Great design, superb course
For a number of years the never ending road-works put me off visiting the golf courses in the Sotogrande area for, by the time I had battled through the mayhem, my nerves were usually in shreds worrying about missing pre-arranged tee times. The opening of the new autopista has changed all that and now, once you can afford the substantial charges, this centre of brilliant golf courses is just a handy one-hour drive from Fuengirola.
An invitation to play San Roque in the middle of June had me setting out in high spirits, under clear blue skies, for it was some time since I had last played there. During its formative years this Dave Thomas designed golf course, together with the Suites Hotel, never seemed to make any great inroads attracting golfers visiting the area and the many building plots around the course lay empty and bare awaiting new owners. Dramatic changes are now taking place and there is a huge upsurge of interest which may well have been ignited when the Japanese owners sold all the building plots to a developer. The money generated by that sale is presently being invested in a second golf course, designed by Perry Dye and Seve Ballesteros, and, believe me, the embryonic product has all the hallmarks of a course which will rank very highly on the Costa del Golf pecking order. However more about that another day. The developer, meanwhile, appears to have found the key to successfully selling the sites and, all of a sudden, the San Roque Club is forging ahead in leaps and bounds.
The golf club now has something over 360 members and my spies tell me that almost 40% of them come from the Dublin area in Ireland. Motoring up the tree lined entrance drive I was immediately struck by how clean and tidy the area was and how attractive the driveway lamp-posts were. In the professionals shop my booking was very speedily processed and my questions answered with great courtesy and charm.
Green fees in June are very good value at 90e and become even better in July and August when they reduce to 80e. In high season (about four months of the year) green fees are at the higher end of the scale at 132e, but there are 10 minute intervals between tee times which makes for some comfort while playing.
Before play there was time for a little lunch which I took sitting on the veranda overlooking a putting green and the golf course and, with a feeling of contentment, I tucked into a club-sandwich which, together with a bottle of water and coffee, cost a reasonable 15e. The caddiemaster supplied a sparkling clean buggy which, thoughtfully, contained two bottles of water, a card of the course and a pencil. (The little touches make such a difference). So, off to the first tee through an area of delightfully coloured and immaculately kept flower beds not to mention another putting green.
Standing on the tee it was hard not to be impressed with the mower stripes on the fairway as it meandered off to the first green some 357 metres distant. The features on the front nine are cork trees and bunkers and during the course of play the golfer is fairly certain to fall foul of either if not both. It did not take me long for, starting about 42 metres from the edge of the first green there is a bunker on the right which is some 85 metres long and, all I will say is, I spent a considerable time in it.
The second hole is really a continuation of the first, travelling downhill as it gently swings to the right, and finishes on a circular green which slopes from back to front. The third is a par 3 measuring just 143 metres which cannot be missed to the right if you wish to see your ball again. The long but narrow green is sometimes difficult to read but, all in all, it is not a very difficult hole. Indeed the first three holes provide a gentle opening to a golf course which gets more testing as you progress and by the time the 18th green is reached you will have used all the shots in your armoury in an attempt to master it.
Indeed the next three holes begin the test with a yawning out of bounds to the right of the fourth, while the par 5 fifth has a hazard down the same side and is played to an elevated green, to the left of which, an old cork tree stands in lone magnificence. The par 4 sixth is index 1 and it is here the player will meet a serious water hazard for the first time. A big fairway lake, filled by an eye-catching waterfall, takes up a considerable amount of the proposed landing area so care must be taken with club selection.
The seventh is an uneventful par 3 played uphill while the eighth swings around in the opposite direction. With out-of-bounds both right and left the tee shot must be straight but the undulating fairway is quite generous. The green is closely guarded by yet more cork trees, the sight of which you may well be fed up with by this stage, and you then head back towards the club-house while playing the par 5 ninth. A long fairway bunker about 260 metres off the tee is the first problem and, should this be avoided, there are seven more bunkers both short and surrounding the large green which brings the golfer to the end of his first nine holes.
The 10th is another par 5 which has a very sharp dog-leg to the left. To have any chance of par the drive must be up the right-hand side but beware of the bunker which awaits the slightly cut tee shot. On exiting this green you again drive past some colourful flowers and cross a small road to the tee of quite a superb hole. Index 2 on the card the hole measures some 384 metres (yellow tees) and has a small stream meandering diagonally across the fairway while a lake, just a few metres from the right side of the green, makes the approach shot quite intimidating.
Teeing up on the 12th it becomes apparent that the problems created by cork trees have now given way to water as this hole has two lakes connected by a little stream in what is a very picturesque section of the golf course. The green-side lake certainly merits attention but, thankfully, the green is quite large. Off again, then, through lovely flowers, across a road, through a considerable amount of building activity, and into a different area of land for the next three holes. It is here I feel the standard of the golf course takes something of a nose-dive for certainly the 13th and 15th holes are fairly weak compared with what has gone before.
The 13th is a downhill par 4 with a distinct dog-leg to the left where it is easy to run out of fairway. There is a bunker to the right-hand side which must be 100 metres long and this runs up beside the green.
The 14th is a par 3 played to an elevated green which has a fine back drop of trees against the sky-line. The 15th can only be described as an “uphill slog” turning left with fairway bunkers and then, at last, it is back onto the main golf course where the finishing three holes will revitalise your thoughts regarding San Roque.
The par 3 16th is played to an elevated green which has a bunker to the right and eight magnificent cork trees protecting the left-hand side. They really do stand majestically guarding their charge and, over the years, have wreaked havoc with many a card.
The 17th is the final par 5 and a good long straight hole. The main problem encountered is a big lake situated to the front right of the green which will catch an approach shot pulled even ever so slightly.
The 18th may well be the finest hole on the course. It has a sharp dog-leg left, on the angle of which there is a lake with a little island. In order to stop players attempting to cut the corner the island comes complete with a huge tree and overhanging branches and it is festooned with flowers of varying and startling colours. From that lake a stream runs diagonally across the fairway, about 50 metres from the front of the green, where it feeds another lake to the right-hand side of the green. Quite a superb hole and one which has brought moments of both delight and despair to competitors playing in the European Tour Qualifying School during the years it was located here.
So I come to the end of my first round of golf at San Roque for some time and what marvellous changes have taken place since my previous visits. The course is in apple pie order and bears all the hallmarks of a golf course whose management is in a very positive frame of mind. I came away with the feeling that all the pieces of a jig-saw, which had been lying in disarray for some time, have, at last, been put together.
There is little doubt this great Dave Thomas design will now go from strength to strength as it changes from a golf course into a golf club with an ever increasing membership. Well done to all concerned and, thank you, I enjoyed every moment of my visit.
Article reprinted courtesy of Andalucia Golf The views expressed do not reflect the opinion or verified data of Golf in Spain and are LIABILITY of their author/ s.
Golf Breaks including The San Roque Club