The Open de Andalucía, an official tournament of the European Tour, will be played at Aloha, a Marbella course that already hosted the event in 2007 and 2008. The first year it was Lee Westwood’s return to the winner’s circle; the following year it was won by the Frenchman Thomas Levet, after a vibrant playoff against Oliver Fisher. The Andalusian Open will be held from March 15 to 18 and is once again organized and promoted by Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s company, Fade&Draw Target. The competition will distribute one million euros in prizes. The defending champion is Paul Lawrie, who won last year at the Parador Malaga del Golf.
Located in what is known as Marbella’s Golf Valley, opposite Puerto Banús, the Aloha Golf Club, inaugurated in 1975, stands out above all for the exuberant nature dotted around the course, designed by Javier Arana. The course has wide fairways and difficult greens. To complicate the game, majestic trees stand in the middle of some of the fairways. For players who play the fairways straight, Aloha should not present major complications, but hitters will have to think more than once when hitting the ball. Hole 1 is unique in its beauty. The player will have to place all his shots to the right to avoid being out of bounds and to be able to access a green covered by bunkers. The club, which has facilities for the practice of other sports, has a long international sporting history.
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