• Holes - 18
• Par - 72
• Clubs hire - Yes
• Buggy hire - Yes
• Hand Cart hire - Yes
• Restaurant - Yes
• Bar - Yes
• Map
• GPS N - 36.51028
• GPS W - -4.98028 |
Long terraced tees and large greens amidst fragrant
orange trees are characteristic of the well maintained golf course
at Los Naranjos.
Under the direction of Christer Sorensson, Los Naranjos
is run on the philosophy that "golf means more than just sport."
The new Andalusian style clubhouse bears this out emphasizing a
total golfing experience.
Maximum use has been made of orange trees from which the course
gets its name. Maintenance is a priority: each morning a team of
20 staff prepare the course for members and guests, one of whom
is often Sean Connery.
IN THE SHADE OF THE OLD ORANGE TREES
By Eamonn Power
The big problem about getting to Los Naranjos is negotiating the endless round-a-bouts encountered on the journey through the area known as “golf valley”. Yet what a treat lies in store once the final destination has been reached. On arrival into the car park an attendant will usually guide you into a parking space and then carry your clubs into the clubhouse. Check-in will be quickly dealt with by the ever attentive caddiemasters who will also supply a card together with a course planner if required. The well trained staff at Los Naranjos have the happy knack of making visitors feel welcome which provides an excellent introduction to this most friendly golf club. The check-in area is located in the professionals’ shop where the many bargains on offer are a source of real temptation.
MEMORABLE HOLES
Los Naranjos is a typical Robert Trent Jones design with broad sweeping fairways dotted with numerous bunkers, undulating greens and water coming into play on a number of holes. It is an easily walkable course which opens with a par-4 tailor made for the average amateur whose stock-in-trade is a slice for that is exactly the shot necessary to carry the ball around the sweeping fairway as it heads downhill into a valley. A plethora of shamrock-shaped bunkers guard the right-hand side of the fairway as it rises up to an elevated green where more bunkers stand guard. Any shot not reaching the putting surface will topple a considerable distance back towards the player such is the severity of the slope fronting the green. The fourth is a par-3, measuring 168-metres, played from an elevated tee to a green down below. The putting surface is fronted by a river, which is five metres wide, while anything over-hit will descend into serious quantities of sand. Large eucalyptus trees, standing on either side of the entrance to the green, may hinder the tee shot, be it drawn or faded. This is a first class hole and one which will be remembered, for various reasons, when others have faded from the memory.
While these holes are good the final test is a superb par-5 played onto a fairway which swings gently to the left in a seemingly endless curve. About 140-metres from the green a lake appears menacingly on the left: it then feeds a river that meanders along until it reaches the front of the green. The final section of the fairway turns at right angles as it approaches the elevated green that is shallow but wide and banked on all sides with the clubhouse gazing over all. An approach shot not reaching its target will fall back down the slope into the ever-waiting river. What a terrific hole: for my money one of the best finishing holes on the coast.
THE 19TH
Los Naranjos is also noted for its culinary expertise and lunch on the veranda, overlooking the final green, is a treat and excellent value. Gazing down on unfortunate golfers endlessly picking golf balls out of the water can be a cause of merriment to some: for me it was simply an action replay of my own experience just a short time earlier.
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