After his Golf Break at Desert Springs

Hello Jo,

I hope you are well. Just a quick note to let you know how our trip, Feb 22 to 25, to Desert Springs Resort went.

This was truly a magnificent experience for us all, we were all very impressed with the attitude of the staff on site and with the facilities available to us while we were there. You can rest assured that we will be looking to travel to the resort again next year about the same time as this, but with a few more people in our numbers (hopefully about 20). If and when you know of your price tariff for the same dates as this year please do not hesitate to let me know.

Once again thanks for your help in organising our trip and i look forward to speaking to you again in the near future to organise a return trip to your wonderful resort.

Yours Sincerley
Simon Williams

Hi Carmen

Following our recent visit to Desert Springs, I would like to thank you and everyone involved in making our stay such an enjoyable experience.
 
The range, chipping area and putting green are in excellent condition and along with the use of the GASP studio and a lot of hard work the lads have honed their games for the season ahead.

The course is in fantastic condition with excellent greens, which was a bit of a shock to the system after a long English winter.
 
The food was first class both at the Golf Club and the Crocodile Club and everyone at Desert Springs looked after us with a smile on their face.

A final thank you to everyone and hopefully we will see you again next year.

Kind Regards

Mike Ready
County Captain
Hertfordshire Golf Union
Alan White

On the occasion of his father’s 70th birthday celebration

Hello Ellie

I spoke with my father last night and he was delighted with the service and attention they received when I booked his 70th Birthday celebration lunch yesterday.

I would like to thankyou for your help, also thanks to Bronwyn who took the reservation and the waitress who served the table and made a special effort.

Kind regards
Alan White

Dear Alfonso

Thank you for your email.

The trip to Desert Springs was very productive. The mild climate was conducive to productive practice, when our climate at home is cold. The resort has fantastic facilities, all within walking distance. We had no need to hire a bus, even the transfers from the airport were arranged by the resort. Maria del Mar Sanchez was extremely helpful with organising the whole trip from the accommodation to all our golf and fitness requirements. The staff at the resort were helpful and hospitable. The Golf Academy always had the range prepared ready for our use each morning.

We are looking forward to our next training weekend in February and hopefully it will be as successful as the first.

Coaches: Back Row 1st Left Beth Patterson (Chairman of Training). Back Row 2nd Left Kevin Craggs (National Coach). Back Row 7th Left, Edward McCosh (Mind Coach). Front Row 1st Right Helen Weavers (Fitness Instructor)

Players: Megan Briggs, Emily Ogilvy, Louise Kenney, Laura Murray, Kelsey MacDonald, Kylie Walker, Michele Thompson.

Regards

Beth Paterson
Chairman of Training,
Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association Ltd.
 

From Lady Bader OBE,
President of The Douglas Bader Foundation

Dear Peter,

I am aware that you have received a message of gratitude from John Southwick, Tournament Director of The Desert Springs “Golf4Women” Salver, following the recent staging of the very successful final at your wonderful Desert Springs Resort and Golf Club. I felt that after having receiving John’s report and the of Charity Director, Keith Delderfield, who represented our charity in my absence, I must write to express on behalf of everyone at The Douglas Bader Foundation, my sincerest gratitude for your most generous support.

Clearly it was a superb event and one greatly enjoyed by every one of the participants. From the comments that I have received it is clear the whole Desert Springs team is worthy of praise but, in particular, it appears that special mention and thanks are due to Christine Langford who made sure that everyone was so well looked after and ensured that the competition was so well presented; to the course staff for preparing such a great and challenging track for our final and, indeed, to the whole staff team, each of whom played a role in making everybody’s stay such a happy and memorable one. We are indebted to you all.

I am grateful and delighted to learn that your kind support is to continue for 2009 and hope I may at some point have the opportunity of thanking you personally.

With my sincerest thanks and very best wishes.

Yours sincerely, Lady Bader OBE.

From Lady Bader OBE,
President of The Douglas Bader Foundation

Dear Mr Coaker,

As you are probably aware, it was not possible for me to attend the 2008 final The Desert Springs “Golf4Women” Salver which was recently held at your splendid venue. However, I have received reports from Toumament Director, John Southwick and our Director, Keith Delderfield who represented the charity in my absence, informing me as to just what a great success the event has been.

From what 1hear and from the literature that 1have received, it is clear the Desert Springs is a really magnificent resort and provided a first class venue for the final. I gather from feedback that, in particular, the course was in first class condition and that its presentation was “stunning” and that the contribution and professionalism of Christine Langford along with the friendly attitude and helpfulness of all ofthe Desert Springs staff was second to none and I congratulate those responsible for gathering together what is obviously a very special team.

On behalf of everyone at The Douglas Bader Foundation I offer you my sincerest thanks for the most generous support you have provided ensuring that our event has been such a great success and I am delighted and grateful to leam that the 2009 event is again to be played at your first class resort.

Yours sincerely,

Lady Bader OBE.,
President.

From Mr. John Southwick,

Tournament Director, on the occasion of the:

Desert Springs ‘Golf 4 Women’ Salver Grand Final.
In association with The Douglas Bader Foundation

As Tournament Director of the Desert Springs ‘Golf 4 Women’ Salver I wish to put on record my appreciation to everyone at Desert Springs especially Christine Langford who made the final of the event a huge success.

The golf course was indeed a challenge to all the lady finalists, but the course was in excellent condition as were all the facilities that everyone enjoyed. Everyone of the Desert Springs staff looked after our every need and I found the resort and staff to be of the highest standard, that I have experienced during my travels around the world.

I feel sure that the lady finalists who competed will convey to their golf club members the excellence of Desert Springs Resort when they return home. From my point of view I feel that this is the best form of advertising (“word of mouth”). Keith Delderfield of the Douglas Bader Foundation who attended the event will be reporting back to Lady Bader OBE the President of the Foundation, and I feel sure that you will be receiving a letter from her in due course.

inally with the success and the forthcoming publicity I feel that this tournament will grow from strength to strength and will not only help the Foundation but also the Desert Springs Resort in 2009.

Regards,

John Southwick.

Following The Desert Springs Ladies’ Golf Holiday, 9th – 15th November, 2008

We have just returned home this weekend after a week at the Desert Springs Golf Resort in Southern Spain and we felt that we would like to write to you to express how much we appreciated the hospitality that was shown to us by all the staff and residents.

We thought that the accommodation was excellent (a townhouse near the practice ground of the golf course) and the kindness and care accorded to us during our stay was first class. We cannot speak highly enough of Christine Langford, whose thoughtfulness and meticulous attention to detail ensured that we enjoyed all aspects of our stay at the resort. Her efforts, which were way above and beyond those we are sure of her general remit, guaranteed that we were made to feel like VIPs during our stay. We certainly took full advantage during the week of being coached by such a prestigious player. Generally we thought that the golf course and facilities at the Golf Academy were excellent. All the staff, whether it was in the restaurants, on reception or at the Caddy Master’s Centre could not do enough for us.

When you are working all year, holiday time is precious and we feel that our week at Desert Springs was spent very wisely. We are certainly considering returning to the resort next year and we will be recommending it to our golfing companions around Wirral and the North West area.

Regards,

Louise Davies & Diana Griffiths.

From Phil Neale, OBE
Operations Manager, England Cricket Team
Captain Worcestershire County Champions 1988 & 1999,
Wisden Cricketer of the Year, 1989,

Hi Jim,

Sorry it has taken a while for me to get around to sending this note but I have been pretty busy since we got back. The Stanford T20 match in Antigua and the Tour of India are just around the corner so there is plenty to do and my feet have hardly touched the floor!

Thank you for all you did for us Jim, you went to a lot of trouble on our behalf and we really appreciated it. Chris and I enjoyed catching up with you again and, despite the weather, we thoroughly enjoyed our break.

Also, if you would be kind enough, I would ask you to please pass on our thanks to everyone at Desert Springs, in particular, Simon, Daniel, Christina, Paul, Joel, Alfonso and Karen, for hosting us so generously and for ensuring that we had an entertaining and relaxing holiday. I know everyone was busy but so many of them took time out to show us around and interact with us.

We felt that there was a really good feeling about the Resort, that the quality of all the properties was exceptional and found the townhouse we used to be extremely comfortable.

I wish you continued success in getting some football teams out to Desert Springs. It seems to have done Shrewsbury some good and you certainly have the potential to add to your facilities and extend your client base in this area. I guess you will all be busy gearing up for the Ian Botham Charity Golf day. I wish you all every success with that and the continued development of Desert Springs. We were amazed by the scale of the project and look forward to visiting again at some time in the future to see how it has progressed.

Kindest regards,

Phil Neale

Operations Manager, England Cricket Team.
 

2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winning Jockey

Dear Simon

“Just a quick email to thank you for taking care of us whilst we were out with you at Desert Springs in Spain.

Thanks again for everything and I will look forward to next year when I return.”

Regards,

Sam Thomas
British Jump Jockey
Professional Jockeys Association
 

Dear Simon

“I’m delighted that the members of the Professional Jockey’s Association are utilising the amazing facilities at Desert Springs. Our Jump jockeys, as pictured, are used to riding round in wind and rain throughout the winter so a trip to Desert Springs and its great climate is well deserved!
I think they’ll be a few pounds lighter come Cheltenham in March as well!”

Regards,

Josh Apiafi
Chief Executive
The Professional Jockeys Association (The PJA)
 

Jody Mogford, Colin Bolger, Alan O’Keefe,
Sam Thomas (2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey on Denman.)
and Dominic Elsworth.

Dear Simon

“COCO would like to thank the Desert Springs Resort & Golf Club for their generosity and invaluable support for COCO’s Celebrity Golf Days 2007 & 2008. With support from Desert Springs we were able to attract high calibre sporting celebrities to our events and offer guests the chance to win fantastic holidays at the Desert Springs Resort. Thanks to Desert Springs, both events raised urgently needed funds for COCO’s projects overseas, helping to brighten hundreds of futures across the globe”.

Laura Jackson,
Fundraising Manager, COCO

Paul Simpson, Shrewsbury Town FC Coach commented:

“When I arrived at Desert Springs it was a fantastic facility, that was the first thing that struck me. Everything about it looked to me as if it could be perfect for a pre-season training camp, and I have to say being here as well and the work that we have done, we haven’t been disappointed! It’s been excellent in everything they have done for us.

When I came here to view the facilities in May I quickly realised that there was everything here that you could use for pre-season to make the training varied and it has been excellent, it really has. The surface on the football pitch is as good as any that you will get in England and the gym facilities are excellent. There are mountain bikes, there is everything here that you can have a full week, probably even two weeks of varied training, but unfortunately we only had four days!

I think the players have been really surprised with the standard of the accommodation, they are luxury and there is everything in there you could possibly need and there’s the facilities if they wanted to make themselves a drink in the rooms. There are facilities if they had to wash there own kit, everything is there for them and I think they have been very, very pleasantly surprised by it.”

Ben Davis, Shrewsbury Town FC Captain added:

“It’s been a brilliant stay for us; the lads have all absolutely loved it. Training has been really hard but we have got through it all and the facilities have been great for us so it has been a great chance for us to come away and get some team bonding together.

The football pitch is spot on and the way it has been kept over the few days we have been here has been excellent with the heat and everything, and the surface has been ideal for us. With the three sessions it’s needed to be and it has held up very well for us.

The fact that we have been able to train outside has been brilliant for us. We have had three sessions; at seven o’clock in the morning and one as well at night as well as the afternoon one and they have all been spot on and the weather has been lovely and it has helped everyone to get outside and get a tan as well! It makes a difference from it raining always back at home.

Everyone leaves you alone and lets you get on with it, and all the lads stay together and you get no hassle form anyone and you can just concentrate on your training and getting everything together and ready for when you go back for the start of the season.”

Michael Jackson, Shrewsbury Town FC Defender added:

“It has been exactly what we needed. The accommodation, facilities and training pitch has been excellent for what you need for this sort of thing you are trying to achieve. I have been on quite a few trips before and never one as good as this, so it’s been excellent.’

The football pitch has been great, when you are training three times a day it needs to be right and it has. With the weather you get here you would think it would be absolutely as dry as a bone, but it’s not, it’s been really good and it’s been a pleasure to play on it to be honest.”

Paul Simpson, Shrewsbury Town FC Coach
Find out more about Shrewsbury Town FC:

2008

Dear Simon

On behalf of Mankiewicz, I would like to extend a very big thank you to you and your team for making our first Corporate Golf Event such a resounding success.

I have had the pleasure of attending many corporate golf events throughout the world but I have never experienced such a professional organisation as Desert Springs.

Kristina’s attention to detail during the organisation of our event was outstanding, no matter what was asked for, it was taken care of. I don’t believe “no” is in her vocabulary.

Desert Springs Corporate Hospitality Package really is quite remarkable.

We enjoyed excellent accommodation, outstanding cuisine, a wonderful and challenging golf course and friendly, helpful staff. Every one of our guests has since written to tell us how much they enjoyed their trip.

We have been so delighted with ourt first event that we have decided to make Desert Springs our permanent venue for the Mankiewicz Annual Golf Challenge.

We look forward to seeing you next year.

Yours sincerely

Roger Fergus
Mankiewicz Coatings Aviation Division

2008

On the occasion of the Club Phase of the Spanish national El Corte Inglés Golf Circuit tournament held at Desert Springs Resort and Golf Club on the 18th May, 2008.

Augusto Lombrera of G2, the organisers of the El Corte Inglés Circuit commented:

“I am extremely impressed with the golf course and service. It is probably the best golf course I have ever seen and so completely different to what we are used to seeing in Spain. I am going to recommend to El Corte Inglés that for 2009 the final of the circuit is celebrated here at Desert Springs!”

Hi Kristina,

Just thought I would drop you a line

We have just arrived home from our house at Desert Springs and our children are still buzzing about the great time had by all.  The children attended the children’s club provided by the Crocodile Club every day for 2 hours and thoroughly enjoyed their time. 

Nick provided great fun for the children and has a really charming manner with them.   The children are still talking about the fun games and not to mention many hours of football organised by Nick.  Of course, we really appreciated the time too!!

Nick always had time for the children even when they managed to find him outside his normal working hours!  I know that other parents were also impressed by Nick’s enthusiasm to provide a fun time for the children and am happy that it is continuing and is something to look forward to during our next stay in May.

Thank you and best wishes.

Tracy McKinnes

 

 

Hi Kristina,

Just thought I would drop you a line 

We have just arrived home from our house at Desert Springs and our children are still buzzing about the great time had by all.  The children attended the children’s club provided by the Crocodile Club every day for 2 hours and thoroughly enjoyed their time.  

Nick provided great fun for the children and has a really charming manner with them.   The children are still talking about the fun games and not to mention many hours of football organised by Nick.  Of course, we really appreciated the time too!! 

Nick always had time for the children even when they managed to find him outside his normal working hours!  I know that other parents were also impressed by Nick’s enthusiasm to provide a fun time for the children and am happy that it is continuing and is something to look forward to during our next stay in May.

Thank you and best wishes.

Tracy McKinnes

What a place!!! Jenny and I were so impressed with all we saw, and I think we saw all of Desert Springs plus Villaricos and Playa Marques, thanks to Elvira.

We were met by Maria del Mar who kindly took us to our apartment with a very welcome bottle of bubbly suitable cooled in the fridge, many thanks. Thanks also for the beautiful meal at El Torrente, ably waited on by Ellie, as she also did most mornings at breakfast.

Peter Goodall also came to meet us one morning which I am sure was beyond the call of duty; with each member of staff we met we learned more about Desert Springs. They must all have dreaded the Forrest’s arrival!!

The views are stunning, and we could see in all directions from our apartmnent. I don’t think we did justice to the golf course, but I am sure we did our bit in the Crocodile Club! The Crocodile Club is a most amazing set up, the whole concept, suited to both young and old, from the bar itself to all the African input. Everyone was so friendly, both staff and residents; we played golf one day with Laurie and Betty Meldrum, who we had met previously in the club.

Hopefully we’ll go back to Desert Springs again next year, and maybe even take some friends, as we both so enjoyed the experience. It was good of you to keep in contact with us while we were there.

Many many thanks for everything. We will be your Scottish Ambasadors!!

Love to you both

Robin and Jenny

In the past I was a well travelled European Tour Player of 12 years before becoming a European Tour coach and coach to National Teams for the past 15 seasons.

This is my first visit to Desert Springs and in my opinion if I add together the practice facilities, quality of the golf course, the catering, atmosphere, accommodation, character and friendly manner of the staff I certainly believe it to be the best facility in Spain I have come across and one of the best in the world.

It has been a great experience and I cannot wait to come back with the Welsh Ladies in a few weeks time.

Yours sincerely

Jeremy Bennett

Jeremy Bennett takes one of his pupils through their paces
on the Putting Green at Desert Spring

 

 

Dear Carmen,

On behalf of the Norfolk County Golf Union squad I would like to thank everyone at Desert Springs following our first warm weather training camp.

We found Desert Springs to be a perfect venue as the practise facilities are first class and the Indiana Course is a great test which quickly lets the players and coach see any weaknesses.

One the great things about staying on site was that there were few distractions and we found that the combination of this and the great facilities meant the players were fully focused on their golf.

The Crocodile club and the Club House looked after us very well throughout our stay and our accommodation was perfect and gave the players a bit of space if they wanted it.

We look forward to seeing you again next year when hopefully we will return with a larger group.

Your Sincerely,

Kevin Pratt (County Captain)