To be selected to design a golf course in such an exclusive situation as La Zagaleta is possibly the appointment of a lifetime - but not without its difficulties. The severe and demanding terrain requires great imagination and technical expertise to handle, a task begun by Gaunt and Marnoch Limited, with all the detailing and site supervision during construction being carried out by Steve Marnoch.
Now Steve has a new company, Golfmarnoch Limited and is completing the works under that name. eat GOLF! was invited to meet with Steve at the new ‘Los Barrancas’ course for a tour behind the scenes of one of Spains’ most elite developments.
On our arrival Steve Marnoch is delighted to be able to illustrate the bold earth restructuring that has taken place amongst these normally quiet and serene valleys. Standing at the new clubhouse overlooking the 18th green and lake it is easy to appreciate the volume of soil and rock that must have been moved to build a course in such a dramatic location.
The back nine winds its way around the hillside and is a delight to the eye, with greens and fairways carved out of the rock facia. Granted, in time this will weather away to form a more natural look, but at such an early stage of completion it is still possible to see the skeleton underneath.
This is no bad thing however, as it is a reminder of the lengths we will go to in order to create a field on which we can play golf...
Steve’s handy work is evident amongst the freshly carved rock, and we ask him what are the difficulties in designing a course in this type of terrain, and where do you begin?
On this type of course it is essential to take a buggy. In that sense we had to make sure that each green and tee location was accessible with a buggy given the safety considerations. So you actually had to consider the design for the buggy tracks at the same time as the greens, tees and other features.
For example, originally hole number 12 was sited at the top of the site with the best views over the entire course and landscape beyond. Unfortunately the ground was so unstable that we just couldn’t get there due to limitations on the steepness of the buggy tracks. The observation of the existing course was that if you missed the fairways you were in big trouble. What I tried to do here was widen the fairways, within reason because it comes with a large cost. I then tried to have a transition between the fairway and the cliffs. Although you might be in deep rough, at least you haven’t lost your ball. In terms of seeding and how the course has been configured, that is what I have tried to achieve by introducing a fringe of native Tall fescue grass as the deep rough.
I have tried to keep a relationship between the various greens and the lake which the clubhouse overlooks. This has a great effect on the slopes of the fairways and what we are able to achieve. It is tricky because there is such a large scale of earth movement involved, and balancing of the materials we have to move.
I didn’t want this course to be ‘dropped in’ to the landscape. It had to look natural rather than like a typical resort course, and bear a strong relationship to its rugged surroundings. I have tried to shape the course to echo the surroundings, and I had to work hard with the constructors to get the course to fit in. With some of the things I was asking them to do they probably thought I was drunk! I would say that my work does illustrate a links styling particularly in my greens so this site has posed a significant challenge, and although you can see elements of that styling in the putting surfaces this project proves that I can be flexible in any situation, even one as extreme as this.
