Monte Mayor
Legendary since is opening in 1989, the Monte Mayor Golf Course is known as Beauty and Beast and carries rather aptly a bull as its emblem. The course was designed by Malaga native Pepe Gancedo, whose philosophy was to respect the integrity of the naturally formed and shaped terrain and use it to create one of the most dramatic and technically demanding golf courses in Europe.
The tag line for the course is “it takes balls to play it” and few players remain unscathed by this hungry ball eating monster! This 18 hole, 5652m course, which sits in a natural amphitheater in the Sierra de Rhonda mountains entails cliffs, gorges, island fairways and streams, not to mention plenty blind shots and thick mainly inaccessible roughs.
Not for the faint hearted, this course will test your skill, patience and will to live! And is not for the high handicapper unless you can keep your shots straight. A rather novel and usually extremely welcome local home rule is that any ball in the rough within 5m of the fairway can be lifted and dropped back onto the fairway without any penalty! This is designed to keep play moving and possibly to avoid too many tantrums!A Club Pro tip is to leave your driver at home altogether.
Green fees for the course also include the use of a buggy with built in GPS, which is highly recommended as it is a challenging walk even for the fittest. Players are best reminded not to forget their camera as the scenery of this course is truly spectacular. Tee off benches are installed around the course on particularly scenic spots. The course is fast and true and even though it is highly technical and requires strategy and clever use of lots of different clubs, it has inspired respect and admiration from golfers the world over.
Facilities include Pro Shop, club rental,putting green, locker room and showers and you will find great hospitality at the clubhouse restaurant.