La Zagaleta (Old)

Benahavís, Andalucía

Rankings

AddressA-397, Km. 38,5, 29679 Benahavís, Málaga, Spain

There are a great number of golf clubs in the USA that only allow members and their guests to play their course but thankfully, in Europe, the vast majority of courses are accessible, even if a hefty green fee has to be paid.

There are a small number of golf establishments though that seem to thrive on their exclusivity (think Queenwood or Skibo Castle in the UK, for example) and La Zagaleta on the Costa del Sol is one of the few Spanish clubs that exclude pay and play golfers – in fact, they take great delight by stating “never could so few enjoy so much.”

Situated within a gated residential estate where properties are in the millionaire bracket, the La Zagaleta course (now called the Old course) was constructed in the early 1990s by American Brad Benz and he moved a fair amount of earth when establishing the rolling fairways that are routed over the mountain landscape here, above Benahavís.

A second 18-hole layout, Los Barrancos (now called the New), opened in 2007 and it will be interesting to see if this Steve Marnoch/Jonathan Gaunt co-design can match the high standards set by the original course.

Architect Bradford Benz commented as follows:

“When I first saw the La Zagaleta project site I was a bit overwhelmed in that there appeared to be scarcely more than a few square meters here and there where the natural topography was not excessive. Slope severity was likely to be a problem. However, we persevered and over time and many walks throughout the dense brush I recognized a pattern was beginning to reveal some important clues.

Where I saw sizeable trees there was minimal groundcover vegetation except for low-growing grasses which were ideal. The soils appeared quite fertile. The practicality of what appeared to be a daunting design and golf course construction challenge became less formidable. From that point and onward naturally appearing sites for putting greens and tee sites were identified and constructed followed by both sand and grass bunkers. The routing of the golf course was found naturally by walking the property over and over again. In time everything fell neatly into place.”

In 2016-17, architect Marc Westenborg renovated the Old course at La Zagaleta, replacing cool season creeping bent grasses on tees and fairways with Bermuda. Irrigation and drainage systems were upgraded and most of the course bunkers were reworked or renovated to add a little more style and flair. The 6th green was also redesigned.