Located in the heart of the Costa del Sol, in one of the largest developments in the area, between the towns of Marbella and Mijas, sits one of the oldest and most classic courses in the area: Miraflores Golf, opened in 1990, was designed by Folco Nardi, an architect who designed several courses in the province of Malaga, including Guadalmina Norte.
Recently some reforms have significantly improved the course. Maintenance and constant adaptation to the current game have turned Miraflores into an attractive and ‘modern’ golf course.
This is a short course: from the yellow bars, which we will use as a reference, it is 5,148 meters, but it is a course that offers many difficulties. “Here we practice,” says its director, Miguel Gallart, “as I would say, ‘old golf’. It’s not so much about achieving distances as it is about putting the ball in place. Many times you have to leave the driver in the bag”.
“It’s a field,” he insists, “more about thinking about how we’re going to play than wanting to make a lot of progress.”
They are narrow fairways, but they are not, in general, very difficult because they are U-shaped, so the ball tends toward the center. “Over time,” adds the director of Miraflores Golf, “we have been cleaning up the sides so that this happens and the ball doesn’t get lost on the sides.”
It is not, on the other hand, a very hilly course. It is perfectly possible to play without a buggy, although it is not a flat course either. What happens is that most of the slopes are downhill.
The greens of this course are the original ones, that is to say, those designed by Folco Nardi at the end of the 80’s. “We have not renovated them”, says Miguel, “so you could say that they have a classic or antique look”.
They are generally small in size, except for 18, which is the only one that has undergone a recent transformation. All of them have quite a lot of movement, from two to three platforms on average. Reaching the green is therefore no guarantee of anything. You have to work on every putt.
In these months, September/October, Miraflores Golf celebrates its twentieth anniversary, “although the celebrations will take place in November, because that will be when there will be more members here,” the director explains. “For a week we will hold competitions and end with a big gala dinner with authorities, members, etc.,” he explains.
Miraflores Golf is a club that has 785 members, “which is very good because of these active members, who play frequently, there will be no more than 500. Our idea is to reach a total of 800 active members.
“With this number of members we have now we properly occupy 56 percent of the time; the rest is available for green fees,” says Miguel.
This is a very popular club, not least because the playing prices are, if not the lowest, one of the lowest in the area.
I had arranged to play the course on a hot morning in late August. The sun was relentless and not many players had dared to challenge it, so enjoying the course without ‘pressure’ was much easier and more enjoyable.
My appointment was with one of the oldest and most committed members of the club, Román Porras, a man who breathes golf from every pore. His love for this sport overflows and his dedication to the club is total.
We did not know each other but it turned out to be a pleasant match, from which, on the other hand, I learned a lot. Veterans know and use tricks and gimmicks that sometimes pride makes us disdain.
“Here,” he warned me before teeing off, “the difficulty is in the narrowness of the fairways, the abundance of dog-legs and the fact that 70 to 80 percent of the greens are high, so you will always have to use a few more iron than we think for second and third shots.”
After stocking up on plenty of water, we head for the 1st tee. This is a short hole to start with: 251 meters, from which on clear days Gibraltar seems to be within reach. The whole fairway runs downhill, so it is advisable to leave the driver in the bag, especially to avoid a bunker on the left. There are those, however, who risk leaving a very, very short second shot to the green or, if they are lucky, try to reach it. Theirs is a mid iron, a five or a six, and then a pitching or a sand.
Hole 2 is the first par 5 of the course. It is 407 meters long and dog-legs to the left. There are those who try to overcome it by hitting the ball over the trees on the left, looking over the trees on the left, looking to be able to enter the green in two. But for an average handicapper this is almost a feat. The best thing to do is to drive to the right side of the fairway (watch out for the bunker) and then hit a seven iron or so to leave it short before the bunkers, and then make a short third shot to a very long and narrow green: it will be about 25 or 30 meters long and 10 or 12 meters wide.
Hole 3 is in theory the most difficult hole on the course, handicap 1. At 349 meters it dog-legs left.
On the right side of the fairway there is deep rough, so dropping in there is bad. On the left there is water, so instinctively we tend to avoid it. This is a hole where most on this course are resigned to going in from three to green, which is no nonsense. This one is quite high up, protected by bunkers on the left before you get there. It is wide at first and then narrows.
Fortunately there are not many falls. A par here tastes like a birdie.
The next hole, the 4th, does not allow us to relax either : it is a long par 3, 203 meters long. The tee is high but with very little slope on the green, which is narrow and very sloping from the back to the front. It is also protected by two large bunkers on the right.
The tee shot requires a lot of precision and it is not easy to get there, even if you use wood. “Almost 70 to 80 percent of the players don’t reach the green here,” Román tells me. It is, however, one of the most beautiful holes on the course.
The 5th is a par 4 of 290 meters. It is not a complicated hole. What it imposes is to cross the lake that begins just to the left of the tee. Here you can hit a drive over the water aiming a little to the left. If that is intimidating, you can hit short to the right of the water and from there, with a long and complicated shot, try to make the green, with great care, because there is also water behind it. This green has two levels and is narrow at the back. With the flag on the first platform, things become much easier.
The 6th is a par 5 of 454 meters. Here it is almost obligatory to tee off with the driver, although for the vast majority this will still be a three-shot hole at least to reach the green. The fairway slopes slightly, so the second shot will require a well-played fairway wood to try to negotiate a small hill on the left. Once this obstacle is overcome, the third shot to the green will be short. But this is not easy. It is necessary to overcome the corner of the dog-leg at the end of the fairway. The green is wide and shallow, protected by a bunker at the entrance and also has two levels and many drops. It is not easy to read.
The 7th is a par 3 of 163 meters (usually less because the yellow bars are usually advanced). The fairway is narrow, with rough up to twenty meters before the green, which is quite complicated, with two drops to the right, where there is also a huge bunker and a large watercourse. On the left there are out of bounds.
Hole 8, a 293-meter par 4, may be the hole that forces the straightest drive on the course. The tee is on something but the fairway is extremely narrow and there is a water hazard on the left and a steep slope with trees on the right. The second shot will be to a high green, well protected by two bunkers on the left. It is not easy to stop the ball. When the flag is on the right side of the platform it is not complicated, but it is when it is on the left, because there the green, with a steep slope backwards, is quite reduced. At the back there is a valley that usually appropriates the balls.
The last hole(9) of the first round, 309 meters and par 4, is one of the easiest of the course. The fairway makes a dog-leg to the left, where there are trees, but they can be overcome. If the ball goes too far to the right we can find ourselves out of bounds. The tee is a little high and a good drive will give us a short second shot and a good birdie opportunity, because the platform is wide and without drops.
The second round begins(10) with a par 4 of 273 meters for which there are several ways of attack. The fairway is wide, what happens is that about 90 or 100 meters before the green there is a large watercourse. It is better to stay before the green because otherwise the second shot will have a terrible stance. Some people want to reach the green with the drive, but it is quite complicated. It is protected by many bunkers on the right, trees on the left, and if you go over the back a deep rough awaits you. The watercourse shortens the fairway but also complicates it. It looks like a birdie hole but you can end up with bogey or more.
Hole 11 is the shortest of the course, 109 meters, par 3. In theory it should also be the easiest. The green is wide, well protected by bunkers and, as almost always in Miraflores, with two platforms. With the flag up on the right, we may be tempted to take one club too many and leave the ball out of bounds if we go too far.
The next hole(12), handicap 2 and par 5 of 480 meters, is possibly one of the most beautiful of the course. The tee is very elevated and it is shot over a wide fairway, so the drive offers confidence. There is a lake to the right of the fairway at about 210 yards. Many prefer to avoid the water by using a 3-wood or 5-wood and stay short. In this case, the second shot will force us to fly over the water to leave the ball as close as possible to the green, less than 8 iron. The green is protected by trees, palms and bushes to the right and left. It is wide and quite flat. With subtle drops. A five iron makes anyone happy.
Hole 13, a 130-meter par 3, has one of the most complicated greens on the course. It is long and narrow, with a minimum of two platforms, and protected by two bunkers at the entrance. If you miss this green, which is a big possibility, the recovery shot is quite complicated, because it is also a little high and you can fall short or over if you are not careful.
The 14th, a par 5 of 466 meters, is a long dog-leg to the left, with a not very wide fairway with houses on the left and some towers at the drop of the drive. Instinctively one tends to aim to the right, so it is easy to go into the rough, the trees, etc. That way you almost always miss a shot.
If we have managed to place the ball more or less well, the second shot will be more comfortable, among other things because the fairway opens up a little. The third shot will not be short to a green protected by frontal bunkers. It is wide on the right side, but it has a flag position on the left, in the corner, behind the bunker, which is better not to look for it because it will complicate our life.
The 15th hole, a par 3 of 121 meters, is the signature hole of the course. The entire green is an island, although it is quite wide and flat. Mistakes are not forgiven.
The next hole, the 16th, a 300-meter par 4, is a dog-leg to the right. The fairway is downhill, so it is not difficult to make good progress, although the trees on the right must be taken into account. The green is wide, with bunkers protecting it in the front area, and quite flat.
The 17th is another par 4, of 308 meters, although a little more complicated than the previous one. From the tee we find a series of trees on the left and then also on the right further on. The fairway is wide but the passage of the ball from the tee is a bit of a tube. It is better to use a three wood. Before reaching the green, which is high and protected, a stream crosses the fairway. The platform has two levels and is, as usual on this course, long and narrow. With the flag behind you have to take an extra club for the second shot.
The course ends(18) with a short par 4 of 242 meters, but uphill. On this hole the fairway is divided in two. The left side is longer but has an easier second shot. On the right it is shorter but more complicated, because the shot will be on a slope. Some people risk going to the green aiming at the cell phone mast, but be careful: it is very well protected by bunkers. You have to hit it hard and well.
After the round and already in a very functional clubhouse, without unnecessary luxuries and with a familiar air, one has the feeling of having played a classic course, which is more complicated than it seems and offers endless possibilities for fun and talented use of all the clubs in the bag.At the end of August the maintenance was correct, although some greens, few, that’s the truth, had some small areas with problems, probably because of the water quality. Nothing important for it not to be solved at the beginning of this season. It is certainly worth a day at Miraflores Golf.
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