Desert Springs Resort will be host to the ‘V Desert Springs & Millfield European Schools Team Championships’ between Sunday 11th to Wednesday 14th February 2018.
The Team Championships is open to boys and girls of all ages with a maximum handicap of 24 and will be held over 3 days (54-Holes).
A record high entry field of Eighty-three (83) full time students accompanied by nineteen (19) coaches and staff representing; defending Champions Millfield, with Loretto, Bradfield, Whitgift, Reeds, and Lancing Schools along with the Kevin Cademy Taylor Academy, will compete for this year’s coveted title.
The tournament format is 4 Ball-Better-Ball Stableford Points on Day 1 & 2 with 3/4 Handicap allowance. The best two-stableford points scores from each team will be combined to achieve the team score. The competition format for Day 3 is Best two Individual Stableford scores (Full Handicap Allowance) from each team being combined to achieve the teams’ total Stableford score over the three days.
The EGA has an established Handicap Conversion for CONGU players depending on the course slope rating. The Handicap conversions below will be applied:
- Championship Tee – Handicap Conversion +1.1
- Men’s Tee – Handicap Conversion -0.5
- Ladies Tee – Handicap Conversion +1.4
Additional prizes during the event shall include;
A trophy to the player with the best Individual Stableford score on tournament day three.
A trophy to the player with the best Scratch score playing from the Championship Tees on tournament day three.
A trophy to the player with the best Scratch score playing from the Ladies Tees on tournament day three.
The students’ coaches and school staff will be accommodated in some of the privately-owned Apartments, Townhouses and Villas normally reserved for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs and the resort’s executive chef will be on hand to cater for the special dietary requirements of individual players dining in the Crocodile Club.
Simon Coaker, Desert Springs Director of Golf, remarked:
“The inaugural competition in 2014 provided the opportunity for schools to come together at one meeting point and compete against other schools in a friendly atmosphere, some of whom they would not normally compete against.
Now in its fifth year, the event has both evolved as well as gone from strength to strength, confirmed by the record number of entries registered for this years tournament.
As well as the golf, participants will enjoy a Welcome Tournament Reception and Dinner at ‘The Crocodile Club’, a Fun 5-A-Side Football tournament followed by a BBQ Dinner, a ‘Quiz Night’, a Putting Competition, and also benefit from the use of the ‘Sierra Sports & Fitness Club’ facilities; Gym, Tennis and Padel whilst at the resort.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming all of the competitors to what we are confident is going to be another great tournament and a fun packed few days.”
- For details of Golf, Cricket & Sports Training Camps, Corporate Golf Events and Meetings at Desert Springs Resort call 01242 680 116 or visit the website, desertspringsresort.es
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 already known as a resort specialising in family holidays, however it has rapidly gained popularity as a centre for warm-weather training for cricketers, athletes, and footballers, as well as golfers and is proving to be one of the most popular destinations for sports warm weather winter training camps.
All sports camps to Desert Springs are bespoke. If desired, the programme can include time away from the resort for some local sightseeing in what many regard as ‘the real Spain.’
During their stay attendees 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, 40 minutes by car; 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 British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, and Fly Thomas Cook.
Accommodation is provided in the apartments, townhouses and villas available for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs. Meals are served in the resort’s Crocodile Club 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.
The Desert Springs Resort & Golf Club
Facilities already completed and in use at Desert Springs Resort include:
- The Indiana course, a par 72 -18-hole USGA specification 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, PGA Europro Tour and LET players.
- two 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 cricket ground with an eighteen (18) wicket square, constructed to ECB standards and specifications that will be ready for play in February 2018 and will be open all year round. Complimented by a Marquee pavilion, sightscreens, scoreboard, sprint strips, and associated facilities, it provides an outstanding facility to practice and play cricket.
- a Cricket Academy with facilities that comprise; twenty-four (24) grass wickets and run up with nets, one artificial wicket with nets, a full length artificial grass wicket, a Professional Bola Bowling Machine with 28 ball feeder, requisite training equipment and a specific hard standing area, which provides outside space for facilities such as a free weights gym, stretching mats and a medical area.
- 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 as well as a Jacuzzi, sun lawns and a pool bar;
- a health and fitness club and spa.
Awards
Desert Springs Resort was awarded Best Golf Resort for Groups in Europe by the 2016 European Group Travel Awards (EGTA). The Indiana Course at Desert Springs Resort has also been recognised as the 6th Best Golf Course in Spain, based on the reviews of players who rated the course on the Leading Courses website. Out of the 345 courses present on this ranking the Indiana Course at Desert Springs occupies 6th place with a score of 8,8/10, and awards Desert Springs Golf Club with the “Outstanding” badge. This distinction is only given to the best 10 courses in the country.
Desert Springs Resort has been awarded the Daily Mail Best Almeria Award and the Bentley International Property Awards for the Best Spain Development and Best Architecture, as well as the Spanish National Madera Verde Prize for Environmentally Sensitive Development, the SICTED award for the distinction of “Commitment to Tourism Quality” and Andalucía’s Premier Tourism prize for 2017, the coveted and prestigious ‘Excellence in Management’ Award.
El Torrente Restaurant has 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 its 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 coastal waters are among the cleanest and warmest in Europe, attracting both fish and diving enthusiasts.
Reader enquiries:
NOTE: High Resolution Images available upon request.
Simon Coaker
The Almanzora Group Ltd
The Manor, Boddington, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire GL51 0TJ
Tel: +44 (0) 1242 680116
Mob: +34 678 235 716
e: scc@almanzora.com
www.desertspringsresort.es
The Team Championships is open to boys and girls of all ages with a maximum handicap of 24 and will be held over 3 days (54-Holes)
Millfield School - 2017 Desert Springs & Millfield European Schools Team Championships Winners will be looking to defend their title in February
A typical example of the Apartments at Desert Springs Resort where the ECB Pace Programme players and team officials were accommodated
