Azata Golf, the magnificent course designed in Estepona by Sterling & Martin, opened to the public on June 25. It has been a little more than half a year since its opening. We analyze with its director, Agustín Alonso, these first six months of life of the last golf course built on the Costa del Sol in at least a decade.
“I am,” says Agustín, “very satisfied with how everything has gone since we opened the course to the public, despite these difficult, strange and uncertain times we are living in. The first two months of opening, July and August, were really good. Without a ‘historical’ we could not have previous references, but I consider that they were frankly positive and, perhaps, above our best expectations, given the circumstances. Then, in September and October, with the pandemic worsening, hotels closing, flights not arriving…. we noticed a slowdown, a downturn; but we have focused on local players and residential tourism, on those who have a second home here, both Spanish and foreigners, and the truth is that we have achieved a very good response.
We maintain an average occupancy rate, especially from Thursday to Sunday, which would be expected from consolidated camps, and that’s with just a few members…”.
-What do you propose to local residents and players? Monthly subscriptions? Annual subscriptions?
We have a wide variety of offers: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual subscriptions… with and without buggies, to suit all needs. Although this course can be played on foot, but I recommend the buggy. The price of the season tickets is very, very competitive compared to other courses in the area.
“We have,” adds Alonso, “a fairly affordable course, suitable for all levels. The first round can be a little scary, perhaps, for being a little more technical, but the second nine are very fun, with many possibilities of birdies, to get a good result…
In general, people are liking the course. The feedback I have is that the first time they come they find it a little difficult because they don’t know the course, but after that first experience everything changes. “Hey, they tell me, this course is very good,” as if they had made a great unexpected discovery. After the third visit, they assure me without any doubt: “this is a great course and I want to become a subscriber”.
-How has the field evolved in these six months?
-Little by little it is maturing. We have also learned a lot, because the first year of a course always requires adaptations, to see how the greens respond with players, which is the most sensitive area of the course, to see how the fairways respond, although the bermuda is very grateful….
The players’ opinions must also be taken into account. On hole 8, for example, which is handicap one, you have to evaluate with the experience of the game the degree of difficulty you want to give it …. if you put the tee further forward, further back, if you plant a tree here or leave the rough higher so that the ball can hold…
You always have to be very attentive to make small corrections or adaptations that the field requires, because, as they say, it is a living organism. In general, the course has matured very well in these barely six months since the opening. We have, above all, spectacular greens that everyone compares with the best possible on the Costa del Sol.
-Also these last months you have continued with the pending works: club house, drive range, etc.
-Although we have focused a lot on the course, we have the clubhouse almost ready, and it is looking spectacular, very modern; also the driving range is very advanced, we will open it in the spring.
“I am,” insists the director of Azata Golf, “very satisfied with the results achieved in these few months that we have been open. We are going at the pace we had planned and adapting to what the pandemic allows us, but very well. We are aware that we have opened at the most complicated time possible, in the low season and between “waves” of the pandemic. We have been very brave, but the result has been frankly good. The best thing is that the great majority of people are liking the course”.
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