Ignacio Apolinario Zárate (Madrid, 1965) made a radical change in his life when he entered the world of golf 20 years ago. With a degree in Economics and Business Studies, he had previously worked in private banking and in a large PVC pipe manufacturing company.
He married a woman from Malaga and moved to Marbella. After being the manager of Las Brisas for nine years, he joined Santa Clara Golf Marbella, another of Marbella’s great clubs, a decade ago.
-Does your knowledge of banking or the industrial sector help you much in your work as a golf course manager?
-Yes, for a golf course and for any type of business. The only thing all golf courses have in common is a green lawn that has to be kept nice and tidy, but the management itself does not vary much from that of any other company.
-What is it about Santa Clara Golf that makes it different from other golf courses, what are its particularities?
-Santa Clara is a very pleasant commercial course to play, you can say that it is an easy course and when people play golf what they want above all is to have fun, and the fact that you can make pars and birdies is what really pleases and attracts a player. Santa Clara also stands out for its maintenance, as we have always opted for exceptional maintenance, and this is evidenced by our greens, which are considered the best on the Costa del Sol.
-That it is an easy field, it depends on for whom?
-Indeed, everyone can have a good or bad day, but it is a technical course, a parkland that has no rough and you have room to deviate as for example on hole 1, where you have three other fairways, the 10th, the 9th and the 18th, where the ball can go, so there is certainly not too much of a penalty.
-In recent years, golf in Costa del Sol has been improving a lot and registering good occupancy figures. How has the year been for Santa Clara and what are your forecasts?
-The year is going well for us and in general for the whole Costa del Sol. There is no doubt that the international political situation is benefiting us, and countries that used to send us many golfers who then went to other destinations are returning to ours, and it is something we have to take advantage of the situation to make them loyal again. We are seeing an upturn in French and Italian tourism, and especially in German and Scandinavian tourism. What we have to do is to improve every day and offer the highest quality and a great service.
In terms of forecasts, the prospects are very good, as we have seen at the IGTM (International Golf Tour Operators Fair) in Mallorca, with a great interest of the tour operators in Marbella.
-Apart from green fees, do you have any kind of season tickets to play frequently at Santa Clara?
We have an annual subscription and a six-month subscription. A year ago we had others that ranged from fifteen days to a month, but we have changed the commercial policy and have returned to the pay and play course, that is, a pure and simple green fee course. This has meant a significant reduction in the number of players, around 18 percent, but nevertheless the income has increased by 6 percent, that is to say, we have managed to increase the average expenditure per player by almost 40 percent.
-What would the Costa del Sol be like from May to October if we didn’t have golf?
-Golf is the main industry that deseasonalizes tourism. When in the past people used to come only to the beach and the beach bars and so on, October came and all the hotels emptied, the restaurants emptied, and suddenly the golf industry emerged as the main revitalizer of the entire tourism sector. Golf is currently key in the Costa del Sol and I think that public administrations should bet a little more on our industry, really know it and see that we are great generators of employment and not only for the golf courses themselves but also for many companies that live thanks to golf.
-This year two important tournaments of the major European circuits have returned to the Costa del Sol: the men’s Open de España at Valderrama and the women’s Open de España at Aloha. A few years ago, even more have been played in this area, some of them with worldwide repercussion. Do you think that the big tournaments are the best way to promote our golf offer?
-No doubt. I believe that the big tournaments are a great promotional attraction for the large number of spectators who watch them to get to know our courses, to see what the Costa del Sol is like, the climate we have and to know that golf can be played here all year round. The problem with big international tournaments is that they require a lot of money, so it is important that public administrations support private initiative in these events.
What other golf facilities does Santa Clara have besides the 18-hole course?
-We have a golf school with two practice tees run by a wonderful professional, David Guarch, and a course with two tees, one downstairs which is grass, and another part upstairs, which is more for the school, with pitch and putt, green, with practice bunker and carpets, where any player of any level can practice or get started in this wonderful sport. And I have to say that the company that owns Santa Clara Marbella has another course, Santa Clara Golf Granada, next to the mountains and with wonderful views, which is also a great course, and we also have a third course, Montenmedio, in Vejer de la Frontera, in the province of Cadiz.
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