Golf on the Costa Blanca | 18 Holes, 300 Days of Sunshine and a Serious Problem

On the Costa Blanca, golf has one unpleasant feature – it is simply too good here.

Usually, golf requires a certain degree of self-denial. You have to travel somewhere, find a course, keep an eye on the weather, put up with the fact that the ball sometimes flies into the bushes for absolutely no reason, and then pretend that that was exactly where you intended it to go.

On the Costa Blanca, everything is suspiciously easier.

Here, there is a mild climate, a large number of sunny days, the Mediterranean Sea, mountains, pine groves and an entire collection of golf courses that are completely unlike one another.

In the south of the province of Alicante, there is a particularly high concentration of golf clubs: Villamartín, Las Ramblas, Campoamor, Las Colinas, Vistabella, La Finca and Lo Romero are all located within the region, while further north there are additional courses around Alicante, Benidorm, Altea, Calpe and Jávea.

Villamartín: The Golf Course That Refused to Grow Old

Villamartín appeared in 1972. It was designed by John Puttman, and today the main feature of the course lies not only in its age, but in what age has done to it.

The trees have had time to grow.

The vegetation has had time to become part of the architecture.

The course itself has had time to acquire a look that cannot be ordered together with new construction.

A new golf club can be impeccable. Everything is fresh, neat, calculated and built according to the latest standards of the industry.

But try buying a tree that is forty or fifty years old. For some reason, it is not sold as part of a new villa.

That is why Villamartín has the character of an old acquaintance who has known everything about everyone for a long time and is no longer going to prove anything to anyone.

The course has existed since the beginning of the 1970s, while the surrounding infrastructure has long become part of its everyday life: nearby there are restaurants, shops and accommodation options.

Villamartín does not give the impression of a golf course that was accidentally placed in the middle of a resort area and then surrounded by everything necessary.

Here, rather, the opposite happened.

Life gradually grew up around the old course.

And now the golfer arrives not at an empty place where civilisation ends after the last hole.

Civilisation here, on the contrary, is rather persistent.

It knows where to eat.

It knows where to have a drink.

It knows where to buy the thing that suddenly became necessary after four hours on the course.

And it probably knows the person who once again sent the ball into a tree.

Las Ramblas: Who Put a Golf Course Here and Why Are They Trying to Kill You?

And then Las Ramblas appears.

Opened in 1991 and designed by Pepe Gancedo, the course seems to have decided that ordinary resort geometry is too boring a thing for such a beautiful climate.

Instead of neatly arranging everything across a relatively understandable surface, the design uses the natural terrain: valleys, slopes and woodland areas become part of the game.

And that is precisely why Las Ramblas cannot simply be described as “another 18-hole course”.

Here, the landscape is not scenery.

It participates.

Sometimes even too actively.

There are courses where the player thinks about the club.

At Las Ramblas, at times you feel like discussing the situation with a geographer.

Because a change in elevation is a wonderful thing while you are looking at it from the terrace.

When that same change in elevation suddenly becomes part of your next shot, the philosophy changes.

This is precisely where that rare type of golfer appears who, after an especially difficult hole, looks at the landscape with the expression of a person suspecting that they were lured here by beautiful photographs.

And the photographs really are beautiful.

Las Ramblas is the case where the word “character” stops being a marketing adjective.

It really has character.

And that character is slightly suspicious.

Campoamor: Where Golf Has an Unreasonably Good Afternoon Planned

After Las Ramblas, Campoamor creates a different impression.

There is less of a feeling that the landscape has decided to test human endurance, and more of a feeling of a well-organised resort day.

Club de Golf Campoamor is closely connected with Golf Campoamor Hotel, so the format is particularly convenient for those who come specifically for the game.

But the most interesting part begins beyond the club itself.

Because Campoamor is a place where golf does not try to take over the entire day.

Nearby there are beaches, restaurants and residential areas.

And this changes the psychology of the trip.

Golf here does not have to be the only event of the day.

It can be the main event of the morning.

And that, I think you will agree, is a completely different philosophy.

There is something very Spanish about the very possibility of finishing a round, getting yourself sorted, and then discovering that the Mediterranean Sea is not somewhere in theory, but is actually right nearby.

In the end, a strange situation arises.

A player can spend several hours seriously discussing the distance to the flag, the speed of the green and whether the club selection was correct.

And some time later, they can be sitting somewhere with a view of the sea and behaving as though nothing particularly dramatic had happened in the morning.

Campoamor is particularly well suited to this transition.

Golf here is not isolated from resort life.

It is integrated into it.

Las Colinas: Golf, But Someone Turned the Volume Down

And then the road leads to Las Colinas Golf & Country Club.

And here there is a feeling as though someone has turned down the volume of the surrounding world.

The course is located in a secluded valley among Mediterranean forests.

Pines, dense vegetation and hilly terrain become part of the course landscape itself.

After the busier resort areas, this feels almost cinematic.

The road goes inward.

The coast remains somewhere behind.

The density of development decreases.

And suddenly, instead of the familiar Spanish resort background, a green valley appears.

Here, it becomes especially clear how different golf courses can be on the same coast.

The distances between them do not turn the journey into an expedition, but the experiences can differ so much that it feels as though different countries are being discussed.

Las Colinas is an 18-hole course designed with the natural landscape in mind.

The resort itself includes residential property, restaurants and sports facilities.

But in the context of golf itself, something else is more interesting.

Here, nature is not “outside the course”.

It is the playing space itself.

That is precisely why Las Colinas feels not like another point on the map to tick off a list of rounds played, but as a separate experience.

Golf here becomes a little quieter.

And perhaps that is exactly why everything else can be heard better.

Vistabella: A Little Further From the Sea, A Little Closer to the Point

Vistabella is further from the coast, and this immediately changes the character of the place.

The course opened in 2009, has 18 holes and a par of 72.

It is part of a large residential complex and is intended for those who like the idea of having golf literally close to their home or holiday accommodation.

There is no need to pretend that this is an adventure.

Vistabella is more about convenience.

And that is not boring at all.

On the contrary.

After courses that require emotional involvement, it is pleasant to encounter a place where the logic itself is simple: you want to play – the course is nearby.

You want to spend a few days peacefully – the complex’s infrastructure is nearby.

You want to get to the sea – the coast remains accessible, it is simply no longer around the nearest corner.

Vistabella reminds us that a golf resort does not necessarily have to look like a scene from an advertisement for an expensive watch.

Sometimes it is simply a well-organised place where a person can genuinely live next to the course.

And if you think about it, that is quite a luxurious form of practicality.

La Finca: Another Reason Not to Pack the Golf Bag Away

La Finca Golf, together with Lo Romero, expands the choice of courses in the southern part of the province of Alicante.

In the source material, they are mentioned specifically as additional options for those planning several rounds during one trip.

And here one of the main features of the southern part of the Costa Blanca becomes apparent.

A golfer does not have to turn a week of holiday into a repetition of the same route.

Today – one course.

Tomorrow – another.

The day after tomorrow – a third.

And this is not about choosing between identical green spaces with different names.

It is precisely the contrast between the courses that makes the region interesting.

After the mature Villamartín, another course feels different.

After the terrain of Las Ramblas, another course seems even calmer.

After Las Colinas, the very idea of how much space can exist between holes changes.

So La Finca is important here not only in itself.

It is part of a much more interesting idea: the Costa Blanca allows you to create your own route from different golf personalities.

And that is much more interesting than simply looking for the nearest course.

Lo Romero: One More Round Is Suddenly a Reasonable Idea

The same thing happens with Lo Romero.

It belongs to the group of courses in the southern part of the province of Alicante that allow you to expand a golf trip programme beyond the best-known clubs of Orihuela Costa.

And here one fairly simple thing becomes clear.

The Costa Blanca is good not because it has one perfect course.

Its strength lies in the possibility of changing the scenery.

This is especially valuable for those who come for a week.

The same club seven days in a row can turn pleasure into a timetable.

Several different courses turn the trip into a small collection of experiences.

Even if the result on the scorecard each time reminds you that perhaps it would be better to collect balls rather than courses.

North Costa Blanca: Suddenly There Are Mountains

The southern part of the region is particularly interesting because of its concentration of golf clubs.

But the further north you go, the more noticeable the terrain changes.

Mountains become part of the visual space, and the courses interact more strongly with the surrounding landscape.

And here, different options begin to appear.

Meliá Villaitana: 36 Holes With a Mountain Backdrop

Meliá Villaitana is located near Benidorm and offers two courses with a total of 36 holes.

The resort format makes it possible to combine accommodation, play and relaxation in one place.

This is already a different version of a golf trip.

Not “find a course near the hotel”, but arrive at a place where the accommodation itself is part of the golf experience.

Altea Club de Golf: Small, Old and Rather Charming

Altea Club de Golf has been operating since 1974 and has nine holes, which are usually played twice.

The course is located between the mountains and the sea, so its character is very different from the flatter southern options.

Nine holes here certainly do not mean nine minutes of enjoyment.

It is a reminder that the size of a course and the scale of the experience are completely different things.

Club de Golf Ifach: The Smaller Conversation

Club de Golf Ifach is located near Benissa and is suitable for those based in the Calpe or Moraira area.

Compared with the large resort clubs, it is smaller, which means the atmosphere is more intimate and perfectly suited to someone who absolutely does not want to feel like a participant in an international golf congress.

Club de Golf Jávea: Pine Trees Instead of Palm Trees

In the Jávea area, the character changes again.

Club de Golf Jávea is surrounded by pine groves and countryside, while the mature Mediterranean landscape makes it completely unlike typical resort courses.

The Real Luxury Is Variety

At some point it becomes clear why golfers return here.

Not only because of the weather.

The climate really does matter: mild winters and a large number of sunny days make it possible to spend a lot of time outdoors.

But the climate alone does not explain the diversity of the local golf scene.

The main advantage is the distance between different types of experience.

Here, you can choose a course not according to the principle of “what is closest”, but according to the principle of “what kind of golf do I feel like playing today”.

Need history – Villamartín.

Want terrain – Las Ramblas.

Need a resort format – Campoamor.

Want peace and nature – Las Colinas.

Prefer a place further from the coast – Vistabella.

Want to continue the southern route – La Finca or Lo Romero.

Drawn to the mountains – northern Costa Blanca.

18 Holes. Then What?

There is another reason why the Costa Blanca works so well specifically as a golf travel destination.

Many clubs are located close to restaurants, hotels, residential complexes and other infrastructure.

Some have academies and practice areas.

This is particularly convenient for couples and families where not every person considers four hours with a club in their hands to be the ideal Sunday morning.

One person can play.

Another can get on with their own activities.

And nobody has to pretend to have the same level of enthusiasm.

This is perhaps one of the most practical features of a golf holiday on the Costa Blanca.

The course does not consume the holiday.

It becomes part of it.

Today – 18 holes.

Tomorrow – the sea.

Then a restaurant.

Then a trip to Alicante, Altea, Calpe or another city.

The Slightly Dangerous Thing About Golf on the Costa Blanca

A person comes to the Costa Blanca to play golf.

And then one day catches themselves having a completely ridiculous thought:

“And you could actually stay here a little longer.”

Nobody promised that golf would be a cheap pleasure.

But the Costa Blanca has found a way to make it even more dangerous.

It has made it convenient.

And beautiful.

And varied.

And surrounded it with the sea.

Very unfair.