Darren Clarke Golf School Second Winter Training Camp At Desert Springs A Resounding Success!
PGA Instructor Jack Murgatroyd first from left with 27 full time students from the Darren Clarke Golf School during their second visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 4-day intensive winter training camp.
“I love the golf course, the condition, the greens the fairways, its just perfect for us to practice on!”
That is the verdict of 17-year-old Natalie Goodhall, one of 27 full time students from the Darren Clarke Golf School based at Greenmount Campus, Northern Ireland, who have returned from their second visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 4-day intensive winter training programme to develop their individual golfing skills.
Darren Clarke Golf School PGA Instructors Jack Murgatroyd and Graham Mackay accompanied twenty five boys and two girls aged from 15 to 18 years for 4 days of warm weather winter training at the resort between 8th & 12th January, while experiencing a golf course, which offers a challenge to players at all levels.
The training camp utilised the excellent practice facilities at the Desert Springs Golf Academy where Jack Murgatroyd and Graham Mackay were able provide one-to-one tuition for the students.
The Desert Springs Golf Academy facilities utilized by the attendees of the Darren Clarke Golf School Winter Training Camp.
Jack Murgatroyd, Darren Clarke Golf Instructor said;
“As with our inaugural training camp, once again, we had a great training week. The students certainly benefitted from the superb practice facilities which they utilized to the full with hard hours of practice put in to prepare them for the test provided by the Indiana course, which unsurprisingly they found to be very enjoyable.”
An aerial view of the 3rd Hole (Crazy Horse) at the Indiana golf course at Desert Springs, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course in the Almanzora region of Almeria in south-east Spain.
Student Adam Kerr, 17 years of age, remarked of the Indiana course;
“The course is fantastic and the greens were excellent; we don’t get the chance to play courses in this perfect a condition very often!”
Graham Mackay, Darren Clarke Golf Instructor commented:
“The lay out of the excellent accommodation and the secure nature of the whole resort is perfect for a group of youngsters like ours.”
Accommodation for the Darren Clarke Golf School students and coaches was provided in the apartments available at Desert Springs.
The Darren Clarke Golf School return to Desert Springs between 22nd – 29th January 2013 with 8 transition students and their coach Jack Murgatroyd for a seven day winter training camp.
Andy Peoples, Head of Operations at the Darren Clarke Golf School said:
“We have had a very productive time at Desert Springs, the facilities were exactly what we needed and of the highest quality enabling the students to get some really good valuable work done.”
- For details of Golf & Sports Training Camps, Corporate Golf Events and Meetings at Desert Springs call 01242 680 116 or visit the website, www.almanzora.com
- To find out more about the Darren Clarke Golf School visit the website www.darrenclarkegolfschool.com
Additional background Information
Warm weather winter training camps at Desert Springs
Desert Springs, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course, is proving to be one of the most popular destinations for warm weather winter training camps among the growing number of schools with their own golf academies and teams, currently estimated at around 90 in the UK. In addition to Darren Clarke Golf School pupils, visiting groups have included golfing pupils from, Millfield School, Reading Blue Coat School at Sonning-on-Thames, King Edward’s School in Bath and Loretto School at Musselburgh near Edinburgh.
All school golf trips to Desert Springs are bespoke. If desired, the programme can include time away from the golf course for some local sightseeing in what many regard as ‘the real Spain.’
During their stay pupils have opportunities to swim, play tennis and use the gymnasium, trim trail, jogging tracks, paddle tennis and beach volley ball courts.
Desert Springs is easy to reach from the UK, thanks to three international airports. They are: Almeria Airport, around 40 minutes away by road; Murcia Airport, 80 minutes by car, and Alicante Airport which is a drive of less than two hours. Airlines currently flying to the region from the UK include easyJet, Monarch, Ryanair, Jet2, Jetair Fly and Thomas Cook.
Already well known as a resort specialising in family holidays, Desert Springs is gaining popularity as a centre for warm-weather training for cricketers and footballers, as well as golfers.
Accommodation is provided in the apartments and villas available for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs. Meals are served in the resort’s Croc Restaurant, part of the family-friendly Crocodile Club that is geared up for a wide variety of leisure activities and the award winning El Torrente Restaurant at the Club House.
A spokesman for Desert Springs said that, depending on the size of the group and its requirements, the total cost of a four-day trip for warm weather training, including flights, would work out at between £350 and £400 per person.
The Desert Springs Resort & Golf Club
Facilities already completed and in use at Desert Springs include:
- a 72 par 18-hole USGA Indiana golf course designed by former Great Britain and Ireland Golf Team Captain Peter McEvoy who was inspired by the desert courses of Arizona and California;
- a golf academy whose PGA qualified teaching professionals cater for several international teams, for the women’s elite squads of the Golf Union of Wales and for many of the English County Union’s elite squads; PGA European Tour and LET players.
- two hard tennis courts, two paddle courts, beach volley ball and two football pitches – one is a full-size grass pitch; the other is designed for five-a-side games;
- a Spanish colonial style Golf Club House with a lounge, bar, restaurant, locker rooms, TV and reading rooms, and a Ralph Lauren Golf Boutique;
- The Crocodile Club which provides family fun at the heart of the resort with pools, equipped sand play areas, a kid’s battery powered John Deere Gator circuit and a games room as well as a jacuzzi, sun lawns and a pool bar;
- a health and fitness club and spa.
Awards
In 2005 Desert Springs won the Daily Mail Best Almeria Award and the Bentley International Property Awards for the Best Spain Development and Best Architecture. In 2006, it was awarded the Spanish National Madera Verde Prize for Environmentally Sensitive Development. In 2007, the El Torrente Restaurant received the New Millennium International Gastronomy Award for the Tourist, Hotel and Catering Industry. This award was created by the Trade Leaders Club with the aim of distinguishing companies from all countries, for the outstanding quality of their products or services.
The climate of the Almanzora coastal region
Desert Springs takes it name from the region’s desert microclimate, which is unique in Europe. It has the warmest winter weather on the continent with an annual average of more than nine hours of daily sunshine and maximum daily temperatures of between 16°C (60°F) and 30°C (86°F) throughout the year. Annual rainfall is less than 200 mm. The Almanzora’s coastal waters are among the cleanest and warmest in Europe, attracting both fish and diving enthusiasts.
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Reader enquiries: |
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Simon Coaker The Almanzora Group Ltd
The Manor, Boddington, Tel: +44 (0) 1242 680116 e: tag@almanzora.co.uk www.almanzora.com |
