal playing conditions, although we are still more ambitious and want to work on the rough and on improving the lakes.”
Now,” he continues, “we have a very competitive product, with an exceptional quality/price ratio. And the proof is the great acceptance we are having in the international market. The appreciation of the players has also changed radically”.
La Estancia is a purely commercial, pay and play course, with some subscribers, but not in large numbers, “because we are in an environment that does not allow us to have them, with older and more consolidated courses nearby and without a large stable population in the surrounding area”.
In the immediate future,” adds Carlos, “we are going to build a chipping-green and target-green area in an area of three or four hectares for groups and to promote our own academy. We are going to install four or five greens for approaching, getting out of the bunker, for chipping, etc.. In the medium term, on the ten hectares that we have left free, we also want to build a school and a 9-hole short course”.
“Our aspiration is to become the reference course in Sancti Petri, respecting and knowing that the other courses, especially Novo, have done a lot for the destination and are ahead of us. We are probably a couple of years away from achieving this, but we are on the right track. We have already gone from having about 12,000 departures a year when we reached more than 20,000”.
Those who knew La Estancia just a year ago will surely appreciate the transformation that has taken place here. The change has been so radical, and in a way so fast, that it augurs a bright future for this Cadiz course, because the quality of the pitch is the first requirement of any good fan.
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