The five-star La Manga Club is seeking an unprecedented achievement as it looks to be named the best golf resort in Spain for a staggering fourth year in a row.
The multi-award-winning venue, in Murcia, south-east Spain, has been the unanimous choice of readers in the annual travel awards of the UK’s best-selling golf magazine, Today’s Golfer, for the last three years – a unique achievement in itself – and once again heads the list of nominees for the coveted title after enjoying another outstanding 12 months.
It’s been a year in which the world’s top golf coach, David Leadbetter, opened a new €1m world-class golf tuition facility at the club, with, as its centrepiece, a bespoke Leadbetter Academy building – described by the man himself as “comparable with anything I have seen worldwide”. It comes complete with two tuition studios equipped with the latest technology, including Trackman, SAM PuttLab and K-VEST.
La Manga Club is also in line to add to its extensive list of honours after receiving a double nomination for the 1st World Golf Awards, to be held in Portugal next month. Its South Course has been shortlisted for Spain’s Best Golf Course, while its five-star Hotel Principe Felipe is among the nominees to be voted Spain’s Best Golf Hotel.
The iconic South Course has hosted numerous high-profile professional and amateur tournaments – including staging the Spanish Open on five occasions – and has been the centre of attention for European golfers over the last 12 months. As well as being chosen to host the 2014 Spanish Seniors Championship and 2014 Children’s Championships, the famous par-73 layout also held the 1st La Manga Club PGAs of Europe Pro-Am, the climax to the 2014 ECCO Tour Winter Series, and the 2014 Footballers’ Classic – won for the third time by Liverpool and Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish – while the credentials of the resort’s luxurious hotel were given a bit of Hollywood sparkle earlier this year by a visit from former Oscar nominee Liam Neeson.
La Manga Club was also one of only five esteemed venues nominated for the ‘Best Golf Resort in the World’ at the 2014 Telegraph Ultratravel 100 Awards alongside Pebble Beach in California, St Andrews – the Home of Golf – Sandy Lane in Barbados, and eventual winner The Gleneagles Hotel, host to last month’s hugely successful Ryder Cup.
However, the year also saw the sad passing of former owner Gregory Peters, the driving force behind creating Spain’s flagship resort, following his death at the age of 86. Peters opened La Manga Club in 1972, two years after he first began work on the ground-breaking project and he laid the foundations for the venue to be at the forefront of sports and leisure destinations across Europe.
La Manga Club’s general manger, Jose Asenjo, said: “It would be a fitting tribute to the foresight, dedication, energy and innovation of our late founder Gregory Peters if La Manga Club were to win this award for the fourth successive year, in the year of his sad passing.
“To win it would be a major achievement and deserved recognition for the continued hard work at the resort that keeps it as the benchmark for those who came after. But whether we win this – or any other award – or not, we will continue to offer the best possible service and facilities to our visitors, whether they are holidaying golfers, professional sports teams, families or Hollywood superstars. It is that level of quality which has continued to bring in the accolades since Mr Peters launched the resort in 1972.”
La Manga Club – set in an area three times the size of Monaco – is widely recognised as Spain’s flagship resort and continues to set the benchmark for sports and leisure destinations across Europe.
Boasting three 18-hole championship golf courses, a nine-hole academy course and outstanding practice facilities, the resort has enjoyed a rich golfing history since its inception in 1972, while its array of other outstanding sports and leisure amenities, bars and restaurants has helped establish it as a firm favourite with visiting golfers.
South African star Gary Player was La Manga Club’s first director of golf, European Tour legend Severiano Ballesteros was the complex’s tour professional between 1980-85 and Luke Donald cut his golfing teeth at the resort during his school holidays on his way to becoming world number one.
In addition, the resort offers the ideal place for budding sports stars of the future to hone their skills with a wide selection of academies for boys and girls of all ages including golf, tennis, cricket, rugby, athletics, football and dance, and a range of fun-packed activities in its junior club.
La Manga Club features unrivalled facilities as a sports and leisure destination and, as well as its golf courses, includes a 28-court tennis centre and a 2,000sqm spa and fitness centre. It also offers the choice of a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and townhouses and more than 20 bars and restaurants.
Today’s Golfer Travel Awards www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/tgtravelawards.
La Manga Club www.lamangaclub.com