| Getting into the Swing of Things |
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Golf properties are big business these days, but how do you sort the bogeys from the holes-in-one?
What’s the one image that typifies Spain – the one thing that springs to mind when someone talks about this visually and culturally diverse country? For the golf-lover this is nirvana: a holiday home in the sun with 18 holes on your doorstep. And as golf is among the fastest-growing sports in the developed world (and the one most likely to appeal to the AB1 sector beloved of advertising and marketing folk), there’s no denying the logic behind golf property. The undisputed hotbed of top-class Spanish golf is the area around Sotogrande at the western end of the Costa del Sol. This is home to Ryder Cup course Valderrama at San Roque, and a clutch of other exclusive and testing courses dominate the landscape. There’s not much of a resale market around some of these older courses, but La Reserva, with its two 18-hole, Dave Thomas-designed options and its pretty exclusive developments is a good option, though with prices starting at £250,000 for a two-bed apartment and spiralling well over the million mark, it doesn’t come cheap. Joining fees at La Reserva are hefty too, but there is a scheme to play all five Sotogrande courses, and if it’s top-end luxury and quality golf you want this is perhaps Spain’s best option. Moving inland, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Montecastillo course near Jerez has, like Valderrama, hosted the Volvo Masters. A recent 40-villa development overlooking three of the holes has added to the attractions of the five-star hotel and multi-sport facilities here, and prices start around £400,000. Down the road, Arcos Gardens near Arcos de la Frontera is the first of a series of developments planned for the progressively mountainous interior of Cádiz and Málaga provinces – though the only one up and running. Arcos Gardens is an early European venture for established American developers Landmark and is built in the grounds of an old cortijo. Townhouses here start around £250,000 with front-line villas topping £800,000. Further west, Huelva province is seeing massive golf developments. Costa Esuri Andalucian Village, near Ayamonte, has a great setting five minutes from the beach and overlooking the Guadiana River and Portugal. Twin 18-hole courses are part of a complex that will include three luxury hotels, a large shopping area, sports centre, cinema, pools and lots of dining options. This is very affordable golf, with two-bed apartments starting at £110,000 and townhouses at £135,000. Nearby Nuevo Portil, on the beach at the famous fishing town and marina of El Rompido, has another pair of 18-hole courses and a slightly more exclusive feel, with three-bed townhouses starting at £180,000. The mild winters make the Costa del Sol a good bet for year-round golf, but further east, the Costa Calida and Costa Blanca are staking a claim as the country’s golfing hotspot for the future. Not that everything’s new. Indeed, the biggest and best-known of Spain’s golfing centres, La Manga, lies near Cartagena, close to both Murcia and Alicante airports. With three championship courses that have staged international tournaments, every kind of sporting facility, year-round sunny weather and plenty of choice from thousands of properties newly built or under construction, you can’t overlook La Manga. It can seem a bit like Little Britain and courses can be crowded at peak times, but all those buyers can’t be wrong –especially with prices ranging from £93,000 for a one-bed apartment to £372,000 for a villa. Not far away, there’s a different golfing experience at Desert Springs in Cuevas de Almanzora. Europe’s first desert golf resort has a second 18-hole course now and prices are on the up here, though again, with 2,000 properties, there’s not much chance of tasting the real Spain. Apartments start at £160,000 with the top villas selling for £875,000. A major factor in golf property is the rental value and owners in all these areas are still pulling in good income from their properties. “You don’t even have to like golf – it still makes sense as an investment,” says Lee Brace, of Brace Oakley, who specialises in Spain’s south-east. “You can holiday in these properties in safe environments with plenty for children to do and while you’re back home your property can easily be making you £400 per week in the long summer season,” he adds. Up in the north-east, the market is a little different, with fewer investment-only buyers. The weather around Barcelona can be cool in winter so lifestyle buyers are more prominent here on courses like Les Villes development at Sant Vicenç de Montalt, 20 miles north of Barcelona. There are a number of courses within easy reach of the exclusive Cap de Begur coastline and its beaches. Playa de Pals, Serres de Pals and the superb 27-hole Emporda Golf Club are all excellent courses within a 10-minute drive of the coast. Further down the coast, near to the coastal resorts of Playa de Aro and Sant Feliu de Guixols, are the excellent Golf D’Aro and golf Costa Brava (also known as Golf Santa Cristina) – the region’s oldest and most established course. There’s a good choice of inland courses too. Spain has embraced the culture of golf so fully that there’s something for everyone and every pocket. Finding the property is easy. Finding your form on the course may be more difficult. |
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