GOLF FOR RESIDENTS

f there's one thing golfers from the UK miss when they come to the Costa del Sol to retire, or live and work here, its the comeraderie that goes with belonging to a golf club. Most of the Costa's golf courses are commercial in nature - hardly surprising, as the Costa del Golf is still recognised as Europe's no. one golf resort for golf tourists. As a consequence, residents have a choice of buying a share in a golf club in order to become a member, or resigning themselves to pay & play golf, which in the winter months, can mean paying tourist green fees.

An alternative which comes close to solving the problem, is to join a golf society. There is now a plethora of these along the coast, as bar owners organize their own golf societies, partly for the benefit of their golfing regulars, but also to attract more customers. Each society usually plays once a week, using the same host golf course, which happens to be the nearest to their bar and which is willing to offer reduced green fees in return for a guaranteed number of golfers each week.

Each bar organizing society golf is offering a valuable service to frustrated resident golfers, but it's members are restricted to playing the same course each week. The new Golf Leisure Breaks Golf Society has been set up to offer a wide choice of dates and venues to golfers living between Málaga and Marbella. It is not intended as an alternative to other golf societies, but as a means of playing more often on different courses. The new golf society is taking advantage of Golf Leisure Breaks' pre-booked start times at Sta. Maria (Mondays), Parador (Wednesdays) and Calanova (Fridays). To join costs only 30 euros and each new member receives a valuable quality polo shirt, embroidered with the society's logo. More importantly, they receive substantial discounts at nearly every golf course on the Costa del Sol, not only the competition venues. There are already more than 30 members, who are being offered a weekend trip to the new Antequera golf club in November. For more information about joining the Golf Leisure Breaks Golf Society, call Julie on 952 582 943.