In 1968 José Banús, promoter of the famous marina that bears his name, founded the Real Club de Golf Las Brisas, although it was then baptized as Club de Golf Nueva Andalucía. Banús himself commissioned Robert Trent Jones, already considered one of the best architects in the world, to design this legendary Marbella course, which has been the scene of major competitions and which houses a veritable botanical garden with exotic plants from all continents.
With just over 1,200 members, of more than 30 nationalities, the Real Club de Golf Las Brisas aspires to be considered the private club par excellence for those who appreciate an exceptional course, an extremely welcoming and cosmopolitan social atmosphere with excellent service and perfectly maintained facilities.
But as time goes by for everyone, this field also needed to be updated after 45 years.
The prestigious architect Kyle Phillips, one of Robert Trent Jones’ favorite disciples and a guarantee that the spirit of the original design would be maintained, was chosen to carry out the necessary renovations, while respecting the work of its creator.
The first nine holes, which were opened for play a few months ago, have been refurbished, and the renovation of the back nine will be done soon, starting in early 2014.
Paul Muñoz, director of the club, explains in detail what has been done in this first round.
“The course, logically, already needed to repair drainage, greens, tees, etc. We had to make technical adjustments, and we thought that some design adaptations wouldn’t go amiss,” he explains.
“The technology of hole material for the game,” he continues, “has rendered obsolete, for example, the distances that were common in the 1960s.”
“With the renovation of hole 1,” Muñoz continues, “a few meters have been gained and the fairway bunker has been made more visible for the current average distances. The design has not changed much.
“On hole 2 we have added a pro tee, far back, and we have realigned all the tees with the fairway, because before they all pointed to the right side and now they point to the center. Also the fairway bunkers have been resituated to the current average driver distance, and a small bunker has been added next to the creek to catch balls so they don’t get lost. The green has been lowered almost 90 centimeters, which makes it now visible for the second shot,” says the club director.
Regarding hole 3, he says that before the renovation, it was a par 5 by just one meter. “Now we have moved the green closer to the water, losing that meter, which has allowed us to turn it into a par 4, which makes the hole a little or quite a bit more attractive,” Muñoz points out.
On hole 4, the tees have also been repositioned, as they were a few meters to the left compared to what they are now. “They are now much more in line with the fairway, and this makes it less likely to go out of bounds to the right,” he explains.
On the 5th, a professional tee has been added and the fairway has been widened “a lot” on the left side, adding some bunkers on the right to avoid trying to shorten the dog-leg over the houses, and at the same time the out-of-bounds on that side. “We have repositioned all the bunkers and changed the shape of the green, which holds the balls better than before,” Muñoz said.
On the 6th a tee has also been added further back, a bunker bunker next to the creek, and the entire wooden wall supporting the green has been removed, making the slope fall naturally towards the water.
On the 7th the green has been lowered by almost two meters in height, “we have moved it to the left and lowered it 1.90 meters in height, bringing it much closer to the water, making the surface of the green almost visible, as it was not visible before,” explains the director of the Real Club de Golf Las Brisas.
On hole 8, the bunker to the left of the fairway has been repositioned and a few more have been added, both to guide the pros and to prevent higher handicappers from losing balls in the creek. “We’ve placed the green closer to the water to give a feeling, like at Augusta, that if you come up short you’ll roll the ball into the water,” Muñoz says.
Hole 9 has been completely moved back to get away from the clubhouse. “This avoids the claustrophobic feeling of being boxed in next to the proshop and the central building of the club. This has allowed us to add a putting green next to the clubhouse, which makes it more attractive,” he says.
“In addition to these tweaks to the design,” Muñoz adds, “we have renovated everything: drainage, irrigation systems, tees, greens, fairways, etc. In short, it has been an in-depth reform that has left us very satisfied”.
“Every tweak Kyle Phillips has made has been a huge improvement that is appreciated by all the players. Now there is more challenge, but the holes are more fun and much more attractive than before,” says the director of the Marbella club.
“Our partners are very satisfied with the reforms that have been carried out,” Muñoz concludes.
Work to redo the last nine holes of the course will begin in early 2014 and will be completed in the last third of the year.
Photos: Paul Muñoz with Kyle Phillips, and images from Las Brisas.
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