On the 15th of September the high  season began for golf, which will last until the end of November. According to the estimates of the Mijas Golf Courses Association, it will be a very good season. Not in vain, by the end of the year it is expected that almost half a million golfers will have shown off their swing on our golf courses.  This figure is welcomed by the sector and by the Mijas Town Hall. “Practically 460,000 tourists will come to our municipality (to play golf), a statistic that has a significant impact on our business fabric, on the local economy and on the generation of employment, which, above all, positions our municipality as a benchmark within the golf sector and that is the line we are going to continue working on”, said the councillor for Tourism, José Carlos Martín (Cs). For his part, the president of the Mijas Golf Courses Association and managing director of Chaparral Golf Club, Domingo Gavira, indicated that “these are real data that place us as one of the most important golf destinations in Spain”, and added that “together with Marbella, we are the two most important golf destinations in Europe”. The association estimates “the daily expenditure of the golfer who comes to Mijas at 150 euros”, a figure above average, and adds that “the average expenditure of the golfer is above any other sector and hence its vital importance, deseasonalising, sun and beach”. In this regard, Gavira indicated that not only does the municipality stand out for the number of courses, but also for their quality, “which makes us a unique destination”. “Our competition are not the courses in Mijas, nor those on the Costa del Sol, they are the courses in the Algarve, Morocco, Turkey”, said the director of La Cala Resort, Sean Corte-Real, who added that “what we all have to do together is become stronger, the more golfers come to Mijas and the Costa del Sol, the better, that means they will stay in our hotels, they will eat in restaurants in our area, etc., and that is important”.

An example of the good start to the high golf season in our municipality can be found at La Cala Resort. “Very good, the truth is that we are almost full both in the golf course and at the hotel. We have a lot of foreigners, as always, who come to play golf after the summer”, said the director of the resort, Sean Corte-Real, who indicated that the predominant nationality of their clientele is British and Irish, although they also have Scandinavians, Belgians and French.

500 players a day

A year and a half ago, they started working on the bookings for the current season. Every day, on average, they receive around 500 golfers. Playing at the best hours without a reservation becomes complicated. “Those who have not booked are going to have difficulty finding a tee-time, which are usually in the morning”, said Corte-Real. Compared to previous seasons, La Cala Resort predicts that this one will be better. “The truth is that last year was a record year for us, but this year will be another record year and we are delighted with the results and with what is happening”, said its general manager, who noted that the average overnight stay is five nights during this high season and pointed out that, “after the pandemic”, the average age of the golfer has dropped from 55-60 to 35-45 years old. In terms of numbers, the best month will be October, “where we have the highest number of golfers and that is when the hotel is practically full of players”. At La Cala Resort, they state that the high season accounts for 25% of their annual turnover.

 

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