La Estancia Golf, a great design by the Dutchman Alan Rijk located on the coast of Chiclana, in the pine forests of Sancti Petri and next to one of the most attractive and touristic beaches of the coast of Cádiz, has undergone a major renovation that greatly improves its facilities.
“We have completed,” says Carlos de Avilés, its director, “the change of grass on all 18 holes. Last year we did the first nine holes and this year the second nine. We have planted Paspalum Vaginatum, which is a grass variety that is very tolerant to salinity. Since we work here with very poor water and high salt content, we made the decision to introduce this very tough and ductile type of grass at the time.” “The first week of August,” adds Carlos, “the field will be at full capacity”.
-Did you only change the grass or did you take advantage of the opportunity to make other renovations?
-No, no. We have put new tees on holes 4, 6, 8, 12 and 18. We have also built a new lake, which, besides being used for irrigation and as an obstacle, will help us to channel some water that we had concentrated on hole 6, which means a considerable improvement. We have also fixed six bunkers that help us to give the links character to the course in the final area, where there are very nice holes. We have given them volume and deepened them by a meter or so.
-Do these adjustments leave the field in the optimal conditions you want?
-No, a field has to be in a permanent process of changes and improvements. What is certain is that all this will allow us to have a more constant quality throughout the year. But we have not yet touched on issues such as landscaping, gardening, for example. And we intend to do a lot in that sense. We also want to introduce some streams to serve as obstacles and to reinforce drainage, as well as for aesthetics. We are going to plant new trees, expand our water storage capacity…. In short, a very ambitious program. Anyway, from now on, we will have a course in perfect conditions to celebrate any kind of event and with a much higher level of maintenance.
-The great advantage of this course is that there are no houses that influence the game…
Yes, that is a great advantage, although perhaps on the other hand it is not, because this course has not had the support of a real estate development and self-financing is not easy nowadays. The golf business is very complicated. We have fewer and fewer clients coming from abroad and fewer flights to bring them to Jerez airport. So having an urbanization with “captive” members and players is not bad at all.
As at the time of this interview we were in the middle of the electoral process of the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, Carlos de Avilés wanted to take a position: “I -he said- I really only know one candidate, Ángel de la Riva. I have had the opportunity to work with him on two or three issues side by side, so my support is for him because he is a person who deserves it”.
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