A short drive north of the Costa del Sol, the La Manga Club opened in 1972 and is one of the most historic golf resorts and residential developments in Spain. Initially the development featured 36 holes of golf, the North and South Courses, which were designed by American Robert Dean Putman. The West Course was added in 1996 and designed by English professional Dave Thomas.

For many years La Manga has offered much more than just golf, with the Davis Cup and Fed Cup Tennis tournaments hosted at the resort in the 1990s and custom built football pitches attracting some of Europe’s biggest clubs for practice and relaxation. Adding to the celebrity of the La Manga Club facility was the fact that in its early years the resort employed legends like Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros as its touring professionals, and was able to attract Arnold Palmer to play one of the many Spanish Opens hosted on the South Course.

Though it lacks the length and tournament pedigree of the South Course, the North starts and finishes dramatically at the foot of the 5-Star Principe Felipe Hotel and boasts a number of enjoyable short and medium length holes. Despite four road crossings, it’s the par threes and gambling waterside par fours that stand out most in the memory. The adjacent 106-metre 2nd and longer, downhill 8th are both gorgeous holes as is the cross-pond 16th with its strong, push-up green site. Longer highlights include the dramatic finishing par four played across a storm gully and back toward the hotel. The mid-length 5th, 14th and 17th are also fun if tempted to take on water or sand from the tee, and successful in doing so.

While many golf resorts strive for championship length and difficulty across its facilities, the charm of La Manga Club is that the North offers some sort of respite from the more challenging South and West Courses, whilst not being a pushover in any way. It’s arguably more fun to play than the West, and equally charming in an old-school sense as the South.

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Three times the size of Monaco, the La Manga Club is an exclusive tourist, sport, and leisure resort, located north of Cartagena on the Costa Calida. Beyond the three 18-hole golf courses are a 28 Court Tennis centre, Cricket centre, Gym, Wellness centre and 8-Pitch Football facility. The premium golf hotel on the Costa Calida is the 5-Star Hotel Príncipe Felipe at La Manga Club, which we recommend as the base for any golf tour to the region.