He has designed courses in Spain such as Costa Esuri (Huelva), Valle del Este (Almería), Tecina in La Gomera, and now he is making another 9-hole course in Navarra. Outside our country he has just finished one in Turkey and before that he had done another one in Isla Margarita (Venezuela). He has new projects in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) and Lima (Peru). As golf director he spent ten years in Islantilla (Huelva), “where we also did the construction and part of the design”, and then another three years in La Quinta (Marbella). And he is barely in his 50s.
– 1 Can you make a living as a field designer alone these days?
-As a “pure” designer and in Spain, it is very complicated now. Unless you had previously signed projects?
– 2 As a designer, do you have any idols, are you a fan of anyone, what influences do you recognize?
– Of the older ones I like Mackenzie above all, and of the more modern ones, Tom Fazio, for his design concept, and perhaps Nicklaus for his professionalism.
– 3 What is the situation of golf in Spain now?
– In these times of crisis we have to be realistic: we have more supply than demand. The situation is not good, although it is recovering.
– 4 So, do you think it will take us a long time to get out of this one, or are we already on our way?
– I believe that the good courses, those that offer good value for money, will soon come out of the recession. The rest have it bad.
–5 You, who have been a cook (field manager) before you were a friar, would you say that the fields market their product well?
-Definitely not.
– 6 What do you think should be done to attract more players to Andalusia, grab them by the ear?
– First we must have a medium and long term strategy, and not go for broke, with offers that in the end all they do is lower prices…. We have to give more quality for the money people pay and look for new markets: it is the only way to compete.
– 7 Are other destinations better than us, Turkey, Portugal…?
– They are different. Turkey is a very small destination, with a lot of quality and great value for money, but small. We shouldn’t worry about it if you look at the volume it can take on. And Portugal, which is our biggest rival, has always been there. In our environment, there are few others who can overshadow us. Italy seems to be picking up a bit, but I don’t see others that can displace us. For longer hauls, Florida is still key, and now new destinations are emerging in Asia.
– 8 Have there been too many fields in Andalusia?
– There have been too many bad fields and not enough good ones
– 9 Are players only looking for price or also for quality?
– I think the British are looking for quality, and other markets, with less golf culture, go for price.
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