Golf - Mijas Golf - Los Lagos

Mijas Golf boasts two terrific designs laid out by Robert Trent Jones.

Los Lagos, the original course built in the mid-1970s, is a flat, long championship course with waterhazards and large greens. Enjoyable for long hitters but also accommodating to those with a slice. Wide fairways with little rough means Mijas has become the most successful commercial course on the Costa del Golf.

Address: Camino Viejo de Coín s/n. 29650 Mijas Costa, Málaga.
Directions: take the Fuengirola-Coín turnoff and follow the road called Camino Viejo de Coín. The course is about 3,5 kilometres from the highway. Map

A FIRM FAVOURITE WITH VISITORS
By Eamonn Power

In the late seventies and eighties the standard itinerary for the thousands of golfers who travelled to the Costa del Sol on holiday consisted of golf at Mijas Los Lagos and onwards to Las Brisas and Sotogrande, neither of which had risen to "Royal" status at that stage. Since those far off days, the Los Olivos course has been added to Mijas Golf and, despite the number of other courses which have since opened in the area, both remain firm favourites with visitors.

MEMORABLE HOLES
Los Lagos opens with a relatively gentle par-5, and not many holes will have been played before the trade mark of that doyen of golf course designers, Robert Trent Jones Snr, becomes all too obvious. Bunkers, bunkers and yet more bunkers!

With apartments on the left, a hook must be avoided from the tee of the long fifth and, with sand resembling the Sahara desert stretching for about 80-metres also on that side, it is a hole on which you must keep to the right off the tee. 180-metres from the green on the right, the first of the big lakes, from which the course gets its name, appears and from there it zigzags its way up to the front edge of the green. An attractive backdrop to the wide but shallow green is provided by a stone wall topped with palms. The eighth is an excellent short hole; a 200-metre par-3 played across a lake onto a green which has more water on the left and around the back. Landing the ball on the green will only answer the first part of the test as the large putting surface offers the distinct possibility of three-putts.

The par-5 13th is played from an elevated tee into a valley and is a hole well remembered by many as the one which destroyed a good card in the making. While the drive is a relatively stress-free shot it is from then on that many questions will be asked. 150-metres from the green on the left a water-hazard commences and continues its way along until it finishes tight up against the green. The opposite side is no bargain either, as it has yet another lake, while additional difficulty is caused by the aprons of the green which slope sharply down towards the water. The flat area of the fairway, which forms the entrance neck to the green, is a mere 11-metres in width making extreme care a necessity when playing an approach shot to a hole which well merits its index 2 rating. A degree of respite is afforded by the 14th, which is rated the easiest hole on the golf course. The final 100-metres of the fairway climb upwards onto a plateau before dropping down again to a small green located in a hollow and adorned with a necklace of bunkers. There is a considerable amount of dead ground twixt the plateau and the green so yardage books should not only be consulted but also believed.

THE 19TH HOLE
The locker rooms at Mijas Golf bring back memories of changing rooms in a bygone era and, although roomy, they do look in need of rejuvenation. The bar and restaurant area received a major facelift in recent years but the interior does little to excite; it is dark and uninviting and somewhat like a second-hand shop with artefacts scattered hither and yon. The outside patio area is far preferable and a light meal enjoyed, while sitting under a parasol in the sunshine, will provide a moment to savour.

Los Lagos at Mijas Golf can fairly be described as "User-friendly" and eminently suitable for all levels of handicap golfers and, although now getting on in years, the Trent Jones design has stood the test of time. A golf holiday on the Costa del Sol would be incomplete without at least one round at this old favourite.

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