PGA Instructor Michael Welch (Far Right) with 11 full time students from the Lee Westwood Golf School during their return visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 7-day intensive winter training camp.
“This is my second visit to Desert Springs and I love coming out here.
In the spring the grass in the golf facilities is so lush that it makes you want to practice and play more and more.
Whilst it’s snowing in the UK, the weather here has been superb and this intensive training will surely improve my golf.
The on-site accommodation is perfect and there are plenty of non-golfing activities available at the Resort to keep us all occupied.
That is the verdict of 16-year-old Henry Tetley, one of 11 full time students from the Lee Westwood Golf School based at Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa in Cheshire and Stoke-by-Nayland Hotel Golf & Spa in Essex, who have returned from their first visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 7-day intensive winter training programme to develop their individual golfing skills.
Lee Westwood Golf School PGA Instructor Michael Welch accompanied eight boys and three girls aged between 15 – 18 years for 7 days of warm weather winter training at the Desert Springs Resort between 31st March & 6th April.
Lee Westwood Golf School students working on their golf swings at the Desert Springs Golf Academy
The training camp utilised the excellent practice facilities at the Desert Springs Golf Academy where PGA Instructor Michael Welch was 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.
Georgia Coughlin aged 17 remarked of her experience at Desert Springs:
“I had come on a previous visit with the Lee Westwood Golf School back in January of this year, and I´ve definitely found it worth while returning again!
The weather has been superb and the amount of flowers and colours throughout the course are amazing.”
A Lee Westwood Golf School student tees off on Hole 3 “Crazy Horse” 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.
A Lee Westwood Golf School student tees off on Hole 14 “Tiburon” 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.
A Lee Westwood Golf School student tees off on Hole 1 “Cactus Point” 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.
Michael Welch, Lee Westwood Golf School PGA Instructor commented:
“I can only take positives out of our return visit to Desert Springs.
All of the staff ensures that you are made to feel welcome and the service provided is perfect.
We have loved the meals at El Torrente Restaurant and therefore we use it more and more frequently.
The golf course is in superb condition and I find it a true test for any player. Course Management plays an important role, as every hole could be played in several different ways.
The Practice Facilities are ideal; especially the chipping green and its variable mowing heights that allow us to practice a wide variety of shots.
Desert Springs is a great venue for golf.
I'm extremely pleased that the Lee Westwood Golf School has selected them for our Winter Training Camps and I look forward to organising many more trips in the future.
They make everything so easy for us!
Accommodation for the Lee Westwood Golf School 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 Lee Westwood Golf School visit the website www.leewestwoodgolfschool.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 Lee Westwood Golf School pupils, visiting groups have included golfing pupils from, Darren Clarke Golf School, Millfield School, Hartpury College, 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 seven-day trip for warm weather training, including flights, would work out at between £450 and £500 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
