The Parador hotel’s striking design overlooks the 18th greene
El Saler is ranked as the third best course in Spain, and quite rightly so.
Built in 1968 by Javier Arana, the course is located in El Saler Natural Park on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the beautiful city of Valencia. It has held the Spanish Open several times and other very prestigious events and was one of Seve’s favourite courses.
The course ranges from beach links to areas of charming pine forest. The total length of the course is 6,646 yards with a par of 72; the course is relatively straightforward, but devilishly difficult in wind.
In the early 1960s, Javier Arana, one of the best golf course designers in Spain, was walking through the pine forest of El Saler, located next to the beach, and realised that this piece of land could be used to build a wonderful golf course. After much effort, the Ministry of Information and Tourism agreed to the idea and began the construction of the current Parador, commissioning Javier Arana to build the golf course.
Arana’s design respected the natural landscape, retaining many of the pine trees and sand dunes that separated the pine forest from the beach. The result is a stunning combination. It has wide fairways in general, enormous and difficult greens, almost a hundred bunkers - some of them natural - making it a tough par 72.
Beautiful sand dunes are very much part of the scenery for half of this remarkable course.
Despite its links setting, El Saler is a verdant oasis in the wild and rough dune landscape. The course is a mixture of rolling pine-lined fairways and links golf and it’s an absolute bargain: you can play this gem for just £75, which is unbelievably good value for money. There is often a stiff breeze due to the course’s proximity to the the sea, which can turn the course into a real brute as well as a joy. It is married to a Parador hotel, which when built in 1967, was a very modern and angular building and truly at the cutting edge of hotel and clubhouse design. It still looks very contemporary.
The first four holes of the course twist through pines, and rolling fairways, before it opens out onto a fully blown links course, for holes five to eight, with the back nine returning to the pine trees. The greens themselves are heavily sloped and can be wickedly fast. Short siding yourself, especially in the wind, makes keeping a good score going extremely difficult. Holes 17 and 18 are back alongside the sea with the 17th an extremely testing par three, with deep bunkers and a substantial right to left sloping green.
In 1984, the Spanish open was held here, and your correspondent was a young, 21 year-old professional who did not cope well with the challenges of the wind and course. The final round was in extremely strong wind, and Howard Clark, who was leading, went round in six under par. A 66 was a great score, but this was a eclipsed by one of the finest rounds ever played: Bernhard Langer won the championship with a 62, 10 under par in extremely difficult conditions. This has to rank as one of the finest rounds of golf ever played on the European Tour.
El Saler has hosted important national and international events in different categories, including the Spanish Open in 1984, 89, and 2001, the Seve Trophy 2003 and the Spanish Open again in 2013. The best European players have all played there.
In the Parador hotel, the rooms are well appointed and spacious and give great views across the Costa Blanca coastline, and across the course. There is a restaurant and snack bar with a wide terrace overlooking the course for a well earned drink after golf, along with a spa for full relaxation.
The grassed end of the golf range provides golfers with an excellent opportunity to warm up and is located between the 16th and 18th fairways.
There are excellent practice facilities at El Saler. There is a double ended golf range between holes 16 and 18, a covered structure provides shelter from the elements closer to the clubhouse and at the far end, there is a wide grass teeing strip and short game area. There are delightful pitching and putting areas to the left and round the ninth hole, which are close to the clubhouse - and you can even pitch from the hotel patio towards one of these greens.
The old town of Valencia is just over 20 minutes away and is full of beautiful buildings and nearby there is some magnificent new architecture on the banks of the estuary. There are some excellent restaurants, and plenty of cultural interest to make a trip even more rewarding.
For more information, go to: www.paradores.es