Golf in Benalmádena: Torrequebrada, between the sea and the mountains

Golf Torrequebrada

• Architect: José Gancedo
• Opened 1976
• 18 holes
• Par 72

Opened in 1976, Torrequebrada is the work of José "Pepe" Gancedo, a great Spanish amateur nicknamed the "Picasso of golf", who loved American-style contoured greens. The par 72 follows the natural curves of the hillside: doglegs, lakes, well-placed bunkers and large, rolling, often raised greens that make you think on every shot. The Spanish Open was played here in 1979, won by the South African Dale Hayes. Holes 12 to 14 wrap around a large lake, and the 17th tee looks out to sea. A technical rather than long course that rewards accuracy.

Signature hole. The 16th, a par 4 and the hardest hole on the card: you aim at the palms in the middle of the fairway, then the approach carries a lake to a sloping, undulating green, with the whole coast laid out before you.

Lauro Golf

• Architect: Folco Nardi; Mariano Benítez (2003)
• Opened 1992
• 27 holes
• Par 72

In Alhaurín de la Torre, in the Guadalhorce valley, Lauro Golf was established in 1992 on the land of a former farm, the Cortijo El Paredón, now the clubhouse, set around a patio shaded by a century-old ficus. The first 18 holes are by Folco Nardi, the next nine by Mariano Benítez in 2003: three loops that can be combined, all par 72. Fourteen lakes, century-old oaks preserved and almost flat ground that is easy to walk, apart from two elevated holes with views over the valley and the sea. A technical course without being tricky, ideal for the first day.

Alhaurín Golf

• Architect: Severiano Ballesteros
• 18 holes
• Par 72

At the foot of the Sierra de Mijas, Alhaurín Golf is Severiano Ballesteros's course in the Málaga hinterland: a par 72 with pronounced relief, five par 3s and five par 5s, well-kept fairways that contrast with the wild scrub of the sierra, and views of the mountains and the Mediterranean. The layout calls for a variety of shots and imagination, in the manner of its designer, while remaining playable for mid-handicappers. A nine-hole par-3 course surrounds the driving range for a warm-up or the end of the day.