Six top resorts for golfing in Spain

If there's one type of tourist who's not crying over the barbecue summer that never was, it's the golfing traveller taking full advantage of the Mediterranean autumn sun.

The euro may be miserable value for money but Spain remains Europe's top winter-sun golf destination. We're not talking Torremolinos tack here but some of the best courses in the world.

With prices down by about 20 per cent on 2008 levels, there are some bargain packages around. At La Torre near Murcia, for example, you get three rounds of golf and three nights' self-catering from £159pp.

The Costa del Sol is still the big golf stretch but the Costa Brava and Murcia are catching up fast.

ALMENARA, SOTOGRANDE
This four-star hotel and spa in the Sotogrande Hills has 148 bungalow-style rooms and 27 holes of golf and is the official hotel for the Volvo Masters, the last European Tour event of the year, held at Valderrama.

Guests get special access to La Reserva (as good as Valderrama, for a third of the price) and San Roque. Golfbreaks.com (0800 279 7988) is offering three nights at Almenara from £179pp B&B until
28 February 2010.

LA MANGA
With 54 holes of golf and 36 tennis courts in an area three times the size of Monaco, you can hardly call La Manga compact. Sean Noble, of the Azalea Group, which markets this huge sporting complex just an hour's drive from Alicante, says: "We've ridden the storm better than most. Our product is still in huge demand."

La Manga is offering three nights B&B per person with three rounds of golf, half-price buggy hire, access to the fitness centre and transport in the resort.

Doubles at the five-star Hotel la Manga Club Principe Felipe cost £220 per night, the four-star Las Lomas apartments £183pn.
www.lamangaclub.com. Call 0034 968 17 5577 or email reserve@lamangaclub — quoting "Best Golf".

FINCA CORTESIN, ESTEPONA
The five-star Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf & Spa has 67 luxury rooms and suites, and a Cabell Robinson-designed course.