Golf - Cabopino Club de Golf

Inaugurated in April 2001. 18 holes with a par of 71 laid out by little-known Spanish architect Juan Ligues is short but very tight in places.

Very scenic course with views to mountains and seas. Buggies obligatory but included in the price of green fee.

A TEST OF SKILL AND PATIENCE

By Eamonn Power

Care should be taken while driving on the windy road which links Cabopino Golf with the main coastal road as it is very narrow and something of an obstacle course with electricity pylons slap-bang in the centre of it.

Address: Urb. Artola Alta. 29600 Marbella, Málaga.
Directions: thirteen kilometres east of Marbella towards Málaga - on the N-340 road, take the crossover at Puerto Cabopino at km. 195.

MEMORABLE HOLES

The golf course opens with a couple of innocuous par-4s but the third hole is quite an eye-opener. Standing on the tee, the fairway is some 200-metres below in a valley and looks for all the world like an aeroplane landing strip. It is quite spectacular and worth visiting the course if only to play that particular hole! When the fairway is eventually reached the approach shot is to an elevated green protected by a large bunker on the side of which a olive tree stands in splendid isolation.

The fifth is rated the most difficult hole on the course and, at 378-metres, it is also the longest par-4. Straight driving is an absolute must as the entire right-hand side is “dead” but the careful player, who can resist the temptation to beat the ball, will reap handsome dividends. The very attractive par-3 seventh has pines on both sides of the fairway while the green is elevated and framed by more trees. The ninth has a generous fairway (when compared with its predecessors) and is played to a two-tiered green on which two putts will be a very satisfactory result.

The 12th is the first par-5 and the beginning of a very interesting stretch on the course. The hole initially dog-legs to the right over a lake and then swings back on itself to a green tucked in a corner and surrounded by bunkers. This is followed by a Par-3 to a lakeside green where the water swings around and eats into about 50% of the front of the putting surface. The 14th features a stream meandering down the fairway and a waterfall underneath a little wooden bridge. It is a par-5 and the dreaded water appears again on the left side of the green. The par-3 15th completes a very attractive section of the golf course and what a pity it is that the finishing three holes are so timid and have little, if any, distinctive features.

THE 19TH HOLE

Cabopino is a narrow and relatively short golf course; it is not a place for the wild hitter who would certainly lose a cartful of golf balls. The picturesque course will not only test the golfing skills it will also test the patience to the limit. The clubhouse sits atop a hill overlooking the sea and beside it there is a restaurant where an excellent lunch can be enjoyed at a reasonable price.

To read more about the Cabopino course, click here.