While other clubs were lamenting the effects of the crisis and making hard and painful adjustments to try to balance the accounts and accommodate them to the new situation, Mijas Golf undertook, in 2012, a substantial investment in a comprehensive reform of Los Lagos, the flagship of this Costa del Sol resort.
The numerous lakes that give their name to the layout were drained (due to the silt accumulated over 40 years, they were barely 30 centimeters deep from the original two and a half meters), the fairways, tees and greens were improved, following USGA (United States Greenkeepers Association) recommendations, and a new drainage network and the integral Links irrigation program, from the North American firm Toro, were installed, this being the first course to do so on the Costa del Sol. In short, the course was adapted to the new international specifications, and all this without altering the original design, the work of the prestigious architect Robert Trent Joner senior, author also of the other course of Mijas Golf International: Los Olivos.
Both layouts were for decades a reference for golf tourism in Andalusia and contributed decisively to the creation and consolidation of the good image of the Costa del Sol.
Now Mijas Golf, under the wise management of Lorenzo Pérez Cortés, is once again in full splendor and ready to position itself once again as one of the most appreciated golf resorts in Europe. And, in fact, the visitor figures are proving that things have been and are being done well.
“The truth is that we are having a magnificent year,” says Francisco Tirado, the club’s greenkeeper, as he oversees the new landscaping and renovation work being carried out in various areas of Mijas Golf, affecting the pitching and putting greens, as well as the landscaping that frames the golf courses. Some of the greens are also being retouched.
Regarding landscape decoration, xeriscaping is being applied, a type of gardening that combines large areas of small stones with plants that require hardly any watering, which saves a lot of water and at the same time requires less maintenance. “It’s all very eco-friendly,” Tirado says. “This landscaping,” he adds, “we’re going to put it around the greens, in areas of fairways that are less in play, in areas of tees… and so on little by little.”
“What we want to do,” he continues, “is to follow a little bit the American country model, with very defined streets, with little rough and the rest all plants…. That is our objective and I believe that Los Lagos will be like that in two or three years at the most”.
The plan for this year and next year in Los Lagos is to refurbish the greens that did not look good in the great work of 2012 and to apply xeriscaping in different decorative areas along the route.
Once all the work at Los Lagos has been completed, work will begin on a gradual reform of Los Olivos, says Mijas Golf’s greenkeeper. In any case, some small works are already being carried out on the latter course, affecting some bunkers and tees.
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