PGA Instructors with 26 full time students from the Hartpury College Golf Academy during their visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 5-day intensive winter training camp.
“When I arrived and saw the Resort, I thought to myself 'this is gonna be good!'
The golf facilities are excellent, a very long Driving Range at the Academy, with many bays and natural grass to practice from which is invaluable. Both the chipping green and putting green are large enough to accommodate a high number of players at any one time and the greens on the course are quick, much quicker than those we play on at home!”
That is the verdict of 16-year-old Jack Munday, one of 26 full time students from The Hartpury College Golf Academy, based in Gloucester, England, who have returned from their first visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 5-day intensive winter training programme to develop their individual golfing skills.
Three full-time PGA Professionals at Hartpury College accompanied twenty boys and six girls aged between15 – 18 years for 5 days of warm weather winter training at the Desert Springs Resort between Monday 4th – Saturday 9th February.
A Hartpury College Golf student plays their approach shot to the green of Hole 4 “Cinch” on the Indiana 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.
The training camp utilised the excellent practice facilities at the Desert Springs Golf Academy where the PGA Instructors were able provide one-to-one tuition and take advantage of the use of the Desert Springs short game academy.
Students working on there putting technique at the Desert Springs Short Game Academy.
Student Sarah Ridell, aged 18 remarked of the Indiana course:
“Awesome, a fantastic layout and excellent quality which certainly provides a test of a variety of shots you will require to score well.
The course certainly improves your course management skills.”
A Hartpury College Golf student tees off on Hole 2 “Gulch” on the Indiana 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.
Richard King, Academy Manager at Hartpury College Golf Academy commented:
“I have had a fantastic experience at Desert Springs; from the very first minute of our arrival to the resort and the ‘Meet & Greet’ we experienced, I knew that our stay would be ideal.
The golf facilities are simply excellent; it feels like you are on Tour, an experience comparable to Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor. The Range Ball pyramids at the Golf Academy, endless balls and the staff at the Range…it does feel special!
Everybody is friendly and smiling at all times, it is the kind of place where you would love to work…I can´t praise it enough.
If you want to go to a place to practice, improve your golf skills and be treated like a Pro, then come to Desert Springs!”
Accommodation for the Hartpury College Golf Academy students and coaches was provided in the apartments available at Desert Springs.
- 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 Hartpury College Golf Academy visit the website www.hartpury.ac.uk
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 Hartpury College Golf School pupils, visiting groups have included golfing pupils from, Lee Westwood Golf Academy, Darren Clarke Golf School, 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.
|
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 e: tag@almanzora.co.uk www.almanzora.com |
