In a privileged enclave of the province of Almeria, in the place with more sun of all Europe: 3.Almerimar is one of the most important tourist resorts in Andalusia; an oasis near El Ejido that has a 27-hole golf course, the only one in the province, a four-star hotel by the sea (AR Almerimar), another five-star hotel next to the golf course (AR Golf Almerimar), and one of the largest marinas in the Mediterranean.
Almerimar is an urbanization that arose at the end of the sixties with the idea of creating a great tourist center in this coastal area capable of competing with Puerto Banús, Sotogrande or any other large resort of this style. A great advantage then to achieve this was that all the land where the future urbanization was to be located belonged to the same owner, Agustín González Mozo, which facilitated uniformity and the following of a single, pre-fixed objective.
For this reason, a prestigious architect was hired to lead the development of the resort, Julián Laguna, who was in charge of the original design of the complex, which has been maintained to date.
“Within the complex,” says Juan Francisco Escobosa Medina, director of the golf course, “and to place it at least at the level of other similar ones in Spain and other areas of the Mediterranean, a 1,100-berth marina is planned, which has long been the largest in Europe, and an 18-hole golf course.”
“The resort,” continues Juan Francisco Escobosa, “was initially called Marismas del Sur, and the golf course El Oasis, and everything was located on the Costa del Sol in Almeria, a name that I claim because it was where it really emerged, even if it was elsewhere where it made its fortune.”
“The little hotel that was made then had only 38 rooms and 17 apartments. That and the three famous unfinished towers that were later demolished was basically Almerimar.”
-In what year is the golf course built?
-The project dates back to 73, but was inaugurated in 76. It was designed by two of the world’s great golf legends: Ron Kirby and Gary Player.
“Like almost all the courses that are a bit on the fringes of the great centers of influence of golf in Spain,” says the club’s director, “we had limited accommodation, which prevented us from maintaining a high level of occupancy. Until 89 or 90, when the hotel was refurbished and we had 148 rooms. From that time on, and especially in 1995, we began to take off unstoppably.
“From then on,” he continues, “it is an established golf course, which does not depend on any real estate development. At the same time, the resort continues to grow: the beach hotel opens and the urbanization is developed.”
“In 2003 we decided to expand the course by nine more holes to reach the current 27, and two years later, in 2005 we did a total renovation of the first 18 holes. That was also the year we closed the hotel for a total renovation. It reopened in 2012 as a 5-star, 114-room hotel.”
-How would you describe the field?
-I would say that it is essentially a flat course, with wide fairways, no blind shots, generous greens, which receive very well. It is, in short, a noble course, with a certain degree of difficulty and a spectacular design by two of the greats of world golf. Water comes into play on seven of the holes, which offers an additional challenge. The 8th and 12th are perhaps the most characteristic holes of the course, since their greens are islands.
The last nine holes that were made are a little lighter, due to the size and shape of the plot. In any case, we tried to follow the same criteria as the first design to ensure that the fairways were not narrow, etc. The biggest difference with the first 18 holes is the vegetation, because one is 30 years old and the other is 10 years old.
Would you then qualify it as a top-level course in Andalusia?
-The design, I insist, is very good. Nobody has one like it in this province. And this is not a personal opinion: it is a generalized appreciation of all the players who visit us. It is not a monotonous course, back and forth, with ten holes there and eight holes here almost identical. It is not like that. It is fun and challenging.
“One of the things we are especially proud of,” adds Juan Francisco Escobosa, “is our golf school and practice area. It is especially well equipped and designed so that dozens of players can practice different shots without getting in each other’s way. We have a large putting green, an approach area and more than thirty shooting stations”.
-The last of your renovations, for now, is the one that has turned the club store into a much larger and more attractive space….
-Yes, we have radically transformed it through a collaboration agreement with Holiday Golf that has made it possible. They have helped us in all aspects, both in expansion, decoration, product display and sales techniques.
Before, the total area of the store was about 70 to 80 square meters and now we have more than 120 square meters. We have added new brands and substantially improved the results.
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