The opening of the Valle Romano golf course in 2010 was, without a doubt, one of the most awaited and desired openings by golf enthusiasts who have the Costa del Sol as their preferred destination for the practice of this sport.
For years, Valle Romano Golf & Resort had carved out a brand image that very few have achieved before having their facilities ready for play. Its important and continuous support to high competition golf: Open de España, de Andalucía, Seve Trophy, etc., had turned the resort into a reference for all European golfers.
Strategically located between Marbella and Sotogrande, in the foothills of the Estepona mountain, the complex occupies an area of 122 hectares, in which, in addition to the golf course, seven ‘villages’ of Mediterranean atmosphere and style are built. They boast of being one of the best urban developments in southern Europe.
The golf course, designed by an outstanding pupil of the legendary Robert Trent Jones, Cabell B. Robinson, author of many others on the Costa del Sol and also in France, Morocco, Switzerland, Portugal, Cyprus, Italy, China, etc., has all the requirements to become in the immediate future one of the reference courses in the area. Not in vain, two great figures of Spanish golf identify their image with that of the club: Seve Ballesteros and Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño.
It still lacks, logically, a little to be in perfect condition, but it is already fully playable. “I think the fairways need a summer to settle and consolidate the turf,” Juan Carlos Piñero, Valle Romano’s golf consultant, tells me. “The greens, however, are already perfect,” he remarks.
“At first,” he continues, “because of the terrain of the property and its location, we didn’t think the course would look so good, but Cabell has done a magnificent job.”
“We never wanted to complicate it too much for the amateur player, and in anticipation of bringing some important professional tournament, we wanted to have the option of making it difficult from the back rods. Obviously, there are two different courses depending on where you play from,” says Piñero.
The fairways of the course are generally wide, especially in the ball drop from the tee. You always have the feeling that you have plenty of room to play and that you can miss without having to go to a house.
“In this,” Juan Carlos points out, “we were very careful from the beginning. In the initial project and later in the design, we did everything possible to prevent the urbanized areas from interfering or conditioning the game. They should be seen from the course but not be reached by the balls, nor intimidating”.
It is, of course, a course with movement, due to the physiognomy of the terrain, but the architect has ensured that, with the exception of two or three holes, all play practically flat. The unevenness is avoided from green to tee.
The greens are of medium size, sometimes large. With a lot of movement but smooth. Although they could be defined as American style, they do not have the great slopes and falls of them. It has been sought that they are not too abrupt and do not drive the average player crazy.
Many trees have been planted on the course that are yet to grow, but the day they do, this will be a course with a lot of vegetation, which will undoubtedly give it an impressive added value.
For Piñero, although logically he is an involved party, this is one of the best courses that have been built on the Costa del Sol in recent years. “A lot has been built according to the urbanization, and here it has been done the other way around: the urbanization has been adapted to the course,” he points out.
With my level of play, going out on the course with a player of Juan Carlos’ caliber is intimidating, but at the same time it is an incentive. So, eager to get a golf lesson from the master, we headed to the 1st tee on a sunny morning with more than a little breeze.
The first hole of this new course is a par 5 of 513 meters from the yellow bars. The tee is high and the fairway makes a dogleg to the left. From the tee you can see the whole hole and you have the impression that you can shorten the path by flying over some trees on the left, but you have to fly 260 meters, and that is very difficult. It is best to hit the ball to the right of the bunkers with a 3-wood maximum. The second stroke will be again the same wood or the 5 wood, also from a high position, to go to a fairly wide platform. The third stroke, to a green a little elevated, large and with a lot of movement, we will be left with a 9 iron or less.
The second hole is a par 3 of 178 meters with the tee and green high and the fairway making a small watercourse. The green is wide and with a slight piano. It is well protected by bunkers left and right.
The 3rd, another long par 5, of 513 meters, is possibly the only fairway where the houses can intimidate on the right side. The hole draws a slight dogleg from left to right, and the ideal is to take as a reference for the first shot a large rock to the right of the drop of the drive. For the second shot, 3 or 5 wood, beware of the large bunker that runs along the left side of the fairway and measures about 120 meters. The third shot, if the previous ones have been good, will be with a short iron to a green with a drop from right to left.
The 4th is a short par 4, 268 meters, without any obstacle to the fall of the drive. Once in the center of the fairway, we will have one of the most spectacular views of the course towards the sea. The green, of about one thousand square meters, delimits the horizon and presents a lot of movement, to compensate for the ease of this hole.
Hole 5, another relatively short par 4 of 306 meters, has a high tee and a large lake that will determine the tee shot and the second shot depending on how the wind blows. Either we shoot 3 wood to avoid reaching the water or we hit the driver on the left side of the fairway, being very careful not to open the ball, because we are going to the lake. The second shot, if we are before the lake, ranges between 6 or 8 iron, to a green protected by the water on the right and by a bunker on the left. It is quite flat and accessible.
Hole 6 is not long either: par 4 of 301 meters. The difficulty from the yellow tee is to fly over the lake that also affected the previous hole. It is not a long distance, but the water always imposes something. There is a series of bunkers on the left, at the drop of the drive, that will accompany us almost to the green. We must avoid them because there is a lot of fairway on the right. The second shot will be a short one, to a wide and lively green.
Hole 7 is a long par 3, 198 meters, although sometimes, to make it easier, the yellow bars are placed on the blue ones, 153 meters from the green, which is wide and fairly flat, protected by a bunker on the right side.
Hole 8 is a par 5 of 498 meters uphill, so it is longer than it seems, especially if there is a headwind. It is possibly the widest fairway of the course, with about 70 meters to the drop of the drive, so you can hit it without fear, but be careful with the big bunker on the right, which should not come into play because there is plenty of room on the left. The second shot will be a fairway wood, and here a bunker comes into play, which must be guessed on the left side, because it is barely visible. For the third shot we will use a 9 or 8 iron at the most and it will be to a wide green with a lot of depth, protected by three bunkers on the right and at the back.
Hole 9, which ends at the clubhouse, is another long par 3 of 198 meters. The green is very long and flat, but it is well protected by bunkers on the right, and there is another, short, on the left. With a headwind, it is not easy to fly in, so the tee shot is usually brought forward to the blue bars, at 179 meters, to make it more bearable for the amateur.
The second round of this course begins with a very long par 5, 520 meters, quite flat, where all the obstacles, the bunkers, are on the left side of the fairway. The second shot, with wood, is complicated by the bunkers on the left and because on the right side there are some palm trees that were left on the property and to fall there is to lose the ball. The third shot is to a green that is also long and wide, which receives from bottom to top. It does not have too many drops, so it is not very complicated.
Hole 11 is a nice par 3 of 154 meters. Here, on the left side of the fairway, the natural undergrowth has been preserved, which goes a little into the fairway. The green is very deep, protected on the right by a bunker and by the undergrowth on the left, which reaches about four or five meters from the platform.
The 12th hole, a par 4 of 314 meters, is spectacular because it has a very steep slope from the tee to the fairway. From above you may have the feeling that you can attack the green, but it is better not to try. It is preferable to hit a hybrid or 3-wood to reach the fairway and then hit a wedge to a free green protected on the left by a lake that borders it.
Hole 13 is a 161-meter par 3 with a stream running down the right side of the fairway. The green is well protected to the right and left by bunkers and has smooth movements.
Hole 14, a 361-meter par 4, is also influenced by the stream that runs along the right side of the fairway. However, there is no problem to take the driver because there is plenty of room on the left. The second shot, on a very flat fairway, can vary between a hybrid or a 7 or 8 iron, depending, of course, on the tee shot. The green is long and narrow, flat and well protected by bunkers on both sides.
The 15th hole, a 375-meter par 4, runs uphill, making it a rather long hole. Not in vain, it is the second handicap of the course. We hit a drive to a very wide fairway and a long second shot will be left, with wood 3 or 5, depending on the level of play. We attack a green without front bunkers that also receives a slight slope, from bottom to top, and without much movement.
Hole 16 is a par 5 of 483 meters in which the drive drop is wide, so it can be hit without fear. There is a bunker on the left that is the one that will give us the reference for the shot, because the fairway draws a slight dogleg. The second stroke can be with wood if we risk it or with hybrid or iron to stay before the bunker on the right and some bushes left on the left. The third stroke will be an approach with a wedge to a large green that goes deep on the right and is defended by a front bunker. It is necessary to calculate the distance well because there are two more bunkers waiting for us at the back.
The 17th, a par 4 of 315 meters, again has a fairly wide fairway and is the hole with the most bunkers on the course. On the second shot we will be hitting an 8 or 9 iron to a small and protected green that receives a slight slope and simulates different platforms that do not become such.
The 18th hole, a 341-meter par 4, is one of the most emblematic of the course. It is on a very slight slope and from the tee you can see the entire fairway, the green and the clubhouse in the background. The drive has no problems, but you have to be careful with a bunker on the right, just at the height of the ball drop. The second shot can be hit with a 5 or 6 iron, maximum a hybrid, to a large and wide green protected on the right and by a watercourse before arriving, on the left, which must be avoided because otherwise all the balls will stay there.
Playing this course for the first time is a challenge, and of course you have the feeling that you could have done better, so coming back is almost a must.
This is still a young course that will improve greatly with the passage of time and when the vegetation is more mature.
The work done here by Cabell B. Robinson is on par with his best designs on the Costa del Sol.
And to the goodness of the course we must add spectacular facilities in the area of the school, a magnificent clubhouse and a first class restaurant captained by the former chef of La Quinta when La Dorada was there.
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