In a privileged enclave halfway between the best beaches of Cadiz and the Natural Park of Los Alcornocales is Fairplay Golf & Spa Resort, a five star resort only 20 minutes from the famous town of Vejer de la Frontera, 30 minutes from the fantastic beach of El Palmar and just over an hour from the coast of Malaga. Close to this location we find a large number of high level courses, either in the area of Sancti Petri, the Atlantic Cadiz, or in the area of Campo de Gibraltar. With Slow Life as its flag, the philosophy of this resort is based on slowing down, getting away from stress and enjoying life more.
This positioning can be felt throughout the resort, from its more than 2,000 square meters of spa with Aquamedic circuit, treatment rooms and jacuzzis, to the 18 holes with tee times every 12 minutes. The idea is for the player to enjoy the game in peace and quiet. The course is located in the vicinity of the natural park, from where you can observe countless birds of the area and a rich and varied flora of Mediterranean vegetation. The hotel has 134 exclusive rooms with different types of suites divided into seven Andalusian-themed patios. Everything is taken care of to the detail, from the decoration of the rooms, its spacious terraces or its majestic views of the lagoon of La Janda.
Alberto Lloret Pascual, director of Fairplay Golf & Spa Resort, when asked about what differentiates this resort from other golf resorts in Andalusia, says that “we offer a varied, unique and tailor-made offer”.
“On the one hand,” he explains, “players have access to interesting packages either at our course or in collaboration with other courses in the area. Our visitors who are more familiar with wellness tourism have at their disposal more than 2,000 m2 of spa, circuits, esthetic, facial and body treatments, therapies, and a wide range of programs for fine-tuning”.
“On the other hand,” he continues, “we have collaboration agreements with various companies of leisure activities. With Fairplay Golf & Spa Resort, you can ride in a light aircraft and see the Costa de la Luz or the white villages, go horseback riding on the edge of the Celemín reservoir, take a boat ride or do a variety of nautical activities.
-Behind your varied offer there is a very clear message based on Slow Life. How do you promote it?
-The idea is that the customer only has to think about what really matters to him. We try to go back to the origins with the insight “Disconnect to reconnect”. We live in a world saturated with information, in a hurry, and sometimes it seems that we live on autopilot and we don’t live life, but we see life passing by day after day.
We are committed to putting on the brakes, forgetting a bit of daily stress and thinking about ourselves, about our loved ones, about what really matters. Reconnect with your hobbies, and the number of activities and sports that we offer to our guests, reconnect with your body in our wellness area, reconnect with your loved ones by spending a wonderful and unforgettable stay in our resort. In addition, we have three restaurants with different cuisines where you can taste a Mediterranean cuisine according to the quality standards of a five star hotel.
-There are many people who still don’t know where Benalup is on the map. What can you tell us about its location?
-I sincerely believe that this is one of our best arguments. We are close to the beach without having to suffer the hustle and bustle of the first line hotels, we are in the mountains with the comforts of a five star resort. We have our own golf course and because of our location in less than an hour and a half you can access the golf courses located in Jerez, Santi Petri, Sotogrande or the Costa del Sol. Our location is one of the best arguments for the end customer, as it has a few kilometers a varied offer, both in sports and gastronomy and leisure.
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THE GOLF COURSE
The Fairplay course is one of those where the player thinks it is the perfect place to make a golf course. Everything is based on the fact that the harmony of nature with the design of each of its holes is surprising, creating a course with very varied and equally attractive holes in an environment where tranquility is the best review.
The 18-hole, par 73, 6,072-meter course is the work of Paul Rolan, a renowned Belgian designer who worked on some of his country’s designs with Robert Trent Jones. Apart from the integrated nature of the course, it is worth mentioning that from the tees all the elements that intervene in the course can be perfectly seen in the shot to be made, which helps the player to plan his game strategy.
In the first round the holes are intertwined with the lakes and the wild olive forest typical of the area. The fairways are quite pleasant to walk due to the lack of steep slopes. In this course of fairways next to the lakes, several holes will be played with interesting flight shots to reach the green.
The second round is somewhat different: it has three par 5s, and many of its holes are played with high tees that invite you to look for the fall of the ball with a powerful drive. The fairways are flanked by groves of wild olive trees and with the presence of undergrowth in the most extreme rough areas.
The resort has a great practice area with a covered driving range and several putting and chipping greens. In the Academy area there are three short holes of 70, 60 and 50 meters, ideal for groups of beginners.
The director of the course, Héctor Llanza, highlights “the incredible natural character of the estate and the perfect combination with the comfort offered by the course for the player”. In the last reform that was carried out on the layout, in 2017, “small touches were made to achieve adequate distances from each tee platform and make each hole attractive and fun”. In this way, “a very balanced course was achieved, with holes of difficulty, skill and recovery”. As for the environment, he adds, “we took care to recover the native vegetation, which has been integrated into the course, and as regards maintenance, we are working every day to maintain one of the highest levels of quality in the area, in keeping with the five-star resort to which we belong”.
-What differences do you see here with respect to other fields in the area?
Landscape-wise, due to our location, in the area almost in the Natural Park of Los Alcornocales, the ecosystem is more similar to the fields of Sotogrande, so the presence of chaparros, wild olive trees and Mediterranean scrub is appreciated. For this reason we are somewhat different from the rest of the courses in the Atlantic area of Cadiz, which are different basically because of their greater proximity to the sea. At the same time, due to our character as a hotel resort, we have a high service vocation, which is also an important extra for the client. And all this makes Fairplay a very attractive option for many of the players who visit the province of Cadiz wanting to have a different golf experience.
-What is the general feedback from customers about the field?
-The first thing is the tranquility. And then they are surprised to find a course with such a good level of maintenance. Other comments come about the beautiful views of some of the holes over the valley of La Janda, or the Alcornocales Park. And many others love the fluidity of the pace of play as they sometimes come from more crowded areas.
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