A view of 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, which has been selected by Hartpury College Golf Academy from Gloucester, England, as the venue for their 2013 winter training.
The Hartpury College Golf Academy, based in Gloucester, England, have selected the Desert Springs Resort, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course in the Almanzora region of Almeria, Andalucía, in south-east Spain, as the venue for their 2013 winter training.
Between Monday 4th – Saturday 9th February 2013, Desert Springs will be host to twenty six students and three professional staff from The Hartpury College Golf Academy for a five-day intensive training programme to develop their individual golfing skills in warm weather, utilizing the excellent practice facilities at the Golf Academy and playing the Indiana Championship golf course.
The Hartpury College Golf Academy provides players with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and golfing skills by offering regular coaching and playing time. There are three full-time PGA Professionals at Hartpury College who provide the coaching and practice sessions, which take place around academic sessions, so that students are developing both their academic and golfing abilities.
Richard King, Academy Manager at Hartpury said:
“The warm weather training opportunity at Desert Springs coupled with the outstanding golf facilities, provides the players with the opportunity to practice and bond together in an environment that allows quality practice and golf performance.”
The golf academy practice facilities at Desert Springs, which are being used by Hartpury College Golf Academy pupils for winter training in warm weather to develop their individual golfing skills.
Simon Coaker, director of golf at Desert Springs, said:
“Desert Springs is proving to be one of the most popular destinations for warm weather winter golf training camps among the growing number of schools with their own golf academies and teams, currently estimated at around 90 in the UK. 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.”
Players can also enjoy opportunities to swim, play tennis and use the gymnasium, trim trail, jogging tracks, paddle tennis and beach volley ball courts. They also have access to the resort’s Private Reserve which incorporates a spa, private sauna and jacuzzi suite, personal fitness workout room, games room with bar, and a home cinema.
The players and officials will be accommodated in some of the privately owned apartments 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 award-winning El Torrente Restaurant.
For more information about properties available, or golf at Desert Springs, contact The Almanzora Group on telephone +44 (0) 1242 680 116 or visit the website, www.almanzora.com
Additional background Information
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.
Already well known as a resort specialising in family holidays, Desert Springs is gaining popularity as a centre for warm-weather training for golfers and cricketers, as well as footballers. For details call 01242 680116 or visit the website, http://www.almanzora.com
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.
Getting there from the UK
Desert Springs in The Almanzora region 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.
|
Reader enquiries: |
|
Simon Coaker The Almanzora Group Ltd
The Manor, Boddington, Tel: +44 (0) 1242 680116 e: tag@almanzora.co.uk www.almanzora.com |
