La Quinta Golf has carried out an important work of remodeling and reforms, which place this Costa del Sol course at the forefront among those in the area. The latest changes affect above all courses A and C, two of the three that the course has, and are expressly adapted to the new Andalusian golf decree that regulates fundamentally issues of safety, storage and water consumption.
All the reforms have been projected by Manuel Piñero, the designer of the complex and one of the best Spanish golfers of all time. This is the most important reform in the 20 years of life of this course. The integral irrigation system of courses A and C and the redesign of course C have been renewed.
“The transformation of tour C,” says Piñero, “has been important and has been very well received by our visitors.”
“We have built a new hole 2, which was previously very close to hole 8, separated by a small lake, and that gave the feeling of being crowded,” he explains, “because there was no space and it was close to the houses. Now we have separated the green a lot from the houses, removed the 8th hole in that area and built a large lake. It has turned out to be an interesting par three, very attractive to play and much wider”.
The old 8th hole,” continues the three-time world champion, “we have moved it to a new location, resulting in something more complex and improved. It has turned out very well. This hole is now the 6th hole on the course.
The path on hole 3 has been moved to the left of the fairway and the lake on the right has been eliminated. With this we have managed to give more amplitude to hole 3 and hole 8, par 5, with the possibility of being able to play this hole further to the right. In addition, new plantings have been made on the green of this hole and the green and bunkers surrounding it have been remodeled.
Finally, the 9th tees have been moved back, emerging above the impressive new lake.
The ‘new’ C course now has a total distance of 3,057 meters from the white bars and is the perfect complement to the A course, the two forming a challenging 18-hole combination within the three that can be played as it has 27 holes. We have planted,” continues Piñero, “around two hundred new trees on these nine holes, as well as numerous shrubs. In short, it has been an important reform in difficult times, which has more merit on the part of the property, and that the people are thanking and appreciating more and more every day. “Everything that has been done,” continues the three-time world champion, “implies a substantial change. We still have a couple of things to do that I want to do soon, especially one: transform the 9th hole, especially from the second shot and the green”.
-On theother two routes, A and B, have no changes been made?
-We have not made significant changes in the design, we have removed a bunker, we have made the game somewhat easier on some fairways, but we have not done anything comparable to what we have done on the C course, although a couple of years ago we planted four hundred trees on the A course.
Regarding irrigation, as I have already mentioned, the entire system has been changed, so that the conditions of all the playing surfaces have improved and will improve even more thanks to the efficiency and effectiveness of water management.
-Can yousay that you are now fully satisfied with the three tours of La Quinta?
-They’re fine, although a designer is never completely satisfied and, if they let you, you spend your life tinkering with what you do and they have to slow you down.
I am happy with the things that are being done and little by little we are achieving what I intended in this field. The truth is that we are making a great transformation in La Quinta.
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