We arrived at the beautiful Almenara Golf Club located right next to the 5 star Almenara Hotel and to be honest I have never heard so much whinging and moaning about the weather and the wind, and it was all from me.
However having managed to get over the fact that the wind was howling and it was actually pretty damn cold, we settled in for our morning coffee in the clubhouse. There was no Steve for Team Tee RE this time as he had family commitments so Gavin was drafted in as our sub.
The day didn’t get off to the best start for Team Tee RE as we followed Ollie and his teammate off down the road looking for the first of the 9-hole courses that we were playing. This proved to be a costly mistake as like us, they had no idea where they were going. Maybe we should have turned back after three of four minutes of heading along a road to nowhere but it wasn’t until about five minutes we decided to U-turn and head back towards the clubhouse.
We asked along the way and were shown the entrance to the course, directly opposite where we had originally started.
We had to dodge a few teams as they were already teeing off and eventually got to out start position, having moved onto the next hole so not to hold people up (we played our starting hole at the end so nothing lost apart from some dignity).
The first hole was a nice par three over water watched on by the pro. Most of us hit decent shots although we were all at least a club short as the wind really held up the shots so they dropped short. All said and done though it was not a bad start and more importantly we all got points on the scorecard.
The wind did prove to be an obstacle for most of us during the day and it made the course difficult to play. However Almenara Golf is a lovely course made up of three 9-holes. We would love to play this again on a less windy day. It is challenging and there is a fair amount of water, which seems to attract the Tee RE balls strangely.
Another positive from the day was that fact that I hit a great shot on the ‘nearest to the pin’ hole and finished within 6 inches of the hole. This was not beaten during the day and I walked away with a lovely goody bag from the Barber Club Marbella.
After the golf it was all back to Oak Garden and Grill by Sala, located next door to La Sala Banus. By now it had warmed up quite a bit and we enjoyed some white wine and a selection of tasty nibbles. The burgers were incredible and the grilled meats that came round were stunning.
Another well organised event by Sala Golf League and already looking forward the Alcaidesa Links course in May.
