Valle Romano Golf & Resort

Located in the hills above Estepona, Valle Romano represents possibly the best value golf course in the area. It’s a first class facility, founded in 2010, with a modern course designed by Cabell B Robinson (he of Finca Cortesin and La Reserva fame) offered at a keen price point.

After the Big 5 (Valderrama, Real Sotogrande, San Roque Old, Finca Cortesin and La Reserva) you will find San Roque New and Valle Romano; newish courses with a strong design DNA and modest green fees compared with their more illustrious neighbours. If you are tempted to travel just 30 minutes out of the Sotogrande area for your golf then a round at Valle Romano comes highly recommended.

Service is friendly and attentive, as soon as you arrive at the spacious, modern clubhouse. Car parking, clubhouse entrance and buggy collection are just steps from each other – definitely designed with customer ease in mind.

The course is quite undulating and your round ends going uphill to the clubhouse. My advice is to take a buggy. Distance judgement is called for, especially the first time you play this course, so buggies with GPS are a real benefit.

Take the first hole: an open, downhill, par five with a sharp dogleg left. Concentrated bunkering protects the dogleg and challenges you to know your distances if you are contemplating flying the corner to benefit from the downhill run of the fairway beyond. Like most holes on this course, the first fairway is generous in width, the turf is great and the green large, receptive and of excellent quality. In fact everything an average Bogey golfer appreciates, which makes it such an attractive ‘holiday’ golf course.

The round continues in a similar vein, with your challenge laid out in front of you. Uphill, downhill with water coming into play (at least in your mind!) on several holes; but no unfair blind shots to reduce your aim to mere guesswork.

You will love hitting around this track, even out of the bunkers which are quite shallow, fairly positioned and feature sand of a high quality. The rest of the course is just as immaculately maintained, thanks in no small part to a state-of-the-art-irrigation system. For the record – tees and fairways use Bermuda Tifsport turf, greens Agrostis Strolonifera L-93.

Attention to the customer experience is ably demonstrated with its mid-round refreshment facility. A wooden booth with a phone has been fitted on the green of the 8th hole with a direct line to the restaurant. There is a menu that contains snacks and drinks that players can order as they pass and then collect at the par 3 9th.

At the end of your round relax in the modern, spacious clubhouse. It’s fully-equipped with a shop, restaurant, locker room and changing rooms with sauna and offers long views down to the sea.