La Zagaleta

La Zagaleta

Nearby Courses

3 miles away

La Quinta

5 miles away

Villa Padierna

15 miles away

Finca Cortesin

This makes Valderrama look like a public pay-and-play facility.

Set high up in the hills of Sotogrande, La Zagaleta is an exclusive club and has a course to satisfy its members.

In fact there are 36 holes here, with the New course by Steve Marnoch opening in 2005 to complement the No.1 here, the Old.

Both courses are parkland in nature and enjoy a background of Mediterranean forests and views of the Alborán Sea, Africa and Gibraltar - but it is the Old that takes the breath away in every sense.

Designed by the Californian architect Bradford Benz in 1991, it was redesigned by Marc Westenborg - who does much of the work for the Hawtree firm - in 2016.

The Old was successfully set down on the significantly hillside location by Benz but improved by the nous of Westenborg, who has made it more playable yet retained the wow factor.

Expect plenty of elevated drives that offer breathtaking views and expect lots of dog-legs in both directions, where the ability to place your tee shot helps you attack the often small, undulating greens.

The Old is not a long course by modern standards but the raunchy terrain and sometime-narrow fairways make it a technical test like few others in the region. It is a course that can infuriate because the do-or-die element is strong here, but it also thrills.

And it is utterly peaceful, with the chance of your round being interrupted in any sense only being done so by a pheasant or deer...